Quote from: MCQUADE on November 19 2013 07:05:31 PM MSTI spoke with a factory rep about the weight of the recoil spring, they rate it at approx. 28lbs. The EGW extractor must be doing a hell of a job cause the brass from the Underwood loads is still going 30 feet.

I would bet the farm the "rep" misquoted the info on recoil spring weight or just took a WAG on weight. My Kimber stated in OM that it had 18# recoil spring (5" TLE/RL) and it would throw my PD hand loads 30+ feet. With 20# spring it drops those warm PD rounds 15 to 20 feet, and that's with EGW FP Stop installed. With the added weight of long slide I would bet they used a 16# spring. What a bunch of boobs at Para, my 45APC Para only had 14# installed from factory. I traded the Para off because I could not get used to the fat grips. 

My extractor is stock. 

Yeah, that 28 lb. thing surprised me too. The person whom asked the engineers was surprised too. It doesn't matter at this point because it works. This is the first Para of any kind that I've shot/bought and I'm quite happy thus far, though it may screw up tomorrow. I've heard all the bad press from a few years ago but it does appear that something has changed for the better, we'll see after a couple thousand more rounds. I'm not really a fan of 1911's in 10mm but my opinion is being swayed. I bugged them for a year to get this gun released, now I may bug them for a commander size with no rail  . I think they do have plans for a doublestack 10mm but they are redesigning all of their mags right now.

I am gonna bet the rep mis-spoke and meant a 28 lb mainspring, not recoil spring.  I put a 24 in my 1911 for a while.  VERY stiff action.  I ended up with a 25 lb mainspring, FB FPS and an 18.5 lb recoil spring and a much smoother gun.

sqlbullet, I believe you are correct. The mainspring is probably 28 lbs. and I believe the recoil spring is 17-18 lbs. I took it to the 1911 Guru here in NC and confirmed it. I wanted him to give his opinion of the gun and check it out since I'm not a 1911 guy. He approved of it. I could go into all the test he done on it but hell, I don't know what he was doing half the time, but it passed to his satisfaction. Back to the range for some accuracy shots now.

Quote from: MCQUADE on November 23 2013 09:44:52 AM MST
sqlbullet, I believe you are correct. The mainspring is probably 28 lbs. and I believe the recoil spring is 17-18 lbs. I took it to the 1911 Guru here in NC and confirmed it. I wanted him to give his opinion of the gun and check it out since I'm not a 1911 guy. He approved of it. I could go into all the test he done on it but hell, I don't know what he was doing half the time, but it passed to his satisfaction. Back to the range for some accuracy shots now.

McQuade,

May I ask if that was 1911 tuner?  If so, that is as about as good an endorsement as you can get for the 1911 L/S Para from a 1911 Guru.

Thanks for the information you gave me several weeks ago re a gunsmith for 3rd gen S & W autos.  I found a local 'smith who was familiar w/ re-staking a side plate assembly. Laurinburg to Wagram is a lot better than Lbg. to Mont. Co.

Jim

Yep, it was 1911Tuner, he only lives 35 miles from me. It was a very interesting experience, in a very good way. The only thing I do not like about the gun is the front sight, the dovetail is too deep or the sight wasn't made to fill it. It is tight and is functional though and you really have to hold it up to the light to see it. Everything else has been great. I am really surprised, I figured I would have some feeding issues.

You are a lucky man to live so near one so well educated in the 1911.

Not really being a 1911 guy myself, I didn't know how widely he is known. I knew he had a good rep in NC via the local forum. He's a character. His first love is rescuing dogs, so you know he has a good heart and a super nice personality to boot, I enjoyed it and learned quite a bit in the few hours I was there. He even let me fondle his black Colt, vintage 1919.

Yeah...If John M Browning is the god of the 1911, then 1911Tuner is certainly the current prophet and high priest.

The bad weather finally broke and I got out for some accuracy tests today. First off, the Para shot the best with the Underwood 165 GDHP load. Sub 2" at 25 yds, but I got my first, and only, failure to feed. I ran through several mags with no further problems. I saved the culprit round and will measure it to see if it was the cause. The best I could muster out of the 220's was around 3" but I definately contributed to its negligence. I'm well past 1,000 rounds now and I'm pretty satisfied. If the weather holds out I will do more Sat. and Monday. I'm down to about 1500 assorted Underwood now but I'm having a "blast". On another note, the rear sight screws finally started working out so I had to put some loctite on them, I usually do that initially but I was curious as to how long it would take on this gun.