It seems the branding death march continues at Freedom Group, as more and more of the smaller brands under the Remington umbrella are killed off and merged with Big Green proper. The latest casualty is Para USA, a 1911 handgun manufacturer known for competition handguns and good quality products. In a press release this morning, Remington announced that Para USA will no longer exist as a separate brand, and their products will be sold under the amalgamated Remington branding instead. Make the jump for the presser . . .
At Remington Outdoor Company (“ROC”) we develop, manufacture and market the highest quality firearms, ammunition, and related products. We have built ROC by acquiring and cultivating great brands and products, such as the Remington 870 and 700, DPMS rifles, AAC suppressors, Barnes Bullets ammunition, Para USA handguns, and more while continuously investing in our people and facilities. In 2011 Remington re-entered the handgun market with the critically acclaimed R1 1911, an updated version of the 1911 Remington made for the US government in World War I. Most of ROC’s new product launches and acquisitions have gone well, but they aren’t always perfect and, candidly, we did a poor job with the Marlin factory relocation and the R51 launch. These were expensive but valuable lessons.
In 2012, with a goal of expanding its handgun line, ROC acquired Para USA (“Para”), a company that specialized in the production of competition, high capacity, and double action 1911-style pistols. Following Remington’s acquisition, Para, which had been experiencing quality control issues, saw a steep decline in warranty claims.
In 2014, ROC announced its new, world-class firearms center of excellence in Huntsville, Alabama. Here, Remington is integrating product development, engineering, production, and quality control – a first in Remington’s 200-year history. The integration of modern sporting rifles, suppressors, and Remington pistols commenced immediately, and Para is scheduled to move to Huntsville next month.
Para’s products have a strong following due to their key technical and performance features, which are different than many 1911s, including Remington’s own R1 line. ROC intends to keep these features and benefits that our customers have come to trust, while transferring Para’s operations to Huntsville and rebranding Para to Remington. We have learned from our mistakes, listened to our customers, and have a clear plan to smoothly integrate Para. This includes keeping popular Para products, characteristics, and names such as the “Warthog,” while improving quality with state-of-the art machining and engineering in Huntsville, AL.
Further, ROC will recognize and continue to support Para’s Lifetime Warranty promise on all Para handguns.
For assistance with Para warranty inquires, please call 888-999-9386 or email us at [email protected]
It makes you wonder what other brands will be on the chopping block next. DPMS? TAPCO? AAC?
No surprise here. When you buy another company, it is either to kill i off as competition, or make its brand a part of your own.
That’s nonsense. Having different brands in a portfolio often makes sense as a marketing differentiator. Take Battenfield Technologies, for example – they’ve got Caldwell, Wheeler, Frankford Arsenal, etc. I don’t know about you, but when I hear “Frankford Arsenal”, I know it’s reloading stuff, it’ll be low-priced, quality will be mixed but probably acceptable, etc. If they dumped all that under the “Battenfield Technologies” name, I would lose that brand knowledge.
FYI, Battenfield was recently taken over by Smith and Wesson. I think you are correct in that Battenfield will continue to exist under its present name along with its subsidiary brands.
this is the beginning to the end of Remington and the freedom group as we know it. If I was an AAC silencer employee I would definitely be worried as well as a Marlin employ. They’re going to cut all the companies and kill the name of everything that is not a profitable company. AAC and Marlon haven’t been doing very well since freedom group took over they’re trying to cut their losses.just goes to show you win big business gets involved in the firearms industry production goes up quality hits the s******!
Look at S&W a few years back! I mean, a European company buys an American firearms firm? What could go wrong?
I bet DPMS. I like my G2 308, but I could see Remington renaming it the R10 or whatever and axing the Panther.
What an ignorant statement. AAC made more profit in the 6 years since Remington owned them than they did in the previous 14 years combined prior to the buyout. Marlin had similar results.
And how many ways are you going to spell Marlin?
They made plenty of profit at the expense of their reputation, dignity, creativity and history. You don’t keep a brand going by pumping out garbage, just look at 80s US automobiles. Unfortunately for Remington, Uncle Sam is not eager to bail out a firearm company.
I own marlin products. T7000. Cannot buy parts for it. I own Para-usa products.Since Remington has closed the Pineville factory they will either have to submit all the new Huntsville made guns for testing to CADOJ or we in CA will lose three more handguns off our roster of available firearms. Not that that matters to anyone of course. I have a Elite 1911 that the thumb safety broke on and Remington says it will be twelve weeks turnaround.
Don’t think Big Green is going to be my color.
BOYCOTT their junk
Buy replacement parts from Brownell’s. They carry just about everything. And EGW makes forged & machined parts, & none of that “M.I.M.” B/S…!!
Also, Smith & Alexander is a great company – they make a lot of different 1911 parts – even for the Warthog/P10 series of 1911. They even offer mainspring housings WITH lanyard loops for those that want them! And they’re available in either aluminum or stainless steel. None of that plastic/polymer/MIM crap that seems to be the rage of parts manufacturers these days!! S&A is a great company. Look, for those of you who want replacement parts, look around!! eBay offers a ton of stuff!! I recently bought a pair of P10/Warthog “upper receivers” (slides/barrels/sights/extractors/firing pins – everything needed to mount on a P10 frame..!! These even came with the Para-USA “match” grade (and labeled) barrels..!! eBay has TONS of stuff. On top of that, don’t forget SARCO as well as Numrich Gun Parts. I recently (within the last few months) bought a batch of 8 Para P10/Warthog 10-round, .45ACP magazines from SARCO…!! These are all “factory/OEM” parts – both Canadian and USA mfgr’d. The point in all of this is, the parts are out there IF you’re willing to do a bit of research & “leg work”…! Whining about Remington’s lack of business acumen will get you nowhere, and the parts you’re looking for ARE still out there – but you gotta look for them..!! – JY
no big loss, para was “meh” on a good day.
I’d respectfully disagree. I still have a variety of Para’s Canadian-made LDA and SA pistols, and I’ve never had a problem with them. The LDAs, in every configuration, all had the same excellent trigger pull. All keepers!
+3! I have three Canadian-made Para with LDA triggers, ranging from compact single-stacks to a wide-body .45. They are perform very well; two of them are regular carry pistols. Granted, I did buy these before the transition to Para USA, so they may have been manufactured prior to the alleged quality issues.
It’s a shame that the Para piston upper for the AR platform didn’t catch on. It seemed fairly innovative as well, although perhaps a bit more fragile than other offerings.
+4 I carry a Para Expert (2013 production) and it eats anything I feed it. I’ve never had any reliability issues, the fit and finish are outstanding, and sadly enough it makes my Colt Commander look like garbage. But there again I did pick the Colt Commander up on Bud’s, so what can I expect.
I have a P-13 that I’ve owned since the mid-90s and it has never given trouble.
The next to go will be Para’s hi-cap 1911s.
Nick — you didn’t note or comment on one significant aspect of the presser: they acknowledge the Marlin and R51 screwups. That marks a small step forward in Big Green’s corporate communications.
For an acknowledgement like that to get approval to be put into a news release usually indicates that the problem was noted at a high level and management attention has been directed to fix it. If this pans out, that’s a good thing.
Now they need to apologize to Nick for running him out of their SHOT Show booth because he gave an honest review of a gun they now admit had issues.
“We have learned from our mistakes, listened to our customers, and have a clear plan to smoothly integrate Para”
Bullshit.
Yeah, it’s B.S. Learned from their mistakes? Geez,, Remington management operates in a slow and lethargic industry compared to fast moving higher tech industries like the computer hardware and software industry. The source of the problem is lazy and inept management that has destroyed the companies to the point that they can’t build 75 and 100 year old gun designs (1911 & R51).
And I find it odd that the hats sold at Walmart that have the Remington logo on them sell out quickly. Fanboys in denial or miore likely Remington gun owners that don’t know about the decline of the company.
Anyone get the feeling this is gun control by removing and destroying good manufacturers/firearms?
Not ready to believe it’s more than free market/competition, without some manner of evidence. Nobody likes your products, or your politics piss customers off, you have a problem, no conspiracy necessary.
No. Just crappy business practices.
You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.
Exactly; never assume malice where incompetence will suffice.
I’ve actually considered that, but if you look at cerbeus (sp?) and what happened after the newtown shooting it makes some since. The certain share holders wanted the bank to dump the firearms side. Namely the freedom group and specifically bushmaster. Ever since then the freedom group has expanded. Taking over more and more companies. ruining more and more good names. It’s gotten to a point where I won’t buy any freedom group product out of fear of quality control issues. Could it be bad management? Sure but other possibilities do exist.
Yep. Cerberus, a three headed dog guarding the gate way to the underworld. In other words hell.
And then they call themselves the Freedom Group that is ending up destroying and driving into the ground what were very good companies making very good weapons. The can be used to defend freedom.
The greatest lie that too many believe is that evil as represented by Satan does not exist.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but Cerberus/freedom group would have had to be willing to tank their own investments to do that and I just don’t see even the most gun hating control freaks willing to do that.
I attribute it more to smart businessman buying into a successful product(firearms) that really does take some knowledge of the product from the fit go to run successfully as a business. They didn’t have that knowledge and so they ruined almost every brand they touched.
Basically this. Firearms are one of the few industries left where planned obsolescence is considered wholly unacceptable by the consumer and where very high quality is expected (people don’t buy unreliable guns).
Cerberus tried to do what Wall Street does and consolidate and cut costs (qc, machining time), not knowing that this would kill them in the minds of their customers.
Whenever I hear Remington, I think that it’s going to be shit until proven otherwise. And maybe that isn’t fair to Remington, but their marketing department sure hasn’t convinced me otherwise.
Yeah I was wondering the same thing. If you cant get it straight on then go around back- all sneaky like. Get a bunch of money together, slap a friendly “freedom” name on it and buy up all the gun manufactures and slowly dismantle the whole thing and make it look like incompetence. Most who would put up a fight, will now gladly see it go away, disgusted cuz the brand went to crap. I heard somewhere about an idea to attack ammo buy shortening the shelf life of the powder. wanna buy bulk ammo? you’re all proly just a buncha “bitter clingers” ain’tcha?
Considering the hundreds of small gun manufacturers that have opened up, I’d say they’re doing a piss-poor job at gun control.
I’d also say that we shouldn’t confuse stupidity for malice.
Goodbye Pineville, N.C. jobs, huh?
I’m all verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: The Holy Remington Empire was neither holy nor Remington nor an empire. Discuss.
This made me LOL.
“Following Remington’s acquisition, Para, which had been experiencing quality control issues, saw a steep decline in warranty claims.”
I’m guessing Para also saw a steep decline in sales to coincide with the decline warranty work.
i say boycott freedom group ,they are building trash remington ,marlin etc are now junk ,attention non fredom group manufactures ,if freedom calls about acquisition ,hang up ! or youre company will be turned into rubbish ,turning out chinese grade junk.
Tell us what you really think!
I can tell you I have no problem with boycotting FG. Since FG began scooping everyone up the only thing I have purchased was the H&R pardner pump, made in China, but an excellent shotgun for sure. Built like a tank, but has a crappy finish you can scrape off with a thumb nail.
Love my P3.
I owned different models spanning a decade, their QA never improved and neither did the customer service.
“At Remington Outdoor Company (“ROC”) we develop, manufacture and market the highest quality* firearms…”
*not a guarantee.
I bought a Para expert 1911 at Christmas, I got a screaming good deal on it ($314 after rebate), I like it a lot, all the bullets go where they are aimed and it goes bang every time I pull the trigger. I got no problem with Para. Too bad Remington can’t figure out how to make money without killing all of their brands.
P14’s were a decent double stack .45 at the Canadian owners time for most part. For my part if st all possible I don’t buy any weapon made by post freedom group buyout.
Freedom Group has ruined all the brands they bought. Plus fot the price IMO the R1 was a way overpriced RIA. Actually have a .45 & 10mm RIA that were decent accuracy pistols once broken in. In the .45 just needed better magazines.
Plus most police departments purchased shotguns years ago and have not purchased replacements in years. Take a 500/590 Mossberg over any 870 made in the last 15 years.
I would love a remington 870P, but I’ll go find an old one and have it refinished before I buy a new one.
On the bright side that is one less brand to remember not to buy from. In all seriousness, Para used to make good 1911s, it saddens me that Remington continues to strangle brands that were once substantial.
As a businessman, I am stymied that Freedom Group thinks that the average gun guy perceives the Remington brand to be superior to Para. If I was trying to turn that ship around I would shift all Remington 1911 production to Para rather than kill the Para brand, especially given the recent vast destruction of Remington’s intangible value. But then again Freedom Group has repeatedly demonstrated that they are in over their heads. At least they are consistent.
Hmm. Maybe big green will be able to make para magazines available, since para has been unable to for years.
I’ve never had issues getting Para magazines. They even ran a promo a couple of years ago where past purchasers could pick up six at a discount.
Did former White House spokesperson Jay Carney land a job with Remington?
GOD, that would be fun.
It makes you wonder what other brands will be on the chopping block next.
Bushmaster. Because it’s evil and killed a lot of children and stuff. And the California teachers pension fund says so. Maybe they’ll fold it into DPMS or something.
But at this point, does anyone really care about TFG/Remington?
Ha ha, not really. Save for Barnes and Dakota Arms big green is dead to me.
+1 on Barnes
Bushmaster. Because the snake is scary.
H&R Firearms also.
Honestly, I am surprised they have gone as long as they have without merging DPMS and Bushmaster. DPMS is moving to the Huntsville plant so it’s possible they might switch their guns to Remington branding.
Good move! This’ll get those rampant stationary costs under control!
Wow…..they admitted finally that their R51 was a giant piece of shit! Remington always skirts around taking fault with carefully worded excuses. The fact they said it openly, wow. now the big question is are they going to do the right thing and scrap the pistol all together or try to bandaid the gun and keep trying. Best option for them at this point is to give up on any new designs or product and just focus on improving their other major F’Ups
Have no fear, I am sure they are working on improving their FUs night and day.
“Hey, Billy, look at this!”
“Wow, that’s now a truly SPECTACULAR F***up. Wait’ll the boss sees this!!!:
Ban imports, consolidate all major firearm production under a government subsidy program, overt or covert. Sell junk. Your 2nd amendment rights are still protected. Not a sudden way, but a sure way over time. If all that can bought is pure junk, why bother? May think it can not, will not happen. I didn’t think I would see what this country has come to since the 60s (from my point of view) either. People born later and later see it as the “normal”. “Freedom” will be redefined as time goes on. Taught from birth. Those that knew the real thing, in all it’s forms, will be dead and gone.
Someone want to tell them that “Remington” doesn’t mean what it once did.
I’d have bought a Para 1911 before I’d buy a Remington 1911.
So does this mean that Remington will be making a para-Remington 1911? Somehow it seems to me that anything Remington makes would be more para-Para. The leviathan sucks up another once successful brand.
New slogan for Big Green
At Remington. . . we’ve killed-off more manufacturers than gun control.
Soon gun controllers will only have to go after the green box store.
How about we send Remington a message. I did, I purchased an Ithaca 37 instead of a Remington 870. The Ithaca cost more but it was worth it. Check out the Ithaca, you might like it. There is no aluminum on the model 37 and it is light weight.
I see you caught the Ithaca spirit as well. Seems like a great opportunity for Ithaca both with shotguns and 1911 pistols. Yes, Ithaca used to make 1911s and re-introduced their version.
When they listed their troubles, they just kinda glazed over the trigger problems. Imagine that.
I have NO sympathy, their 1911 quality assurance was the pits. I owned three, it took THREE for me to realize how much garbage they truly were. Now to be fair one was inherited but all had similar issues and all were different models! GOOD RIDDANCE.
That sucks. I’ve been impressed by some of the new Para guns.
I don’t think I’ll buy anything that is attached to Freedom Group name. Especially after what happened with Marlin.
No biggie…and I’d rather buy a 1911 with a Remington label than a Para Ordinance label anyhow. 🙂 My only Para I ever owned (double stack P14) was a POS. Took all kinds of work to get it to feed reliably and it still was finicky with certain kinds of ammo. Sold it and never looked back. I’m sure their other/newer models could be a lot better.
sad ive got an older para p-12 and its been a gem , will keep it forever ,too bad big money is running another company into the ground ,, ive got older remmys and they are fantastic ,new ones are trash ,you can see the lack of quality in them ,,too bad sorry freedom group ,,,group of what i dont know?
Didn’t douche canoe, or whatever that poetic remington guy say this wasn’t gonna happen?
Got nothing for Remington. They kicked a disabled kid that made good in the shooting sports shooting pistols for PARA to the curb. If they’ll crap on a kid w disabilities what will they do to joe blow consumer. No thanks. No respect.
I get it now! Freedom Group is secretly run by Liam Neeson. In addition to his public ranting, he schemes by acquiring and destroying firearms manufacturers’ reputations and quality control so that nobody wants to buy their products, thus creating de facto gun control. Para USA had the balls to speak out against their secret overlord and the rest is history…”I’ll come for you. I’ll find you, and we both know what’s gonna happen.”
You beat me to it. The first thing that came to my mind after this announcement was Liam Neeson.
I don’t know – some Hollywood producers called the freedom group. Ha ha.
So Para guns were used in Taken 3 and now…a suck ass apology was issued to save face and now goodbye Para.
It wasn’t a suck-ass apology insomuch that it was more a statement of regret of having their products appear in a movie starring a raving anti-gun lunatic and a call for others in the firearms industry to take a stand and boycott the idiot.
Can anybody name the large firearms brands that AREN’T owned by Freedom Group or Cerberus?
http://www.freedom-group.com/
There you go. Should be pretty easy to buy a gun NOT made by a FG company.
Off the top of my head:
Colt Patented Firearms
Smith & Wesson
Sturm, Ruger, & Co.
O.F. Mossberg
Henry Repeating Arms
F.N./Browning
Beemiller aka Hi-Point
Glock brand Glock
C.Z./Dan Wesson
Les Baer
This finally explains why the Para USA website never really took off. It always seemed a work-in-progress. Now we know why…Freedom Group never wanted to give the brand wings and give it, er, freedom. Bye bye, Warthog…
Remington “fizzled” in the 90’s. When they were jettisoned by DuPont they were never the same. If I were to whine about their shotguns, what have they produced that was innovative since the 90’s? All of these were flops, including their cheesy imports:
Remington 105Cti “The World’s Most Advanced Autoloading Shotgun” (Uh, ever see one?)
Remington 300 Ideal O/U
Remington 332 O/U
Remington 396 O/U
Remington 887 “Recall-o-Matic”
Remington Versa Max (recalled as soon as it was introduced)
Remington SPR310
New words were spawned in late 2000’s like “Remlin” and “Marlington” to differentiate a real Marlin from an imposter. And there’s the Remington 700 trigger “controversy” that seems like a broken record thanks to NBC. Remington has become toxic. BTW – What does an investment group know about building firearms?
Instead of just killing Para, Freedom Group needs to commit suicide and kill itself and everything about it.
I have exactly one Para USA pistol, a “Commander Elite”. There isn’t much that’s elite about it. The trigger is plastic, and feels horrible. It will have ftf malfunctions with any mag other than the two 7 rounders it came with.
I bought it for a steal at a Duck’s Unlimited banquet. It’s a DU edition, with FDE ion bond finish. I swapped the realtree grips out, and I’ve considered having it worked over, but already have a dead reliable Sig 1911 that I carry. It has 5k+ rounds, (including 300 Ranger +p consecutive) without a stoppage. I’ll keep the Para as a range toy/display piece. I definitely would not consider purchasing another, or any modern Remington.
I love how they include DPMS and the 700 series as great products. The former not exactly known for high quality AR pattern rifles, and the latter being known for the trigger debacle.
“Following Remington’s acquisition, Para, which had been experiencing quality control issues, saw a steep decline in warranty claims.”
Translation: “My gun may be broken and/or dangerously unsafe, but letting Remington get their hands on it is certain to make things go from bad to catastrophic”.
Talk about being stuck between a rock and Remington.
lets just call out here for a boycott of their junk ,we firearms owners represent a large financial pillar in the business world ,,lets speak out loud with our dollars !!!!!
I bought a black ops 14.45 last year and have had nothing but problems. Parts were broke right out of the box, and the feed ramp looked like it had been polished with a side grinder. I sent the gun in a couple of times to no avail. I ended up gutting the internals and replaced them with wilson combat parts. After some gunsmithing and parts replacement the gun has been reliable for over 500 rounds now with no hiccups. I will never buy another.
Para has made the high capacity 1911. It is a for runner to sti and all the other high capacity 45s…old paras were great… It is a shame that when a country besides usa makes guns they are considered better or as Good as ours made here…with that being said …hats off to the canucks , I have 4 paras …2 being para ordinance. ..the other 2 being para usa…never had a problem with either…but my para usa made pistols are pxts tactical….so not much para guts inside Full stainless steel construction heavy guide rod ambi safety tactical rail checkered frame ed brown national match bushing slide stop and checkered main spring housing Dawson precision mag well cylinder and slide tactical II hammer sear and disconnector power extractor loaded chamber indicator match grade ramped barrel match grade trigger.not a lot of junk there….and now for the point….I don’t ever see remington making anything but junk….hold on to your good paras and sorry for the rest…but these should go up in price….I hope lol!
After staying away from 1911’s for about 20 years and mainly carrying Glocks, I guess I just got bored with utter 100% reliability right out of the box. Kind of like a toyota or honda owner deciding they need to drive a 60’s hotrod with a lumpy cam as their daily driver! I just traded for a para elite carry, almost new. I really like it. Shoots well, accurate and reliable. All the constant negative internet chatter doesn’t really bother me. Hard core gun owners are an opinionated bunch. Opinions are like A-holes, everyone has one, and everyone ELSE’S stinks. I’m picking up another 1911 in a couple of weeks. It’ll be a Colt XSE. I had a Colt commander in the early 90’s that I spent hundreds on trying to get it to run right. ANY company can make junk. You do get what you pay for most of the time.
Actually, Marlin was on a downhill slide when they were bought by the Freedom Group. Marlin stopped changing their worn tooling and started changing the blueprints to match the new tolerances and specs of that worn tooling. There were some necessary growing pains when Freedom Group rescued them. They had to do a whole re-work to fix the damage Marlin was doing. My “RemLin” is a great gun and made to exacting tolerances according to a nationally-known gunsmith who specializes in Marlin lever-guns.
Buy the company, steal the technology, pull out the wealth, leave it to die.
…….and, if I have not made myself clear, I will never buy a Remington product unless the resurrect the Para name and company, intact.
Maybe Remington / Freedom could start by assuming commitments PARA towards those who have trusted this brand! Try to apply on the website of the form PARA (still active) = you receive a registration number of the request and then no news. The US law does not require a corporate buyer to assume the obligations of the acquired company? Yet if he bought it is that hope to draw profit!
(France posted, you can imagine how easy it is to find a replacement part here. The alternative Dawson refuses to sell outside the US and its French dealer did not even respond to messages …)
My penis is fully erect and I’m high on Vicodin.
I have to admit not being a rifle or shotgun guy I wasn’t aware of what Remington was doing. I saw an ad for the “officer” size 1911 and since I had missed owning a Para(ordance) over the years thought I’d get one. I recall the fiasco with their small auto loader but it wasn’t important since I own Shields and a 365. I bought an “officer” size Ruger but it’s junk so my eyes opened when I saw the Warthog new. That was for me. Then I read all these posts. Plastic trigger! Is that true? Well true or not, I’ll just stick with either an S&W or Springfield Officer style. Colt might work except for the “series 80” safety. I’ve got three 1911’s (two S.A and one Ithaca). Wish that Ruger worked better. I should have known better. R is ok for SP101 and GP100 but no more semi’s for me from Ruger.
I still have one of the FIRST PARA P-14 steel frame kits that I built when they first came out and I have never had a problem with it. It has a Rock Island upper on it that fit perfect from the start, I shoot it a lot and have no problems. I also have a P-12 that I have had to replace the barrel bushing once so far they seem pretty thin to begin with otherwise I love it too. Then comes my all time fav. the P-14 TACTICAL 45 acp that Todd Jarrett helped with.. I pig hunt with it and have had no issues with it. Companies either getting killed off or put out of business seems par for the course no n days. If it works and YOU like it, YOU decide what happens to it NOT THE COMMIE GOVT. !!!!!