TargetTalk

I just stole this Pardini MP .32 S&W long on GunBroker last week. Anyone have any experiences, either positive or negative about them? I currenty shoot a Pardini SP .22 and love it.

This is the original model (from its appearance). Main problem with the ones that came to Canada were casting defects in the frame. I had one that had deep pits above the bolt area - dealer replaced it. Another was so badly defect laden that the frame broke across the chamber area, above the barrel. Do a careful full disassembly inspection. Good luck!

The later models of the Pardini in 32 such as the HP had additional metal in the grip frame around the mag housing to improve the actions strength. I shot an HP for several; seasons until Idecided to concentrate on 45 for CF. The Pardini HP was a great companion to my SP.

I can tell you that mine has had the following problems : soft mags that bent the ejecters resulting in jams, and peened bolt hold open pin. The worst part was the price of 3 replacement mags with no consideration being given by the seller who acknowledged he was aware of the problem. A fellow shooter had a problem with a loose barrel, it is glued in. ( you can read about it on Tony's bullseye blog ) All that being said it is a beautiful gun to shoot on the short line and now works perfectly. Barry

I have seen a couple which have cracked at the rear upper corner of the aperture in the bolt / slide. Still going, after repair by welding, but the repairs look awful.

It seems that these pistols have a possibly serious design flaw: the trigger can be released when the bolt is not in battery, so a deformed case could stick half out of the breech and the round be fired. I suppose this would spray brass shards out of the ejector port, or worse. Is this a serious worry? I gather some authorities have considered this gun 'unsafe' because of this.

I have been offered one, an early model, as illustrated above (no 'racing stripes'). No cracks to be seen, but I haven't had the opportunity to pull it apart yet. Should I consider it? Would I be buying a cracked frame or bolt, sometime in the future? Do the cracks show themselves early or late in the life of the pistol?

I fired 10 rounds with the offered gun (no time for more). Cycled OK. Don't know anything about the (vendor's) ammo load. Had one light strike and miss-fire. The round fired OK when tried again. Can anyone suggest a possible reason for the light strike?

Shooting Kiwi wrote:...It seems that these pistols have a possibly serious design flaw: the trigger can be released when the bolt is not in battery, so a deformed case could stick half out of the breech and the round be fired. I suppose this would spray brass shards out of the ejector port, or worse. Is this a serious worry? I gather some authorities have considered this gun 'unsafe' because of this...

I have wondered about this aspect - the Walther GSP is the same.

At the World Masters last week this happened with a Pardini; the case was near as anything to half way into the chamber and 'blew out' (without setting of the loaded rounds in the magazine).

Getting the magazine and remaining rounds out was an interesting experience as the top of the magazine was expanded and jammed...

I haven't yet had a Pardini to pieces, but, looking at an exploded diagram, and from other pistols, it looks like it might be possible to make a re-shaped disconnector / trigger push-rod to cure the problem.

Anyone done this?

It seems that these pistols have a possibly serious design flaw: the trigger can be released when the bolt is not in battery, so a deformed case could stick half out of the breech and the round be fired.

Not entirely true. The trigger will release with the bolt halfway back, but the hammer can't touch the back of the firing pin. It will strike the rear lower surface of the bolt. An open-bolt discharge is unlikely unless:
A. the firing pin spring is broken, and/or
B. the firing pin channel is clogged with lube and powder residue (I believe the correct technical name for this mixture is "gunge").

Anybody want to bet that the blow out described above was a reload with a high primer?

The big design flaw here is a weak frame which can crack under stress. As a Pardini shooter since 1990, I wouldn't trust a .32 pre "racing stripes."

Thanks William: good info.

Where does the frame crack? Of the five pre-racing stripe MPs I've seen, three had cracked bolts, but I saw no cracked frames.

Are the bolt and frame at risk from gentle target (re)loads?

If the cracking is as a result of, for instance, casting flaws or bad machining producing stress-raisers, one might expect early failures. If the thing has survived this far without failure, is this encouraging, or is it just getting nearer the inevitable?