A Cautionary Tale

Some comments on the little 1911 post reminded me about cautions for all of us in this spectacular "gun of the month" environment. Yes, it is the Golden Age of Handguns...any flavor you can think of is being sold by someone. The question was how did the Para USA Carry 9, a little 9mm LDA I liked from the first time I shot it (here's my 2008 review), hold up under regular use? The answer is, "Great," with a caveat.

With this flood of new guns has come the increasing phenomena of "orphaned" guns, e.g. manufacturers are quick to introduce new models, but they're equally quick to discontinue those that didn't meet the users' fancy. I figured the Carry 9 to be a hit, but it had two strikes against it. As a mini-9, it was about a year before its time. The mini-9 "revolution," spawned I believe by the flood of new people coming into the CCW market who purchased the little .380s and wanted to step up in caliber.

Secondly, Para was in the midst of a painful move from Canada to North Carolina...we didn't know just how painful until much later, and last year Para USA was purchased by Freedom Group. The Carry 9...in fact, all of the 9mm Paras with the exception of the full-sized single-action Limited, were pared from the line.

Short story, Para mags for the Carry 9 disappeared. Unfortunately, so did one of my 2 magazines that came with the gun...constant travel, packing and unpacking, range work, etc., can be hard on a gun and accessories, and somewhere between here and there I lost a mag. I discovered I couldn't replace it. The Para website doesn't list the extra mags as available for purchase, nor do any of the big Internet retailers who normally stock magazines (Midway USA, Brownell's, Cheaper Than Dirt, CDNN, J&G, etc.).

I recently found out Check-Mate mags did a run of 7-rounders, and I'm waiting to see if I can pick off half-a-dozen, which would allow me to put the little Carry 9 back in service.

I was also reminded about the Star PD, the first lightweight 1911 that worked well (unless you shot it to pieces...never a multi-thousand round gun). I carried a Star PD for a long time. I kept the Star after I moved on to other carry guns in 9mm because it's a neat little gun to shoot. I didn't shoot it because it has a recoil buffer system to protect the aluminum frame, and the buffer deteriorates. No more Star; no more buffers.

Interestingly enough, I discovered that buffers are now once again available — you gotta love American ingenuity! I ordered some in case I ever have this overwhelming urge to shoot the little .45 again...one never knows, does one?

So I guess the short story is when you buy a gun, especially an eclectic gun, for CCW and, after a test period, decide you really like it, buy extra mags and whatever parts of the gun that are "consumables," especially anything made of plastic, etc. Notice that I'm not saying don't buy such a gun...yes, there will probably be 1911, Glock and S&W revolver parts being dug up by alien races performing the archeological autopsy on the Late Great Planet Earth, but if you carefully plan — certainly plan better than me! — you ought to keep anything running pretty much forever. Or at least until the home fabrication machines become readily available and as cheap as iPads.

Also, note that just because I like something doesn't mean that it will be a success! LOL!