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Like the other guns in Para’s line-up, the Hawg 9 uses a one-piece, fully supported match grade, stainless steel barrel. Traditional 1911s use a feedramp on the frame, but with a supported barrel, like the Hawg 9’s, the feedramp is actually integral to the barrel. The cone shape of the barrel eliminates the need for the traditional barrel bushing, and the muzzle features a well-executed, slightly concave and polished crown. Because the barrel is just 3 inches in length, it would be nearly impossible for Para engineers to get the spring mass necessary to hold the slide in battery, let alone cycle properly in the short area under the barrel. Accordingly, they devised a dual spring setup with a full-length recoil spring guide. It features a small, tightly coiled spring around the guide rod and a larger spring, wound in the opposite direction, around a cap that slides over the guide rod and spring. It’s a simple setup that works well and it still very easy to disassemble and easy to hand cycle the slide to chamber a round.
Para uses a firing pin safety in the Hawg 9 that will prevent the gun from firing if dropped on its muzzle. There’s a lever in the frame that rises when pressure is put on the trigger and depresses a plunger in the slide that allows the firing pin to move freely back and forth. Without pressure on the trigger the mechanical block remains in the firing pin’s way. The Hawg 9’s thumb safety is extended and engages and disengages crisply with just the right amount of pressure, something very important for a defense gun, which is carried cocked and locked. To prevent hammer bite the little Para uses a short beavertail grip safety and it proves most effective.
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