I have been looking at 1911's for a while ( my first one). I was ready to buy a Kimber and then the prices went thru the roof. I had heard some good thing about the Para and was ready to do it when a Springfield Milspec seemed to good a deal to pass up. Bought it today , should be here Thursday. The Para and Springfield seem to be just good basic 1911's. A good place to start the 1911 bug. Enjoy your search.