Working the Para-Ordnance LDA Carry Companion, Part 1

The initials LDA stand for "Light Double Action." These pistols combine the high-capacity magazine for which Para-Ordnance is widely known with an extremely manageable double-action-only trigger mechanism and great safety features. The pistol is available in 9mm, .40 S&W, plus everybody’s favorite, the .45 ACP. The basic design follows John Browning’s M1911, but the differences between "Old Slab sides" and the LDA are significant.

My first exposure to this pistol initially led me to believe I’d received some single-action variant newly arrived to the world. I expected a double-action response after racking the slide and pulling the trigger; you know, pull the trigger, hammer moves back, hammer falls, trigger returns, pull trigger again. Well, the pull was short and light. It was shorter and lighter than any out-of-the-box DAO duty pistol I’d ever tried, and the hammer fell. Period. I couldn’t single-action cock the hammer again.

It was bobbed. Re-racking the slide was the only way to ready the gun for a second shot, because I wasn’t using live rounds. When I did, the slide cocked the hammer like it does with an M1911. Unlike the M1911, the hammer didn’t remain cocked. It followed the slide forward and stayed forward until the next trigger pull. Then it reared back and fell to discharge the round. Every pull, by the way, was just as short and light as the preceding one. How do they do that?

This is how: Function I’ll be mentioning some strange sounding parts during this explanation. What they are and do will enter into the following discussion of disassembly, so bear with me. The gun is loaded, in battery, with the slide lock and grip safeties engaged. When you grasp the pistol for firing, the grip safety is depressed and unlocks the hammer. The slide lock is then pushed down to unlock the slide.

This moves the straddle and safety lock upward, allowing the platform to do likewise to the drawbar and the platform spring to contact the hammer. The trigger is pulled, compressing its return spring, cocking the hammer, compressing the hammer-return spring, and pulling the drawbar forward. Near the end of trigger travel, the flange on the rear of the drawbar lifts the firing-pin safety-plunger lever to disengage the plunger and compress the plunger spring. The firing pin is now free to move in its channel.

The drawbar next contacts the rear projection on the sear to disengage the sear from its notch in the cam. The hammer and cam rotate forward, reacting to pressure from the hammer-return and main springs, the hammer strikes the firing pin, and the pin ignites the

primer. One round has now been discharged. Recoil of the case against the breechface forces the slide and barrel back, causing the hammer and cam again to rotate in unison (this time backward) compressing the mainspring. The barrel and slide unlock exactly as they do in an M1911.

The slide keeps on moving to the rear, the extractor claw pulls the spent case from the chamber, and the left side of the case strikes the ejector which is fixed in the frame and pivots the The pointer (A) indicates the window in the body of the PXT. When available as a replacement part in the near future, the PXT can be installed in an older LDA pistol not so equipped. brass out the ejection port. The slide has a camming ramp under its right side.

This serves to disconnect the drawbar during the slide’s rearward movement by pushing it down, allowing it to move underneath, and to be held down by the firing-pin safety-plunger lever. Being the hardest working component of the pistol during this backtracking, the slide also rotates the hammer and its cam to the rear. The sear, pushed by the center leg of the sear spring, engages its notch in the cam. This holds the cam to the rear under tension.

By the time the slide has totally recoiled, the firing pin has been retracted and the recoil spring fully compressed. The slide is brought to a stop when its front end strikes the plate portion of the recoil-spring guide. Though the shooter may not have released the trigger, the firing-pin safety will reengage because the drawbar is still held down in the disconnected position by the safety-plunger lever.

The recoil spring, tired of being squeezed, reacts strongly to push the slide forward; stripping of the next cartridge from the magazine, chambering, and lock up are pure M1911. The hammer has also moved forward until its twin locking hooks engage the sear and bring it up short of contact with the firing pin. It remains out of contact until the trigger is fully released and pulled again. What happens next is a repeat of earlier paragraphs in this section.

The second round is discharged, and so on for a total of seven rounds with the Carry Companion and twice that number with the larger-capacity LDA pistols. A

How the Safeties Work When pushed upward, the slide-lock safety directly locks the slide like the M1911, but it also engages a recess in the hammer to keep it from moving to the rear. In addition to that, it moves the straddle up to push the safety-lock lever down. In turn, the lever holds down the drawbar, disconnecting it and the trigger from the hammer assembly and sear. At this point, the trigger can be pulled all day to no avail; it can’t cock the hammer or disengage the sear from the cam.

The bottom of the grip safety, when released, is pushed to the rear by the left leg of the sear spring through the grip-safety lever. Simultaneously, the top of the grip safety pivots forward to block the hammer and rearward movement of the slide. Field Stripping The Para-Ordnance LDA Carry Companion is a Series C6.45 pistol. It does not have a barrel bushing or a recoil-spring plug like some of the other LDA pistols. For those, a barrel-bushing wrench (plastic is recommended) would be required.

For anyone who takes down one Para-Ordnance LDA-Series Pistols (Specifications subject to change without notice) 1 Barrel 2 Barrel Bushing 3 Barrel Link 4 Barrel Link Pin 5 Drawbar 6 Ejector 7 Ejector Pin 8 Extractor (PXT not shown) 9 Firing Pin 10 Firing Pin Plunger 11 Firing Pin Spring 12 Firing Pin Stop 13 Front Sight 14 Grip Safety 15 Grip (2) 16 Grip Screw (4) 16A Grip Screw Locking Rings 16B Grip Screw Bushing 17 Hammer 17A Spurless Hammer 18 Hammer Pin 19 Hammer Strut 20 Cocking Cam Pin 21 Magazine Assembly 22 Magazine Catch 23 Magazine Catch Lock 24 Magazine Catch Spring 25 Magazine Floor Plate 27 Magazine Follower 28 Magazine Spring (not shown) 29 Mainspring 30 Mainspring Cap 31 Mainspring Cap Pin 32 Mainspring Housing 33 Main Spring Housing Pin 34 Main Spring Housing Pin Retainer 35 Plunger Lever 36 Plunger Spring 37 Plunger Spring F/P 38 Rear Sight 39 Receiver* 40 Recoil Spring 41 Recoil Spring Guide 41A Recoil Spring Guide Head 42 Recoil Spring Plug 43 Slide Safety Lock 44 Safety Lock Plunger 45 Sear 46 Sear Pin 47 Sear Spring 48 Slide 49 Slide Stop 50 Slide Stop Plunger 51 Trigger 52 Straddle 53 Trigger Pin 54 Trigger Return Spring 55 Cocking Cam 56 Hammer Return Spring 57 Safety Lock Lever 58 Grip Safety Lever 59 Drawbar Platform Spring 60 Hammer Assembly Pin 61 Drawbar Platform 62 Ambidextrous Slide Lock Safety (not present on featured pistol) *Restricted Note: A spurless hammer is standard on the Carry Companion and full-size law-enforcement LDA pistols.

B A The drawbar/trigger stud, arrow B, can separate easily if not held in place by a finger. of these pistols, here’s a warning: The recoil springs are strong—with a capital "S." Of course, to start out, the pistol is empty, the magazine is out, and you’re wearing eye protection. Place one hand on the grip with the thumb depressing the grip safety and the remaining fingers curled over the slide.

Push forward with the thumb, hang on tightly with your fingers, and move the slide to the rear until the slide-stop lug is aligned with the takedown notch. You have to hang on against the recoil-spring pressure while pushing out the slide-stop pin from the right side of the frame. Due to the pressure, this won’t be easy unless your hand is exceptionally mighty, and it can be downright painful if you have any joint problems. Usually, you’ll hear a little "click" when the stop is ready to come out.

I hope it doesn’t accompany a strained thumb or the sound of a ligament popping loose. When the stop has been removed, you still have to hold on, but you’ll be relieving the pressure as you ease the slide forward and off the frame. Now turn the slide over. Carefully (remembering the spring pressure) lift out the Carry Companion’s recoil-spring assembly. Push the barrel link forward and pull the barrel out the muzzle end.

Field stripped, the gun can be cleaned, but when putting it back together later, make sure the recoil plug is fully seated in its tunnel.

There are also a few other things to remember: (1) The closed end of the recoil spring fits over the spring guide; (2) that end of the spring has to contact the base of the guide; (3) the plunger lever must be pushed down (see photo) or the slide will not run onto the receiver; and (4) once the recoil-spring guide head—forked end down—is in place between the barrel lugs and the recoil plug, swing the barrel link to the rear. Detail Stripping the Slide Pick up two punches.

Depress the firing-pin plunger (#10) with one punch and push the firing pin (#9) forward with the other. When you lift out the firing-pin stop (#12), remember the pin is under pressure from its spring (#11) and will fly away unless you prevent it. Still holding the plunger depressed, pull out the firing pin and spring as a unit. See how the rear of the spring is smaller than it is at the front? That provides Aa friction fit between the spring and pin.

When the two pieces go back together, make sure the small end of the spring is fed on last. To take out the safety plunger and its spring (#37), nudge the extractor (#8) slightly to the rear. One sixteenth inch should be enough so you can lift the plunger and spring free. After they’re out of the way, pull the extractor out to the rear.

About the extractor: This pistol, and all others produced by Para-Ordnance as of mid-February 2004, is equipped with a "power extractor assembly" instead of a single-piece extractor, considered to be the weak link in the design of the M1911. The power extractor assembly, or PXT as the assembly is called by Para-Ordnance, has a patent pending and will probably be patented by the time you read this. It consists of four parts: the body, a coil spring, a plunger, and the claw.

The key or tab, at the opposite end of the claw, hooks into a window in the front part of the body. You’ll have to be a bit cautious or you will launch the plunger when you swing the claw’s tab out the window. When reinstalling the PXT in the slide, the coil spring is inserted into the body. It’s followed by the plunger, then the two components are pushed inward with the claw until the tab/key can be swung back through the window.

The claw itself is deliberately massive to provide 50-percent more contact with the rim of a .45 ACP, and is always under proper tension.

The well-advertised benefits of the PXT include controlled feeding of the cartridge from magazine to chamber, and positive extraction for "infallible" ejection. Yes, it is possible to fit a PXT into an LDA pistol not so equipped. The assembly will cost gunsmiths about $70 to $80. To install it, the extractor tunnel in the older LDA will have to be opened up to accept the body of the PXT.

This can be done by drilling out the tunnel to a little less than the body diameter, then finish reaming it to the final dimension. A hand-held, fixed reamer is recommended over an adjustable reamer. The only other possible adjustment involves the claw. It has already been beveled by the factory at its bottom corner and the bottom edge of the extractor groove to enhance reliable feeding. This measure will not guarantee there will not be a feeding problem due to ammunition.

To explain further, the rim thickness of ammo can and does vary. Therefore, the space between the back end of the claw hook and the end of the extractor groove may have to be widened. Exactly how much wider depends, of course, on the rim thickness of the case, but should only amount to very little stone work. Disassembly of the Receiver This is where you’ll see the really big differences between the LDA and its M1911 ancestor, and the majority of them lie in the rear of the receiver.