I am interested in a 9mm like the EMP for off-duty carry. I like my Glock but am looking for something more like a 1911. I would prefer to carry in the same DAO format we use at work, that being M&P 9mm; so SAO is out of the question.

How do you like the PDA, and is it really a step up in terms of craftsmanship and accuracy over a Glock? Just looking for opinions.

You mean LDA (Light Double Action)???

I wouldn't trust my life to it (the LDA) or a Para gun. I've had a few bad experiences and heard somethings from well known smiths about them. A forum member here had his Para LDA go out of service from falling off the nighstand onto carpet. It bent something inside the LDA mechanism and I forget if it locked the slide shut or just wouldn't fire. No thanks.

I meant PDA or whatever their 3" 9mm DAO model is.

It seems that 1911's can be hit or miss. I have not come across a Glock that is a miss yet.

Oh. Duh. I knew that! LOL.

Well, either way, I don't care for Para so you won't get praise from me on them. I would look at springfield or kimber if you're looking for a carry 1911.

DAO is obviously not very popular in 1911 format although it seems more 9mm are around.

It leaves for very few options.

i have one and it is becoming my favorite carry. Get one. You wont be disapointed. The lda trigger is great. The pda stands for personel defence assistant. Its a sweet looking gun too.

I have a Para 6.45 LDA (It's the 45acp version of the PDA) I love the LDA trigger and the gun is super accurate for me. The problem is it is hit or miss with cycling ammo through it. Sometimes it works and sometimes It does not. After I put my first 300 rounds through it I called Para and let them know about my failure to feed issues. They told me it needs to be broken in. I put another 200 rounds through it and still had the problems so I called them again. They had me ship it to them (on my bill) when I got it back they had reshaped the feed ramp. It was extremly obvious because it was poorly done each side was even a diffrent shape I could have done twice as nice of a feed ramp reshape at home with my dremmel. (I will take pictures of it if you want to see what they did)
I took it to the range and put 100 rounds through it with a FTF at least once each magazine. I called para and the service rep told me to shoot ball ammo through it. I told him Thats what I was shooting (230 gr wwb) He had me send it back again (On my bill) When I got it back the second time the only thing I noticed diffrent was that they changed the follower in the magazine to a plastic one. I took it to the range and put 200 rounds through it with only about 4 stopages. Much better but still crap. I haven't bothered to call them since (I know thats bad I just could'nt be talked down to again by their service rep. But that is a diffrent story) and only use the gun for range duty because it can't be trusted. It is a shame because the gun when it works is a great gun to shoot. About 2 years after this I found an offer on a Para 10-40 (thats the 40S&W Sub Compact)NIB for $350 so even though I had a bad taste in my mouth from the first one I had to try again. This one worked great but from the factory the sights were about 6-8 inches off to the left at 7 yards. I used a punch and drifted the rear sight over and it works fine now. It still makes me wonder how something like that could get through Quality Control before leaving the factory. Needless to say I will never buy another Para Product again.

I have owned 7 Paras and their quality control is pretty iffy, or at least it has been in the past. Three of the seven guns were never life & death reliable, and that was after two of the three had been back to PO. I swore no more Paras but gave them one more chance with the Carry 9.

The Carry 9 is the precursor to the PDA. Other than looks and improved sights on the PDA I think they are the same gun. Much to my surprise the Carry 9 has been perfect right out of the box. In probably 600 rounds not one malfunction.

Finally, PO service is next to none in terms of promptness. Their warranty is for life, but only to the first owner, and they sometimes ask, and turn-around time has been lighting fast.