Pulling the trigger pulls the drawbar forward, cocking the hammer. The hammer, near the end of its travel, disengages the internal firing-pin safety plunger, contacts and disengages the sear and allows the hammer to fall to strike the firing pin.

Accuracy testing was conducted from a rest at an intermediate 15 yards. Despite their inexperience with this pistol, the author and friend Butch were able to keep all shots inside of the targets' X- and 10-rings.

While the LDA's trigger stroke is long, it is very light. At the end is a single-action-type let off with almost no noticeable transition. This is the result of the hammer and cam working separately until they are aligned prior to the release of the sear. The LDA system's uniqueness is that the hammer is not under tension from the mainspring until it is cocked and can pick up the cam. Being that no trigger pressure is needed to compress the mainspring, the result is a trigger stroke that has to felt to be believed.

It should be noted that the slide cannot be retracted unless the grip safety is fully depressed.

Now, to the ham-fisted types out there, that might not sound like much of a difference, but it is. The first time I picked up the CCO-GAP I was, to put it quite bluntly, surprised all to hell at how different it felt. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if those with smaller hands are going to wonder why this wasn't done before.

Disassembly is greatly eased by the bushingless barrel and captive recoil-spring assembly.

As are all of Para's new pistols, the CCO-GAP features the Power Extractor (PXT). A massive claw under constant spring pressure provides 50 percent more contact with the cartridge rim for improved, controlled feeding of cartridges from the magazine and positive extraction and ejection of spent cases.

Other custom features include Griptor grooves on the frontstrap that provide enhanced recoil control even with sweaty hands or when wearing gloves. Recoil control is also enhanced by the small extension on the baseplate of the magazine, allowing a full, four-finger grip.

CCO-GAP TEST-FIRING RESULTS
LOAD	GROUP SIZE (ins.)	VELOCITY (fps)
Speer 185-gr. Gold Dot	3.12	963
W-W 185-gr. Silvertip	3.00	819
Speer Lawman 200-gr. TMJ	2.75	922
Remington 230-gr. FMJ	2.50	704
Speer 230-gr. Hydra-Shok	2.62	744

The Carry Option frame tang, along with the spurless hammer, makes for a snag-free exterior and smooth presentations from concealment, while the extended thumb and grip safeties ensure positive manipulation and disengagement. Sights are the usual three-dot system, but the rear is angled forward and serrated to cut down on glare and allow fast sight alignment. As I discovered later, it worked as advertised.

Fortunately, my storage closet already contained a selection of the proper ammunition, so my friend Butch Simpson and I went to the local range to see what the CCO-GAP could do. For our offhand drills, Gould & Goodrich kindly supplied one of its Yaqui Belt Slide holsters and a mag pouch, while Dave Zimmerman at the Target Barn sent along a supply of NRA D-1 targets for us to perforate.

At the range (after 14 years in this business, this is starting to sound like a broken record), our first chore was to run the CCO-GAP through the mandatory accuracy testing. Considering its intended task in life as a close-range, defensive handgun, we fired a series of five-shot groups with each brand of ammo from a rest at a moderate 15 yards. The Para tended to print a bit high, but once we had the hang of this we were able to produce nicely centered groups ranging from two to 31?2 inches. It showed a definite preference for heavier bullets, with honors going to Remington's 230-grain hardball and Federal Hydra-Shoks a close second.