Info wanted on Para-Ordnance P-16 10mm conversion

[hartzpad]

So I've been researching this the last few days and the thought of a 10mm hi-cap 1911 sounds like the ultimate 10mm to add to my collection. If I can find a used, non-limited Para-Ordnance P-16 .40s&w for around $500, I will pick it up and get started.

1) Who makes a 10mm barrel? (I'd rather buy a complete 10mm barrel both for safety reasons and to be able to shoot .40 when I want to, seems safer than reaming out the .40 barrel)

2) What are the usual used and new prices of these P-16's?

3) Can most factory 10mm ammo work or is the OAL too long? Is the OAL a factor only in the magazine or also with barrel headspacing? I do plan to start reloading 10mm at home in the next few months so this shouldn't be a big concern although factory ammo would be nice if it worked.

As far as I have researched, to complete this project, the bare minimum I need is:

Para-Ordnance P-16
10mm barrel
24 pound recoil spring

Is that it?

If I can pull this off and have a reliable, 16+1 round, 1911 in 10mm, I can die a happy man. Thanks for any help.

 

[wally]

Won't the .40S&W mags for the P16 be too short for the OAL of the 10mm round?

This would seem to be a showstopper to me.

Going the other way, 10mm to .40S&W, or .38Super to 9mm generally seems to work as the empty space in the mag doesn't usually seem to cause problems if you are otherwise happy with the longer grip when shooting the shorter (cheaper) rounds.

--wally.

 

[Zach S]

1) I know Jarvis does, or did at one point. You could buy a replacement .40 bbl and have it reamed.

2) I have no idea, sorry.

3) Not sure. I've only handled one P16-10, and that was a while ago. I dont remember him saying anything about the magazine, according to him he just had the barrel reamed and added a stronger recoil spring, and he had another (custom built) with a jarvis barrel.


If you're going to swap calibers, I'd suggest another complete slide assembly with FLGR's in each to reduce the chance of getting the bbls or recoil springs mixed up.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Ed Brown makes a 10mm barrel last time I checked.

For more info on this conversion try a search over at www.1911forum.com . Limit your search to the Para-Ordnance forum and search for 10mm, you should get plenty of hits. There's a gunsmith who posts over there and does alot of these. There are some things to consider (primarily barrel fit and timing of the lockup) and he's quite forthcoming with the information. My local dealer has a P16 (new at $650), but I went ahead and bought a Kimber Eclipse in 10mm.

BTW, you don't want to try this with an aluminum framed gun. You probably know better but it needed to be said.

 

[BigSlick]

I haven't done a 10mm swap, but I regularly use the .357 Sig barrel. The mags and everything else work great.

If you are going to get any serious Para work done, I can whole-heartedly recommend Ross Carter out of Arkansas. He worked mine over about 5 years ago and it has been great. The man is truly one of the great ones.

I put the plastic trigger back in it because I decided I didn't like the aluminum one as much. The face of the alum trigger is grooved, which is nice, but I have since come to prefer a smooth trigger face.

I would be interested to see what your search for the 10mm swap brings. I have been a 10mm fan since the 80's and would love to give it a try too.

The .357 Sig swap was a no brainer, swap barrels, bushings and go. Ross, fitted the barrel, but probably any competent 'smith could do that.

I also bought the non-limited P16-40. The +2 bases work great with the .357 Sig. In stock form, the gun is ordinary, but reliable, reasonably inexpensive and the cool factor of 19 rounds of .357 Sig in a 1911 format, really floats my boat. 10mm would be even better.

Let us know what you find

BigSlick

 

[Bergeron]

Sean Smith has an excellent 10mm 1911 website that I would suggest looking at before attempting the conversion.

First off, it seems that 24lbs. is a little bit excessive. If you were to increase the mainspring weight, and install the EGW flat-bottomed firing pin stop, you ought to be able to bring the weight of the recoil sping down a bit. I did this in my Delta, and went to a 20lb variable. Everything seems to work fine, and the variable spring is going to be easier on the gun, anyway.

Also, I don't know about Paras, but check to see if yours has a section of rail above the slide stop notch. This can crack in 10mms, so it is simply milled out. Pretty quick fix, but it may have already been done by the factory.

Good luck!

 

[Sean Smith]

"Won't the .40S&W mags for the P16 be too short for the OAL of the 10mm round?"

OAL is not a problem with the magazines if ammo is in spec. 10mm should actually be a more reliable feeder than factory .40 S&W ammo, since its OAL is about the same as .45 ACP.

For barrels, you will need to specify one with a Para ramp. Bar-Sto will make pretty much any barrel you want, and fit it for you to boot, but you'll have to wait for any non-standard item for a while (think months).

20# recoil spring with a buffer and an EGW fring pin stop should be fine. Heavier-than-standard mainspring is not necessary.

You will want a gunsmith to do this for you if you want really good results. 10mm guns are not tolerant of sloppy fitting.

"Is the OAL a factor only in the magazine or also with barrel headspacing?"

As long as the barrel has proper chamber dimensions there won't be any issues with this at all.

 

[Longbow]

My gunsmith reamed a .40 cal Para barrel to 10mm for me for just $35.
I use factory barrel since its not gonna be a target gun, but a woods gun. To my surprise, the accuracy is actually very good.
The P16 mags works just fine.

 

[NordicG3K]

Mine is fitted with a Scheumann .400 Ultimatch bull barrel reamed out to 10mm dimensions. Mags work fine, but I've found they are easier to load if I keep my loads to 1.250". I've got a 23lb recoil spring in mine, had the slide stop notch cut out and had an EGW oversized firing pin stop installed. One of the reasons I went with the Scheumann barrel was because I wanted to keep the factory barrel so I could shoot .40 S&W, but I never did so I ended up selling it.