FIRST LOOK!

PARA-ORDNANCE

P16.40
I

NEW .40 S&W FIREPOWER

This New Single-Action 1911-Style Shooter Is Already Proving To Be A Top Competition Gun And Promises To Be Aces For Defense Work. By Garry James
n a fairly short period of time Para-Ordnance has made a pretty substantial name for itself purveying a line of Government Model-style high-capacity .45 autos. I have had the luck to test a number of them in the past (in fact, one of the companys P.12s is my current house gun) and have found them to be very accurate, reliable and, despite a thicker grip to accommodate expanded magazines, very comfortable to hold. While the ridiculous Crime Bill put 10-round restrictions on magazines manufactured after it went into effect, Para-Ordnance has enough of a stockpile of large-capacity .45 mags to keep it going for some time. The pistols are sold with a 10-round mag to mollify the feds, though certificates for two of the big jobs come with each gun and may be obtained for $47 each, via mail. Unquestionably the .40 S&W has become a pretty hot round of late and may just be the answer for those who dont really feel the 9mm Parabellum has enough juice to adequately fulfill the defense role. Para-Ordnance, recognizing the rounds popularity and impressive ballistics, has now brought out a highcapacity .40 S&W version of its excellent pistol, which is called the P16.40. Again, the gun is a well-made 1911 type with all the usual controls and handling characteristics of the P-O updated classic. As the pistols name indicates, it has a 16-round magazine capacity though, like the .45s, the P16 will come with a 10-rounder plus a certificate to order the larger unit as an aftermarket option. Be aware, though, that the 16-round .40 mags are in somewhat limited supply, as Para-Ordnance did not have enough time to produce large quantities before the Crime Bill lowered the boom, so supplies of .40s will be much more limited than those of the .45s. Of course, police and other law-enforcement agencies will get their guns as 16-shooters right off the bat. Apparently the P16.40 is already a popular piece with competitive shooters, and because of this the initial run of 1,000 guns was thinned out pretty quickly. Take heart, though: By the time this article appears the new autos should be around in some abundance. As noted earlier the P16.40 is of the Government Model persuasion. Grips are black checkered plastic and the frame is steel. Sights are a simple but effective three-dot setup with square notch rear and blade front. We took the new Para-Ordnance to the elegant Angeles Range in Tujunga, California, along with some SureFire .40 S&W 180-grain FMJs and Eldorado Starfire 155-grain JHPs. For a time, the JHPs gave us a bit of feeding trouble, but as the gun was worked in a bit, chambering and ejection was impeccable, as it was with the SureFire fodder. The P16.40 handled extremely well and recoil was quite light. Apparently this is one of the reasons competition shooters favor this gun, as muzzle rise is on a

STEPHEN LEE/PPC PHOTO

The P16.40 employs the standard 1911-style controls. The author found the slide release a bit sticky to operate one-handed but feels this will smooth out with use.
GUNS & AMMO/MARCH 1995 61

PARA-ORDNANCE

P16.40
Recoil with the new .40 pistol was light and muzzle rise was on a par with some compensated handguns.

Like other Para-Ordnance products, the new P16.40 in .40 S&W is built along Government Model lines.

Sights are your basic three-dot set-up with a square notch rear teamed to a blade front.

par with some compensated autos. We fired the gun from a rest at 25 yards with our best groups coming from the SureFire ammo, closely followed by the Starfire. Top spread of the day was two inches, with four out of the five rounds measuring a scant 118 inches. Rapid-fire spreads, offhand from seven yards, were pretty regular two-inch-plus groupings. The trigger came in at a crisp

SPECIFICATIONS
PARA-ORDNANCE P16.40
Maker/Importer: Para-Ordnance Mfg. Inc. Dept. GA 3411 McNicholl Ave. Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1V 2V6 Action type: Semi-auto, single action Caliber: .40 S&W Capacity: 16+1 Overall length: 812 inches Barrel length: 5 inches Weight: 2 pounds, 9 ounces Finish: Black matte/semi-gloss Sights: Three-dot, rear drift adjustable for windage Grips: Black checkered polymer Price: $745
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Despite the large-capacity (16-round) magazine, the grip of the P16.40 is not too large to manage, even for someone with fairly small hands.
five pounds with virtually no creep. It is difficult to fault the performance of the P16.40, though I do admit that the slide release was a bit sticky to flick off with the right-hand thumb. Still, I have a feeling that once the gun is broken in a bit more this too will smooth out. Overall fit and finish of the gun was very good, with front and backstrap striations and a black matte frame finish and semi-gloss slide. While the P16.40 is a full-size auto with five-inch barrel, Para-Ordnance tells me

The best 25-yard rested group of the day measured just over two inches. Ammunition used was SureFire 180-grain FMJ.
that it will also be coming out with more compact P12 and P13 versions. The only catch will be that there will be no extendedcapacity mags offered to the general public; they will be reserved for police. It looks like Para-Ordnance has done it again with the P16.40. Ill admit Im more of a .45 ACP and 9mm Parabellum man, but this gun could certainly turn me into a .40 aficionado. Its nice to see that such a traditional design as the Government Model can still manage to be turned into state of the art.

GUNS & AMMO/MARCH 1995