Colt Delta 10mm ?'s

rballi

I have some questions about the Colt 1911 in 10mm.

What is the difference between the Delta and the Delta Elite?
Can you shoot .40 S&W in the gun? If yes, what mods are needed?
Approx value of the gun? Anything in particular to look for?

Pros & Cons of the gun.

A friend of mine said he had a Colt 10mm that he wants to do some trading for. I have not seen it, he said it was blue and it had, trigger job, flat mainspring housing, and night sights.

Your comments are appreciated.

Roy

budmott

IMHO
Awesome firearm. Have the Colt First Edition.
It would take a barrel change to shoot .40S&W.
Value, $750 - $800. Have seen some price $900.
Anyway I like the one I have....
later,
bud

If it weren't for lawyers, I wouldn't need a lawyer.

MPinkston

Excuse my ignorance, but wouldn't that be like shooting 38 spl in a 357 magnum? Everything is the same except the length.

aguncollector@yahoo.com

ATF

To M Pinkston, Just about the same.

ATF

Edited by - ATF on 05/22/2002 11:17:37

cpermd

Not similar at all.
These headspace on the casemouth.
38 and 357 headspace on the rim.
cpermd

lrarmsx

MPinkston, unlike .38's in a .357, where the round is indexed by it seating on the rim of the shell. In the case of a 10mm or .40S&W you are dealing with a rebated rim that indexes on the front of the chamber. So you must use a seperate barrel to safely shoot the .40. Yes the head of the casing is the same size so the slide remains the same. Some use the same magazine, but they do make a specific .40 magazine as well.

If a person were to just shoot .40 in a 10mm barrel the round may deep seat into the chamber and not reliably go off. Additionally, you are relying on the extractor to hold the round while firing the weapon, rather than the round just seating into the chamber and being held that way. This of course causes added stress to the extractor which may eventually fail.

dustebutt

The Delta is a good weapon. The 10mm is a very good round. I do not know about the value. But I do have 2 of them that shoot great. I do not believe there is a difference in Delta elite and Delta I thought the full name was Delta Elite and people just called it a Delta. I know there is an enhanced model that has I believe a beaver tail safety and a couple of other upgrades. As for as the 40 cal all you need to do is buy a barrel and bushing and have them fitted to the gun. Same goes for the 357 Sig. I saw an article a while back that the author had all 3 just took 3 barrels and I believe he had just 1 bushing just had the barrels fiited for the 1 bushing and the extractor worked a bit was all he had done a first. With drop in barrels from companies like Ed Borwn should be easy. I been wanting to do the change for a while just have had a chance. Oh and yes same mags for all 3 catridges.

ATF

I think some of you misunderstood what MPinkston was saying and also what I replied to him.Shooting a .40 in a .10 m/m is like shooting a .38 spl. in a .357 Mag.Not that it can be done.

ATF

rballi

I saw the gun last night. The slide says Delta 10MM, NOT Delta Elite. It's a matte finish, government style looking gun; no beaver or round hammer. He had some Wilson Goodies in it; adj trigger, steel flat mainspring housing, shock buffs, 1 pc guide rod. He has two grips, colt plastic (not red triangle), and hogue wrap arounds, 1 colt mag, and one mcgar mag, blue colt box. In his goodies were two recoil springs marked 24lb and 15lb; could the 15 have been for shooting 40's? The gun also has trijicons, but the front gas tube was gone, and, not staked on as flush as I would like it. He wants $600 for it. The serial number is in the DEL000070 range.

Any more input would be appreciated.

Roy

Piadea

I did a 40 S&W conversion to a delta by having a barsto barrel fitted. No other alterations are necessay. Going back to 10MM is as easy as changing barrels. Do not use the 15# spring! I think $600 for the gun you are looking at is probably a fair price.

Rocklobster

Your gun will possibly be worth quite a bit, in view of the fact that it has the slide stamped improperly. Colt's has made 2 10mm 1911-style guns- the Delta Elite, and the Delta Gold Cup. The difference is that the Delta Gold Cup is the target variation, having the Accro adjustable rear sight and skeletonized trigger. Both have combat-style(round)hammers. Both made in a stainless or blued finish. No factory matte-finished model. Blued Delta Elite in 98% + condition, worth $515.00-$700.00(NIB condition). Stainless, $550.00-$750.00. "Ultimate" bright stainless, about $80.00 more. Blued Delta Gold Cup, worth $600.00-$775.00. Stainless, $650.00-$900.00. Left side of slide will be stamped either "Delta Elite 10mm Auto" (with "10mm" enclosed in a triangle) or "Delta Gold Cup 10mm Auto". Right side of slide will be stamped Colt's Government Model 10mm semi-auto".

Although the "headspaces on the case mouth" is not strictly true, you'd be smart to use a barrel with a shortened chamber, because after a few 40 S&W rounds, the forward part of the chamber would be so full of firing residue that chambering and extraction of 10mm rounds would be difficult without a thorough cleaning.

If I were you, I'd look at the gun very carefully, because if it's not stamped the way I said earlier, you may be getting ripped off. Especially since it's been refinished also.