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Para Ordnance 'Investment Cast ?"

8K views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  Paten 
#1 ·
I was going to buy a PO LTC, and the rep told me that it was forged frame and slide. Looking itto it further, PO says they're Investment cast. I've went with forged guns, except the glock, and just don't feel comfortable with the cast frame and slide. Any input on this issue?
 
#2 ·
EOD said:
I was going to buy a PO LTC, and the rep told me that it was forged frame and slide. Looking itto it further, PO says they're Investment cast. I've went with forged guns, except the glock, and just don't feel comfortable with the cast frame and slide. Any input on this issue?
If done properly, there is no reason to be wary of a cast slide/frame. Para Ordnance has a good rep for reliability, so I woudn't let the cast -vs- forged issue influence my decision too much.
 
#3 ·
Ruger uses investment casting on ALL of their frames and recievers, and I doubt you will find a stronger gun than a Ruger. Just check a reloading manual. For example, there is .45 Colt and then .45 COlt for Ruger and Contender ONLY. Just try to drill and tap something on a Ruger and you'll see. I tried to install a swivel stud on the front of my mini-14. I ruined 7 drill bits and 3 taps to get the job done. If done properly, investment cast steel is EXTREMELY tough stuff.
 
#4 ·
As for Rugers toughness, I have had a NIB Ruger Redhawk .357 magnum send its' barrel down range with the sixth shot in the first cylinder shot through it. The ammo was factory Winchester 158 grain hollowpoints and the cause was a flaw in the casting. I have also had a Auto Ordinance crack its' cast frame inside of a couple of hundred factory rounds. In addition to this I am in the oilfield business and I work with machine shops on a daily basis. We use no cast products in our downhole tools for a numbe or reasons. Cast products do not have high enough ratings in the categories of shock, vibration and temperature. I am not anti-Para, in fact I am going to buy a LDA Carry. But, I will say this, even quality casting is not at the same level as a forging.

ranburr
 
#5 ·
Po Ltc

I've had mine for 3 months now. Over 1200 rounds thru it. Fit & finish are great. No problems with it and it shoots like a dream. - Sabalo
 
#6 ·
Haven't read many complaints about the LTC/SSP from Para. - Read none. The guns are awsome. Let Para know who the Rep was that told you the frames were forged. The aren't and I don't understand why a rep would indicate otherwise. There is nothing wrong with cast frames or slides, just another way of getting to the same place with less cost - translates in to a gun we mortals can afford.

Aside from Ranburr blowing up his Ruger I have not heard of many other cast failures. Certainly Rugers have a reputation for strength. Their .44 Mag's are said to be as good as they get and I have heard nobody suggest they are weak guns because of the cast frames.
 
#7 ·
The arguement of cast versus forged has been around along time in the gun business. There's always other things compared that are forged or cast everything from drill bits to crankshafts which still proves nothing when we are talking about guns and there intended use. There's different ways of creating a forged part and to my understanding true hammer forged is the strongest and gun parts are not true hammer forged. I've built and shot many different raceguns that were put to very high degrees of stress because of the loads being used in them. I would say the one I put through more stress than any was an All Sport Forty racegun built using a P-16 Para as the base gun. Yes this gun was built using the Para frame and slide and survived going past the 100,000 round count of some very high pressure loads. I might add that the only frame that I've ever had break on me was a forged frame from a very well known stateside manufactures gun. This is not saying that forged is worse than cast as this is only one example out of a large amount of frames built. All this being said I believe you can get a good or bad frame or slide from either method and I certainly have no worries about building a great gun using a good quality cast frame or slide.
I'm sure the arguement of cast versus forged will last way past my time and good guns will continue to be built using both methods.
Regards
Bob Hunter
(816) 675-2340
www.huntercustoms.com
 
#9 ·
#13 ·
As Bob noted, I would like Altarr to expand on his report so that all forum members can learn from such an unusual experience. Seldom does anyone experience that level of failure so quickly. This might be very interesting and educational.

But I noticed that the original thread was over a year old. Perhaps a moderator might consider moving Altarr to a new thread where we can identify and follow it more conveniently.

Merry Christmas, everyone.
 
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