10mm 1911 parts gun

[Jimfern]

I promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore 1911s this year, after already buying two, but I came across one that is an Essex frame, Remington Rand Slide 10mm. The price is excellent, but I thought WWII 1911 parts (like the slide) were not as strong as current production 1911s, so I am wondering about the durability of this gun. But maybe all the pressure is in the barrel? Also, I assumed that a 45 slide wouldn't work for a 10mm/40S&W round, but maybe it was worked up.

The owner says it functions flawlessly, but I would hate to buy my 1st clunker gun.

I'm going to look at it tomorrow, but would appreciate any thoughts on it. Sorry I don't have any pictures either.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

the slide is not heat treated to the extent they are today- 10mm is hard on modern guns... i imagine the locking lugs would be beat to crap if they are not already

 

[BBBBill]

If I could buy for ~$200 after a careful examination, I might just buy it out of curiosity and just for the parts if my examination showed that the bulk of them were useable. And that is based on the fact that I'm reasonably knowledgeable after shooting, owning, and smithing these things for over 44 years.
As cyclopsshooter said, the heat treat of the R-R slide is not up to modern standards and anyone that would assemble a 10MM on a 45 slide of any vintage is extremely suspect in my book. Clearly, they have inadequate knowledge of the 1911 platform. I would not shoot it at all. Every round down the tube would be damaging the slide and who knows what else given the nature of the specimen. I would deem it an accident waiting to happen.
A real pig in a poke...

 

[Jimfern]

Price

$200 it ain't, but it comes with ammo (don't know how much yet) and a holster. I figured in my worst case for buying it, if it did function well, I could change out the slide for a modern one and still have a nice shooter, assuming it is a nice shooter.

I have the link to check the slide for cracks and the general 1911 check over list.

Seems like the Essex frame is a decent platform, although a look on the internet yielded the usual not so goods and the company seems to be out of business now.

 

[loadedround]

Jim:
I'm a 10MM fan and probably bought the first Colt Delta Elite to hit my area. I don't wish to comment on the possible purchase of that parts gun, but would like to comment on the ammo available for it if they are reloads. As you know, the 10MM round is a high pressure round and I would never fire anyone else's reloads in an unknown parts gun. I found very high pressure spikes when I first reloaded my 10MM and I just wanted to caution you. My experience indicates this is extremly important if Accurate Arms powders were used in those reloads.

 

[Jimfern]

reloads

Thanks for the info. I don't know if they are reloads, but if they are, I will pull the bullets and roll my own.

 

[Jimfern]

10mm = .451" in Europe

I met with the guy and when I field stripped the pistol the barrel had 45 ACP stamped on it and when I questioned the guy about it, he said he was European and he only thought in terms of the metric system. I didn't bother to try to explain that 10mm was actually only .40" or so. He was a very nice individual and was fine with me not buying.

The inside of the slide looked great but the outside slide stop notch was a different shade of blue, in a circular pattern, from the rest of the bluing on the gun. The frame was not perfectly smooth, but the slide action was smooth and I'm sure it would have been a decent shooter.

Thanks for the help you provided.

 

[rcmodel]

Different color bluing on a slide is not unusual.

The slide stop area, as well as the barrel bushing and locking lug area were differentially hardened on a lot of slides.

Bluing takes better to the softer metal then it does to the hardened ones and hot blue colors come out slightly different.

BTW: I don't think Essex is out of business.
Brownell's still carries a full line of Essex slides & frames.

They were never much for advertising or letting anyone know where they were, or what they were up too.

I've been using their frames since 1970. Generally pretty good, although I have had a few with slightly mis-placed holes that cause parts fitting headaches.

rc

 

[richyoung]

jimfern, would it be too much to ask if the pistol is still available?

 

[Jimfern]

richyoung

PM sent with contact info.