Para p14-45

[ROCK-IT3]

Can anyone give me any info/feedback/thoughts/opinions on a Para p14-45? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Any problems, etc. I handled a used one today at a local shop. The grip is a bit fat (double stack magazine), but I think I could get used to it for 14 rounds of .45ACP. The price was right, too.

[DBZ220]

I've owned two P-14's. Last one was 5 yrs ago or so. First one was probably around 1996/7. First one was an all steel version, picked up from a friend's dad. He had a few hundred rounds through it, I put another 3,000 or so through it before it came apart, thumb safety broke, and the slide catch/takedown lever died too. Replaced parts and got another 500rnds in when the frame cracked around the takedown hole. I didn't try Para for service, but traded that one for an alloy framed P-14 from another friend. He had no problem with the repairs needed to my P-14 at the time. The alloy had periodic failures to feed, however a new/tuned extractor fixed that problem right up. I put 1200 trouble free rnds through that one before parting with it in a trade deal I couldn't pass up. Again, these were years ago, and I don't really know how the current P-14's stack up, but I did really like them as a high-cap 1911 platform.