Para-USA's 10mm Elite LS Hunter Part 1

Funny. I write “Para-USA” and some people read, “Para Ordnance”. Para Ordnance went away in 2009 when one of the original partners passed away and the other took the company out of Canada and set up shop in a more gun friendly North Carolina. The new entity, Para USA, quickly began modernizing the Para product line and building an improved grade of firearm. !in 2012, Para USA was acquired by the Freedom Group. No, not exactly Odysseus’s journey to Ithaca, but many business logistical and managerial transitions for the company to navigate. In February 2015,  Para USA manufacturing will move to Huntsville, Alabama, Remington’s new and expansive centralized manufacturing location.

We’ve looked at a few of Para’s current models, like the Black Ops 1911, the Pro Custom 14.45 and the Elite Commander and found them to be reliable and accurate 1911’s. They are standouts in a market place flooded with cheap imports manufactured with soft frames and slides and filled with poorly fitted parts. My own Para USA Elite Commander was purchased a year or so ago. It has been shot extensively, digesting many rounds of +P ammo and stiff handloads, with no accelerated wear and no loss in accuracy or functional reliability.

 

Like the Elite Commander, the Para USA Elite Long Slide Hunter has a stainless ramped match grade barrel and a stainless frame and slide blackened with an Ionbond© PVD Finish. Unlike a surface coating like Cerakote, the Ionbond© PVD process is a high temperature applied plating where the parts held in a vacuum are coated with vaporized metal. The surface easily wipes clean, holds lubrication and it is highly resistant to wear. A very slick mechanical assembly overall, each pistol is hand assembled and fine tuned.

Between the smallish diameter bright green fiber optic front sight, non glare micro adjustable rear sight and the LS Hunter’s long sight radius critical aiming at 50 yards is easy. The 0.108″ front sight post and significantly wider 0.129″ rear sight do not obscure a target. It would be nice to have a compatible FastFire sight base for this pistol as it would be great setup for New England woods hunting and other similar settings.

Controls? Right where 1911 muscle memory puts them…

In the course of building parts bin custom 1911s, I have installed some of the worst slide stops, magazine releases, thumb safeties, etc. They remain on the subject pistol for a week or two, until I get bored, give up and accept that they offer no advantage over the standard parts… with the exception of an extended thumb safety.

The Para Elite LS Hunter puts the controls where they are supposed to be and where muscle memory will put your digits as required. The extended thumb safety is pretty much the standard configuration and the fact that it is ambidextrous does not bother me. Who knows? I could fall out of my truck, run over my right hand and be forced to shoot lefty and it otherwise does not get in the way.

The 10mm Auto. Isn’t that really why we are all here?

The 10mm Auto next to the .45 Auto. Yes, I did skip the 40 S&W and thank you for noticing. My thought was that the 45 Auto, not the 40 S&W, represents the 1911 tradition and the 10mm Auto its potential.

 

Cartridge	Case Length “	Overall Length “	Capacity H2O	Pmax PSI
45 Auto	0.898	1.275″	25	21000
10mm	0.990	1.260	24	32750
40 S&W	0.830	1.135	20	35000

No, the lines cannot be drawn as cleanly as they are presented in the little boxes, at least not between the 45 Auto and the 10mm Auto. The 40 S&W is about where it is going to be. For the 45 Auto, there is the +P at 23,000 PSI, the Super at 28,000 PSI and the reach to the 460 Rowland at 40,000 PSI. However, each time the 45 Auto is boosted to the next level, safety margins decrease and components and ammo become more specialized. For historical 10mm/40 S&W context.

The Bren Ten, the 10mm Auto and the 40 S&W

Around 1983, the 10mm Auto round was introduced for the Bren Ten. The Bren Ten was the brainchild of Jeff Cooper, based on the CZ 75 and manufactured by Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises. 200 grain ammo loaded by Norma generated 1,200 fps of muzzle velocity and 640 ft/lbs of kinetic energy from a 5″ barrel. According to Cartridges of the World, Norma loaded this ammo to a mean working pressure 37,000 psi and a maximum pressure of 44,400 psi with a maximum COL of 1.275″. By 1986, unable to perfect function and continue development, Dornaus & Dixon went out of business. 10mm Auto far left, 40 S&W near.

Between 1987 and 1989, the FBI evaluated the 10mm auto in comparison to the 45 Auto and the 9mm Luger. The 10mm auto out powered the 9mm Luger and it defeated the 45 Auto marginally in performance, but significantly with superior accuracy. Still, in 200 grain high performance form, the 10mm round was determined to have too high of an operating pressure and its velocity was excessive. In 1989 these issues were resolved when a 180 grain subsonic version of the cartridge was adopted by the FBI. Jumbo shrimp.

In 1990, S&W and Winchester released the 40 S&W, a shorter cartridge that could duplicate the ballistics of the larger, FBI reduced load 10mm Auto. Citing early 10mm Auto S&W pistol production problems and residual complaints of excessive recoil, the FBI switched to the then new 40 S&W. The 10mm Auto went on to a more refined commercial specification; 37,500 psi Maximum Average Pressure, 38,700 psi Maximum Probable Lot Mean, and 40,500 psi Maximum Probable Sample Mean. Reference velocities are 155 grain 1,410 fps, 175 grain 1,275 fps, and 200 grain 1,150 fps. Maximum COL is 1.260″.

As a point of reference, the 40 S&W reference pressures are 35,000 psi, 36,100 psi and 37,800 psi respectively and standard velocities are – 155 grain 1,195 fps, 180 grain 985 fps. By specification there is a significant separation in performance between the 10mm Auto and the 40 S&W. As a practical matter, commercially loaded 10mm ammunition typically exceeds its velocity standards by 25 fps to 50 fps which further widens the performance gap between the two cartridges. No where in this universe does the 40 S&W approximate the performance of the 10mm Auto, other than in the minds of government bureaucrats who are taken to dinner a lot by corporate executives. Of course I’m kidding.

Now we know what everyone says…

Lot of folks feel the 10mm Auto is adequate for deer and hog hunting. How do I know? Because they write to me with great passion every time I say it is not. So we will take a look at defensive handloads and we will take a look at something more appropriate for hunting the afore mentioned mammals. It is my theory that this 6″ gun, this long slide gun can prove to be hunting worthy and I can save face by pointing to the 6″ barrel as the deal maker.

Something to consider – Using a 3″ ordinate, point blank range is 135 yards with a 115 yard zero. We’ll be back with Part 2 after we have a chance to put together a good cross section of ammo and after we’ve had a chance to live fire wring out the Para USA Elite LS Hunter.

Para-USA’s 10mm Elite LS Hunter Part 1
Para-USA’s 10mm Elite LS Hunter Part 2