My Paragon is a nicely made gun. It seems in between a GH and DHE in engraving coverage and wood quality, pretty close to an E Lefever. Certain Paragons have that engraving that is to my eye, the best among mid-grade guns. The dogs have vitality, the birds look alert and real. The metal finish and fit is equal to my other three mid-grade guns, two Parkers and a Lefever, the Lefever has fancier, detailed file work on the frame. The earlier Bakers like mine seem pretty basic in mech. design, the lock up is like a Stevens 311, a slot on the rib ext. and a cam on each side of the lump that engages the frame. Later ones are said to have a Greener crossbolt, I originally was looking for one of those. They cock a little stiffer compared to my other extractor guns. I can't speak to longevity or being prone to breakage or not. The fluid steel ones like mine have Krupp barrels. Mine works fine, is tight and smooth. I consider it my best made gun due to the beautiful engraving, and certain aspects like the grip cap and forend tip treatment. There are other nice models besides the Paragon like the Special Paragon, A, B, N, R and S. Models are confusing, so read up on the website that was linked to. Paragons don't sell very fast, but aren't listed too often either. I looked for a couple years for a fair deal and the one I bought was listed a long time before I bought it. Later ones have blued frames, not case colored by the way. Here are a couple current listings you may have seen already, pricing is pretty robust, so these are probably just to look at--
This is a late one, might have the Greener crossbolt:
https://www.gunsamerica.com/98479387...DELOCK-16G.htm And an earlier one:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/884656731
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