Is colt 1911 worth trading my Para 1911?

[FUNDAMENTALS]

Keep your PARA 1911, It is a finer handgun then the model Colt you have
shown.

[Mity2]

yeah.. I guess I'll keep my Para.
15rds, off hand at 20yds, in windy range oh and never mind the 1 flyer. I wouldn't worry about that one



Its sort like my Mustang the garage queen I have. Sometimes I want to sell it, and get something else, but everytime I takes it out and stretch its muscle, ans smoke those rice burners, I'm in love with it all over again...

Really, all i need to do to make my Para perfect gun is just a miner things.

Make it 100% reliable with HP(currently, I say about 95% with Hydrashock)
replace MIM parts(beaver tail, safety, slide release, barrel bush) with forged SS parts
Replace plastic parts(trigger, MSH) with SS parts
Add tritium sight(My gun came with coupon from Para to get tritium sight installed for $99, which I never used. So i guess I'll use that)

THen I would like to cut checkers on front strap, polish the sucker even more(I like mirror finished 1911. I like bring. what can I say?)

But i figure about $150~$200 in parts(other then night sight), $150~$200 labor(fitting safety, beaver tail, bushing, trigger) is what I'm looking at(hopefully, Xring is not gonna ass rape me on laabor. LOL).

I've always used hydrashock for my protection need. But even my dealer is telling me that the hydrashock is an old design. That I should try something else. He says pretty much only reason why he still stock hydrashock in 9 and 45 is because I'm the only one buying it. lol

[BUCKMARK]

As a Colt collector and well known Colt lover around here, I would keep the Para.

I have many Colts worthy and built for carry, but I carry a Glock and a Kahr.

Colt handguns are going for prices that collectors are willing to pay, but prices that most shooters find way too high. I keep my ponies locked up and rarely shoot them. If I was going to buy a 1911 right now for defense or gun games...it would prolly not be a Colt. You can get more gun for the money looking at other manufactures.

I have many of those high dollar Colts you mention... the Anaconda, Python, Gold Cup, King Cobra, Combat Special, XSE.... but I bought most of them many years ago when the average Anaconda was around $590.00.

I would not buy most of these guns at today's prices. I still buy Colts when I think I can get a great deal on one from a private seller.

I love Colt, but nothing wrong with a Para.

[Mity2]

I guess colt's are decent investiment if your buying the gun for collecting reasons.
But i myself buy my guns to shoot. So if paying more so that you can keep it in safe(or paying more because of name, eventho functionality is not as good of of other manufacture) just have no appeals to me.

Not the there is anything wrong on collecting guns.

[gold cup abuser]

well even though my name says my brand preference I would keep that para...

I got my gold cup new last summer and have ran over 1000 rounds thru it with no problems. I guess you could say Im one of the lucky few lol

My first colt was a combat commander back in the early 80's and it was a dog right out of the box. Hump in back of the frame by the grip safety, goose loose and coudnt feed silvertips for love or money..........

This gold cup has been a joy to shoot the poop out of lol...

And Im sending it to the colt custom shop for my christmas present. Gonna have a fitted beaver tail safety, checkered grip strap and get all of the dings and scrapes off of her.....

If I were to do this all over again I probally would have gone to a Nighthawk Custom and had it hard chromed.

[brian]

Originally Posted by Rule10b5

Hell no.

First, every stock Colt auto I've ever owned has been a pain in the ass to get running properly. Even if you wanted to leave it dead stock you'd have to mess with it to get it working.

that is a poor blanket statement.
i'm not sure how long colt has been making 1911's but they all worked fine till colt thought they would go about mucking with the design. as long as they were built according to the prophets standards, that were handed down upon the mountian, they work just fine......

[BUCKMARK]

Thats kind of a blanket statement also...

Colt never did any "mucking of the design" that every other company didnt already do. Colt, along with most 1911 makers offer a mil-spec type gun along with custom guns.

Every Colt I ever owned ran well right out of the box. The problem was never with the designs or features. Colt's problems were always about quality control. Colt has been known for years to throw some real crap out onto the market, and then wonder why they have a bad name as of late.

Hammers that lean so far to the side that they hit the slide. Colt fixes this by grinding the hammer until it clears. Sights pressed into their dovetails even when they were not aligned. Crushed sights and messed up slides sent to the dealer. Polish wheel slips on blasted finishes along the front strap. I have seen them all in rather large numbers over the years.

I'm not real sure what kind of labor issues Colt was having in the last 5 or 6 years, but I do know that their product line is nothing like it once was. I also know that their quality is nothing like it once was.

For me, the Colt name is a fond memory of a great American gun company gone so far south it may never be corrected. Winchester went down the same path, and S&W corrected its ways and is back on track.

I still buy up Colts to add to my collection, and dream of days when the Colt Manufacturing Company will rise from the ashes and become respected again.

For a working gun, I would buy a STI, Dan Wesson or Springer over a Colt any day.... and thats like having a Ford Mustang collector tell you to look into a new Dodge Charger.

[Mity2]

Originally Posted by BUCKMARK

I also know that their quality is nothing like it once was.

Originally Posted by BUCKMARK

For a working gun, I would buy a STI, Dan Wesson or Springer over a Colt any day.... and thats like having a Ford Mustang collector tell you to look into a new Dodge Charger.

You know, when I picked up the colt I was looking at, i didn't get the feel of quality. In every aspect, it felt like picking up my old Springfield armory's GI 1911.
just overall quality was sort of "fair". Although gun was not clean prolly got alot to do with that feel as well, just so you know.
It felt more like $500 gun instead of amount of money they were asking for it.

Dan Wesson - Now, thats a beutiful piece of firearm. IF my dealer had one of them in stock when I bought my Para, I would surely got them instead. they felt tight, well made, and I, for some odd reason, like the bob tail on some of their 1911.


And don't even get me started on them ugry 4 door car they are calling Charger

But the hemi....

[jdlv4_0]

Keep the Paras, I regret getting rid of mine.

For the money you really can't beat the Paras. Looking at the list you have for work to be done to the Colt, you may as well by a higher end gun that has what you want on it.

Follow Lycan's advice and send the Para to George at EGW and just have a basic reliability package done on it.

[Mity2]

What does basic reliability package consist of?