Colt 1911 Guru question on a PARA P-12

[zebeck446]

I have a PARA-ORDNANCE P-12 which effectively is a Colt Officers Model 80 series with a double stack magazine. It is/was the love of my life but has developed a bad hang up problem over the years. Sometimes when the slide cycles, the floating barrel does not rise high enough into place for the slide to close. I have changed springs and added a Wilson Combat guide rod kit to no avail. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[ChrisC]

hard to diagnose by looking at pictures. Check the firing pin stop, barrel link, and the slide stop for damage. Refrain from shooting until the issue is resolved. Firing out of battery is catastrophic if the trigger disconnector fails to do its purpose. Have a QUALIFIED person check it.

 

[M60Gunner]

When you say you changed springs what recoil spring poundage did you go with? 20 lbs or above is usually what it takes in this pistol to work reliably. It took a 24 lbs spring and lots of polishing work to make mine reliable. Now I prefer the bull barrel and encapsulated dual recoil spring design of my RIA if I am relying on an officers model. In my experience they are much more capricious than their larger brothers the commander and government.

 

[zebeck446]

When you say you changed springs what recoil spring poundage did you go with? 20 lbs or above is usually what it takes in this pistol to work reliably. It took a 24 lbs spring and lots of polishing work to make mine reliable. Now I prefer the bull barrel and encapsulated dual recoil spring design of my RIA if I am relying on an officers model. In my experience they are much more capricious than their larger brothers the commander and government.

I it was the spring included in the Wilson Combat guide rod kit.

 

[zebeck446]

I forgot to include - all it takes is to pull the slide back 1/4 to 1/2 an inch and release and everything falls back into place. I am at a loss.

 

[Tige]

It’s broken. I think my best advice is that you should sell it to me cheap..LOL

 

[zebeck446]

If I remember correctly Remington bought the rights to all the PARA stuff. They had plans to build a double stack 1911. Imagine a 12 - 14 shot 45 ACP in a modern 1911 gun. It never came to pass. Maybe Springfield should try it.

 

[M60Gunner]

RIA did it really well