The action that I half remembered in the earlier thread was their LDA or light double action model. It is a clever design that lets the gun be brought from safe carry into action very very fast and explains why they are so popular with the hard core defensive pistol shooters. They also have a first rate proprietary extractor. The company started making hi cap kits for 1911's and their first few guns would even use 1911 barrel and slides.

I've shot one of the LDA's and it was a bit shocking at first but I liked it after I got used to the unusual trigger feel. My first choices would be a Glock or HK P7 every time, but there definitely wasn't anything i didn't like about the Para.

I had a Nite-Tac LDA .45 up until a couple of days ago, traded it in on a new STI Ranger II. The LDA trigger was fantastic.

It was a fantastic pistol, and shot like a house on fire.

I'm trying to decide what is worse, 1911 or knife addictions. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

1911 and really all the handgun stuff is like looking at porn for me.
I can't afford it and if I could I would not use it as much as I should <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The STI Ranger 2, is that their full sized fighting pistol?

I am way to cheap even if I went to the trouble of doing all the paperwork I would buy a bunch of CZ52's and Makarovs and maybe a CZ75 if I was feeling spendy.

Commander length on a full-size frame.

Pic of my "old" Para:

Those are 2 beautiful handguns. As much as I like the Para I see why you traded.
The STI has all the nice touches I love in the classic .45's.
I am into the classics so I love a blued finish but that really first rate looking guncoat with wood grips ,beavertail ,the classic hammer and no ugly flashlight mount(para did a neat job hiding theirs though) to snag is just sweet. I also dig the commander length but a full frame.

I have tiny little girl hands so the classic single stck .45 seems to fit just perfect. I wanted to like the Hi Power , I like a 9mm as much or more than the .45
but it is just to fat to be comfy.

How about telling us a little more about the new STI?

I have heard good things about Para's. I have a Kimber though. In the search for more power I picked up a .40 Super kit for it. .45 Super brass cut to 10mm lenght and bottlenecked down to .40 caliber. It would push 135 gr bullets at 1800 fps. Had trouble getting it to run right though. Had some issues with it setting the bullets back when chambering.

I saw a old .38 super race gun that was very very nice. Now that they are outdated for those comps you might be able to pick up a good one at a decent price.

I have two P-14's.

One is a "Limited" and very accurate with good movement, trigger, tightness, etc. I find it very hard to fault.

The other is a gun I purchased that was a used race-gun with quite a few custom modifications. I don't know how much work was done to triggers, action and so forth. The slide is not as tight as my limited, but the trigger is very good. However, it is not as accurate as my "Limited" (????)

I like the 14 rounds and consider either P-14 to be very sufficient for self defense or general use. I like 14 rounds more than 7-8! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> - Although, I believe in shotguns for home defense. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />
For Target, my "customized" one probably needs a new barrel or something (????)

Still, I like both Para's quite a bit.

In the end, however, the quality of my Kimber CDP does seems a little higher and even a little more accurate with even a shorter barrel.

I don't have enough experience with the large variety of really fine quality .45's out there to say how my Para or Kimber compete with certain other 1911's. But, I have shot many other auto-pistols and consider both the Para's and the Kimber above most other non-1911 style auto-pistols fairly easily.

The competition in 1911 style pistols is very high and the quality of most of these guns seems pretty good in general. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

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