possible Delta Elite deal in the works

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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I dropped by my neighborhood gun shop today and found a very nice, used shooter grade delta elite on the rack. Blued, 1 mag, no box or paperwork. Asking price 750. I ended up offering a taurus model 44 stainless 6" in similar condition as well as a glock 17 Gen 2. I figured I would be really close, and it turns out I was right. The Colt is on consignment so assuming the owner budges on price a bit I will be into a nice Delta Elite, effectively squishing a few bugs at one time...bug to trade off glock, bug to get a colt, bug to get a 10mm, bug to get a 1911.

The thought I could be messing up occurs though as I really do like my 44. It is a great gun and I couldn't ask for anything better. It shoots well, feels good and packs easily enough, but it rarely gets used and it's mirror polished so it's not much to hunt with.

The third side of this is that the Delta Elite is a gun that could easily be a collectable gun in the not so distant future. This one is in great shape but it is used, so it's one of those that I wouldn't mind pulling the trigger on, plus ammo prices are continuing to drop as 10mm picks up steam.

What do you folks say? I'm looking to be in the ballpark of my guns and 50 or my guns and 75 if I get a box of ammo. (And another caliber to reload)
 
That is a good price, especially for a blued Delta they're harder to find. I'd do the trade as well.
 
Two of the better days in my life were the day I bought my Colt Delta Elite new and the day I sold it. :)

I was a big enthusiast of the 10mm round when it was born and during maybe the late 80s I bought a then brand new Colt Delta Elite. Using factory loads after about a few thousand rounds, if that many, the gun was getting loose and not the nice worn in loose we look for in a 1911 frame. Others also began to complain that the 10mm rounds were beating the heck out of Delta Elite guns. There was a consensus forming that the full power loads of 10mm were just a little much for a 1911 type frame pistol.

I am not saying don't grab this gun. I am merely saying to do some due diligence homework before deciding a 1911 frame 10mm is what you want. Mine was very accurate when new but when it started to rattle the accuracy fell off. It did remain a good gun but not what I wanted. I am tempted today to grab a 10mm Glock and see how they fare out with the round.

Ron
 
"...could easily be a collectable gun..." Not likely any time soon. Still being made. The 10mm is really just a slightly bigger 1911A1. Shot one of 'em when they first came out. Nothing special. Kind of suspect the $750 isn't bad though.
 
Very nice good buy will colt still work on them???? And if yes I'd have them give it a through look over and if it were mine I'd have a high polish blue done make it look really really pretty imho
 
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WestKentucky said:
I did at lunch.
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Nice grab! Let us know how it shoots.


Sunray said:
"...could easily be a collectable gun..." Not likely any time soon. Still being made. The 10mm is really just a slightly bigger 1911A1.
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They don't make blued ones anymore and didn't make that many of them, that's why they're harder to find. Also, the Delta is the same size as any other 5" Colt 1911 or 1991, no difference in the size of the frame, slide, etc..
 
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Sunray said:
"...could easily be a collectable gun..." Not likely any time soon. Still being made. The 10mm is really just a slightly bigger 1911A1. Shot one of 'em when they first came out. Nothing special. Kind of suspect the $750 isn't bad though.
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I respectfully disagree. Blued guns are gone. Colt may be gone in the next decade or so unless something huge happens for them. It's not just a "run of the mill" 1911, so it could easily fall into the collectable category more than the shooter category. The plan is to use it, swap a few parts such as trigger components to slick it up a bit but still be able to go right back to true factory configuration. I'm considering even buying a .40sw barrel to drop in when I don't want as much power, and that would of course be easier on the gun.
 
Very nice gun. If you want to enjoy it for a long time avoid full power 10mm loads. The 1911 wasn't really designed for hot 10mm stuff - and I say that only because I have seen a few that people beat to death with hot loads. It will take it for a while but it's a shame to beat up a nice Colt pistol. Do you handload?
 
WestKentucky

Nice trade and the Delta Elite looks to be in great shape. If I had a hankering for a 10mm. I would have made the deal like you did. Let us know how the range visit goes.
 
If you handload, you don't need a .40 barrel. I shoot a lot of 10mm, and you can load them down... well, basically as soft as you want to go, provided it will cycle the slide and won't stick in the bore.

But if you try to drop in* a .40 barrel, you may have reliability problems. Most 1911's - and certainly any Deltas - are built to handle cartridges approximately the length of 38 super/10mm/45 ACP. Stick shorter cartridges (like .40's) into a gun made to run a longer cartridge and you can start having reliability issues. And if you have to make changes to solve that (like shock buffs or changing the stroke of the slide), then you're taking away from reliability with the longer cartridge length.

Far easier to just load your 10mm to the velocity you want. JMHO, of course.

*Also, 1911's aren't really know for having parts just drop in and be interchangeable. But you probably knew that.
 
Post 4 is very similar to my sentiments except I quit before mine got beat to much.
Mine was stainless and had a couple mags and I think I finally sold it for $950 having bought for $650 I was a happy fella. I also went the Glock route and traded that for a generator.
I still have the dies and brass so I'll probably try the waters again but it won't be with a Colt thank you.
Spare Colt or other quality 10mm 1911 mags are expensive, check them out.
 
I like these threads that start out "I'm thinking about getting this gun" then a few responses later, there is a picture of said gun in the proud new owner's possession.

Congratulations on your awesome DE. A blued one too!
 
I would have passed.

Just be extremely careful shooting hot 10mm loads through that pistol. Buffalo Bore in particular.

The chamber support is marginal and you can have a catastrophic case separation.

Witnessed this in person and my comrade sold his shortly afterward. I don't consider them to be safe.

Here are the pictures. After looking at how these rounds seated in the chamber it was pretty clear there wasn't enough case head support, even when compared to a gLoCk which was very surprising.

p1522060347-3.jpg

p1522060386-3.jpg
 
ATLDave said:
If you handload, you don't need a .40 barrel. I shoot a lot of 10mm, and you can load them down... well, basically as soft as you want to go, provided it will cycle the slide and won't stick in the bore.

But if you try to drop in* a .40 barrel, you may have reliability problems. Most 1911's - and certainly any Deltas - are built to handle cartridges approximately the length of 38 super/10mm/45 ACP. Stick shorter cartridges (like .40's) into a gun made to run a longer cartridge and you can start having reliability issues. And if you have to make changes to solve that (like shock buffs or changing the stroke of the slide), then you're taking away from reliability with the longer cartridge length.

Far easier to just load your 10mm to the velocity you want. JMHO, of course.

*Also, 1911's aren't really know for having parts just drop in and be interchangeable. But you probably knew that.
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<coughs, then murmurs> 9mm 1911's exsist, and function well.

While 1911's aren't Legoguns like AR's, really the only parts I've ever had to do work on is annular rings on barrels, and then only about 1/2 of them.

Speaking of 10mm 1911's, any else notice the brass from Baby Doll's 1911 was 10mm in Sucker Punch? There is a scene where she is firing at robots, and it close ups on her brass flipping through the air; Its clearly 10mm, way too long to be .45 ACP, or even .38 Super, and the case wall is straight, unlike .38 Super.
 
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Oh, sure, there are 9mm and .40 1911's that run. And a bunch that don't, or that don't without a lot of work. Or that pretty much run, but are extra finicky about mags.

Nothing insurmountable usually, and, with a bit of luck, maybe something not even encountered. It's just that you're asking the basic design to do something pretty different.

I will say that the manufacturers seem to have gotten better in recent years about getting their 9mm 1911's to run acceptably well out of the box a much higher percentage of the time.
 
I'd make sure it wasn't one of the early Delta's, that were cracking the frames by the slide stop pin. IIRC the Delta Elite II's were squared away.
 
Supposedly all but first run deltas had the frame notched to stop the cracking. This one does. I just wish I could get a date of manufacture without paying a bunch of money to Colt.
 
Call Colt customer service and ask them, give them the serial number and they'll tell you when it was made.
 
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