I managed to find an hour and a half to get out to my local range, so I grabbed the 1911 as I wanted to function test it. I shot Winchester ball, Federal ball, Blazer aluminum (don't hate - I got a ton of it cheap and I like it for when I'm out in the boonies and I know that brass recovery will be hard to impossible), Wolf steel (again, don't hate - same comment as previous), Hornady TAP 200 gr +P, and Winchester PDX 230 gr +P.
I put 220 rounds down range, and after working through all of the ball ammo (200 rounds) in both magazines and loading each one to capacity (14, that last one is a real bugger to get in there), the Para had not had a malfunction. This despite the fact that somehow my gun oil had gone missing from my range kit so I had to apply a very small amount of grease to some of the high friction areas on the 1911 before getting started.
After 200 rounds the pistol was extremely sooty (the Wolf in particular shoots very dirty), but I pressed on and loaded the +P home defense ammo into mags and got started with that. First, it became clear very early that this pistol with the standard recoil spring is not happy shooting +P ammo. The slide was ramming back with too much snap for my tastes so I stopped after ten rounds of the Hornady +P and tried the Winchester 230 gr +P. Yes, there was little chance that it would be better, but I was testing so I tested. Sure enough, the Winchester was just as bad and I was going to call it quits after ten rounds but on the 8th round (217 rounds down range at that point) the pistol malfunctioned, and I'm happy to say that it was only a simple failure to return fully to battery as the gun had just gotten too dirty. The slide didn't make it home the last 16th of an inch. I pushed it home and fired the last two rounds without incident, but I was done at that point.
If I'd called it a day after the 200 rounds of ball I'd have gone home and cleaned the gun and never been the wiser. And who knows, it may have kept on chambering ball ammo just fine, but the gun was unquestionably dirty at this point and as mentioned before I had not properly lubricated it, so I'm giving it a pass on that 218th round not going home. Zero stove pipes or failures to eject or failures to feed of any kind.
Also, I note that Para is now sourcing their mags from Mec-Gar of Italy. This is NOT a bad thing as Mec-Gar makes some of the finest pistol mags in the industry.
Lastly, the pistol shoots a bit low and left. It's not a huge problem as I'll probably have it fitted with adjustable sights anyhow, and even if I didn't it could be corrected by drifting the rear and filing the front, but it's always an annoyance when a fixed sight gun does not shoot to point of aim.
That's all I got for ya! It was a pleasure to shoot. I like the feel of a high cap 1911 (always have and I make no apologies for it), and Para seems to be continually improving the fit and finish of their arms. It's not a Kimber, but it's right in the pack with the Ruger or Springfield 1911s for finish.
Cheers,
Oly