While it was pretty well known that the deal was done before SHOT Show, today Freedom Group formally announced that it has purchased “certain assets” of Para USA (nee ParaOrdnance).
In the event that you’ve been living under a rock and paying no attention whatsoever to the gun industry, Freedom Group is the monolithic umbrella corporation that owns such companies as Remington, Bushmaster, AAC, and Marlin. Para USA is a company that tried for many, many years to manufacturer reliable double-stack 1911s… but never could.
I genuinely hope that Para USA gets itself on track under the yoke of its new corporate overlords. A high-capacity 9mm Commander-sized 1911 would get my attention. And be a great gun for an endurance test… just sayin’!
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
“Para USA is a company that tried for many, many years to manufacturer reliable double-stack 1911s… but never could.”
I am not sure you can really say that Para USA tried to do anything as they make some of the worst 1911 pistols that you can buy.
Their LDA trigger was kind of a neat system. The HK LEM reminds me of the feel of an LDA.
Todd you do realize you will now even have more hordes of people coming out of the woodworks wanting you to test a 1911.
Also keep in mind, Freedom Group is actually owed by Cerebus, the same folks who did the Chrysler deal a few years back. The MO for Freedom Group is “consolidation” and “cost savings”, and I do not think it’s a coincidence that the products of many of its companies have been quite poor after they got bought by Freedom Group. Take some known bad 1911s, add Freedom Group, and I think that what you’ll see is Rock Island Arms soon having a better reputation than Para.
J.Ja
“Their LDA trigger was kind of a neat system.”
I’m not quite sure I can say enough bad things about the LDA, but if I tried, I’d start with “fragile” and “completely pointless”.
If anyone wants a DA pistol, they should buy a DA pistol, not a 1911 with a bunch of flimsy toaster parts wedged in there to make half of the hammer flop around as though it were a DA pistol, thereby keeping people from getting the vapors at the sight of the whole hammer being cocked, instead of just the part inside the gun that you can’t see.
Para has a good reputation now?
If what they’ve done to Marlin is any indication…
I would LOVE to see a 9mm commander length 1911 torture test!
The LDA is a neat idea, just not practical. How about a striker-fired 1911? Hmmmm.
Tam, I agree that the way the LDA was engineered and manufactured was poor but it was a good idea.
Cerebus/Freedom Group just cleaned house at AAC in the last week. IMO large company takeovers will really hurt innovation and spirit.
“A high-capacity 9mm Commander-sized 1911 would get my attention.”
WilsonCombat Spec-Op 9 is a high-capacity Commander-sized 1911 in 9 mm that I’ve heard only positive reviews from its users.
At a measly price of $2285.
+1 on the Spec-Ops 9. $2285 for a polymer framed 9mm. 😉 They sound awesome.
Sig has a 1911 in .357Sig. Bottleneck case might offset the cycling issues with shortish lengths in the 1911. A well fitted 1911 (don’t know if that describes a sig or not) in the intrinsically accurate .357 chambering would be interesting.
Not sure if this is true about Freedom Group. I heard they want to buy up firearm companies and then get ride of them. Freedom Group is owned by some gun hater (not sure who) and that is there agenda.
J.Ja is right about the quality. My department has Bushmaster ARs and the suck. I had to contact the sales rep and order a new front sight post. At lest they are not make us pay for them.
Bushampster sucked giant hairy goat balls long before they were taken over by FG.
Just sayin.
Freedom Group is not owned by Sorros. It is an investment group, they don’t typically (well how about never) buy companies with the plan of losing money. However, buying Para almost makes that sound logical.
What! Todd wanting a 1911? Are we in that Twilighty Zone thingy?
“A high-capacity 9mm Commander-sized 1911 would get my attention.”
There’s this new pistol you may have heard about, it’s called the High Power.
Sounds exactly like what you’re looking for.
“There’s this new pistol you may have heard about, it’s called the High Power.”
I LOL’ed. 😀
Well played JodyH, well played!
STI makes the VIP with a 3.96″ barrel in 9×19. 15+1 capacity MSRP is $1662.31
JHC,
“Bottleneck case might offset the cycling issues with shortish lengths in the 1911. A well fitted 1911 (don’t know if that describes a sig or not) in the intrinsically accurate .357 chambering would be interesting.”
.357SIG 1911s are hard to get running well when they’re hand-built by a good ‘smith. I can’t imagine a mass-production one being worth risking my hard-earned dough on.
Freedom Group might or might not be good for gun companies, but their management is most definitely not anti-gun. Steve Feinberg of Cerebus is a hunter who joined ROTC at Princeton when it was definitely not cool to be in ROTC; he is Airborne qualified, avoids New York “society” and is a dedicated conservative Republican.
None of that means Para will be managed any better (but could it be managed any worse?) but these aren’t anti-gun guys who want to close gun companies down. They are pro-gun guys who want to turn a profit.
Freedom group sucks. My Dept used to Issue Bushmasters. We had a problem with one of the guns. It took them 4months to fix it. A parts order took 10 months. I consider this Freedom group buyout a blessing. The service was so bad it convinced my powers to be to transition to Colt AR’s.
I think Dan Quail is also one of the investors who make up the Freedom Group…. Say what you will about him (hah hah hah), he is not a liberal gun hater… I don’t know about the other partners….
“A high-capacity 9mm Commander-sized 1911 .. a great gun for an endurance test… ”
STI Tactical 4.0 9×19? Endurance gun 2012?? I’m calling it now!!
“Say what you will about him (hah hah hah)”
Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.
Yeah Todd, why don’t you test some less known 9mm handgun? I think it would make this test pretty much interesting! We all know that Glocks are going to work, also HKs and some other well known and widely spread automatics, largely adopted by different law enforcement agencies. Try a classic CZ-75B for example. Prove as that “Zed is not our friend” LOL. Even a 92 FS or a P226 would be an interesting option. Why not a 1911??? Lot of options, but my vote is for the CZ-75/85.
Like seriously, it seems the freedom group has screwed up the QC of every company they have bought…. para-ord is the perfect company for them to buy, the qc is so screwed up allready they can’t do anything to hurt it.