Para USA
The looming death of Para USA marks a sad moment in the Firearms industry for me. You see, I never really liked Para Ordinance, and when they came to the US I still wasn't all that impressed. I never did come to like the LDA trigger, though I see why it's a necessary thing for some. Para has always been luke warm for me. I didn't hate them, just never really got worked up enough to actually like them.
And then in 2012 I had the chance to take a look at a new Para USA offering... A simple plain-jane type called the Wild Bunch. It was a fine example of the 1911 platform before Beavers and Novaks became the rage. The gun shot very well and was very accurate. That opened my eyes to the Paras. While I never went out of my way to acquire one, I did tend to like them. A few models, I grew to actually like a lot.
And now, Remington has packed up all the manufacturing machinery from their Charlotte, NC location to a new facility in Alabama. This has left a great many former Para employees unemployed. Some were welcome to move with Para to the new digs, but some declined that, because no one really wants to be in Alabama. In talking with many of these guys who stayed behind, I've learned a few things. I learned some time ago that it was a possibility that Remington was going to destroy Para. And it seems like that is what has just been announced.
Para had really just started making guns that I'd want to buy. And now, with this death knell looming over their heads, I don't think I ever will. Because I really don't like Remington's new business model of cannibalizing others. I don't think that's right.
When Remington picked up Marlin I thought that was a good thing. Because I had seen a decline in Marlin's quality control, and promised guns never materialized. I thought that some influx of capital into Marlin could help them straighten out. The decision to move all manufacturing to Illion, NY was a shocker. The bigger shocker was that it took 4 years for Remington to figure out how to build a rifle design that's over 100 years old. The guns that they put out under the Marlin name were flat out terrible. The worst I've ever seen. Rossi was making a better lever action.
After enough time went by, Remington started to figure it out and now these new Marlins are better than ever. You would have to go back 15+ years to get a better made Marlin. And I'm not quite sure if that is correct either. Remington does have a great steel alloy and their barrel making is one of the best in the industry... so... maybe these new Marlins are a good thing for those that can actually be objective.
But that's not what's in store for Para. Remington has their own in house 1911, the R1. And it's a decent 1911. Well made. I like them well enough. Well, the sales on the R1's have stagnated. Mainly because the R1 line has been boring right up until their latest Enhanced model that looks good, but has yet to gain any traction in the market. Which is sad because it is a solid and quality made pistol. Unlike what has been speculated, Para didn't make the R1's. No frames, no slides... The R1's were their own thing. And the thing was good.
Then Remington came out with the R51 pistol. Manufactured for Remington by Para in Charlotte. The Patterson designed hesitation lock action was a commercial failure back in the day and it was an even bigger failure now. What they didn't have back then was a savvy gun media and the Internet to call it out back then. Now days, if something sucks as bad as the R51 did, that message will get out. This caused a massive recall, lots of refunds... huge SNAFU for Remington. Instead of taking it on the chin and admitting that the R51 was just a bad idea, the Head Cheeses at Remington blamed Para for building bad guns. This probably caused the idea to remove Charlotte from the Remington Map. Point fingers, throw Charlotte under the bus. Salt the earth.
And now we hear that Remington is going to double down on the R51, bring it back all New and Improved. Well, it's the same design, and will be made on the same machinery (Remember, it was all shipped via trucks to Alabama) by mostly the same people... I'm not going to get my hopes up on the R51.
Remington it seems, doesn't learn it's lessons. It doesn't have the capability of objectively looking at what IS. Para is going to be a name that fades into history now, replaced by Remington's “R1” name. This shows a massive amount of institutionalized arrogance. The Para name may have been luke warm in the undustry, but R1 is absolutely tepid. This is as stupid as Beretta naming the new generation 92 the “90-Two” and keeping production of both at the same time. Para is going to be a brand that will be missed. They brought a lot to the table. All the double stacked 1911's out there now – You can thank Para for starting all that. They started out making kits so you could change your 1911 into a double stacked pistol. They grew and started making their own pistols... building on success. They moved to the USA and changed their name from Para Ordinance to Para USA. They did a lot of good guns to be honest. They are not without hiccups. Customer Service was lacking and company VP's would send me nasty emails for criticizing them... but I was always welcomed into the Para booth at SHOT Show. Para and Armed American Radio even shared a booth on year. Good people at Para. And then Remington has just destroyed them. Sad.
It was my hope that Remington would do to Para what they did to Marlin... sure, it would go through a low spell, but eventually rise above and make it something better. But that's not going to happen now.
So let's raise a glass to Para.
Speak not ill of the Dead.
