Pawn shop find.
Anyone know if this model was produced
in a bright/polished stainless steel.?

If so, does it bring a premium ?

I think they called it Ultimate finish. If you like shiny you pay more. Im not sure if mine is "Ultimate" finish or not but it is quite shiny. . It's my favorite 1911 style pistol.

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	IMG_0445.jpg (133.6 KB, 88 views)
	IMG_0444.jpg (138.3 KB, 65 views)

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Remain Viable

Does it say anything on the other side of the slide?

Called the pawn shop.
Two mags and the box....box labeled "B" stainless.
Gun is around 95%

$1300 drive out

Last one I saw at a show was over $2K.

After some research I went ahead and bought it.
1989 vintage box & paperwork with extra mag.
Box does indicate bright stainless steel which seems to
bring a premium.
Clean Colt package...

Very cool guns. Saw one in a Jacksonville, NC pawn shop a few years ago for a good price. Still kick myself for not buying it.

You did well! Nice find, there’s not many floating around. I would have happily gave $1300.

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213th FBINA

I got my Delta in the 1990's,, the guns were "out of favor"
or, in other words,, cheap!!



I have always liked shooting it,,
but, I shoot outdoors, and discovered I had to load the ammo down,
or, I could NEVER find the brass!!
Mine is a REAL brass slinger!!

Hey, Xfuzz,, does your box say "Enhanced"??

I have a regular 45 caliber 1911,,
it has the same hammer and beavertail as your gun,,

I was wondering if those features equals the label Enhanced,,,,,,

Sold mine in the late 90s. Still crying

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213th FBINA

Very nice find. A blued Delta was the first handgun I ever bought. (1996) I grew up in the town where the Colt factory is so figured I might as well start with a Colt.
I know they made a bright stainless like yours and they even made a 10mm gold cup once upon a time.
X will you shoot that pistol ?

I found a stainless Colt Delta Elite at a gun show back in the early 1990's. I was shopping for another 1911 and it came down to this Colt and an AMT Hardballer. The Colt definitely had a nicer finish and machining than the AMT, even though both had nearly identical prices. I bought the Colt. Test firing lead me to believe there was a reason the previous owner was willing to sell this Delta Elite for so little money. It was perfectly reliable, even cycling empties from the magazine, but it's accuracy was not good at all. The barrel had even been recrowned at some point, but it would not group well at all.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

X-fuzz, can't confirm if factory bright, but I collect Colts too and any factory "bright" finish always demands a higher price of a $1,000 or more added to the value typically you see in sold Colts. grab it if factory!

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

No "Enhanced"
Marked
"B STS"

A friend has two Delta's in 10MM, both are blued IIRC. Shoot well and handle well. Recoil a bit stout with full 10MM loads.

I found a Ruger SR1911 in 10MM in stainless. Normally I am a Colt guy in autos, how ever this one was priced right to me at $800.00 OTD. I handle the recoil a bit better due to it being ported.

Congrats on your find, enjoy it.

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SR1911.jpg (143.7 KB, 15 views)

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The Delta has been fired.
I will put a few rounds through next time I
go to the deer lease.
Box label.
Model number does indicate Bright Stainless steel.

The only issue with the Colt 10mm 1911s, are the non ramped barrel/unsupported chambers. I believe they are still the only folks in the 1911 world who still do this. Even Dan Wesson wised up and went to ramped barrels in their 10mm circa 2009.

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213th FBINA

My Ruger SR1911 10MM is ramped.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Yep, Ruger and all other 10mm 1911s, except Colt’s DE.

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213th FBINA

B STS- Bright Stainless, you got a keeper!
Enhanced- means it's lightweight, meaning aluminum frame. This can't be one.
Correction: "Enhanced" means models have a flat top slide, flared ejection port and are notched under trigger guard? I can concure mine has this, but it happens to be a Lightweight too, I mis-spoke stating the definition of "E". Looking closely you can see the E features.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Here is the box that says "Enhanced" and the gun that goes with it,,

The previous owner swapped in the extended safety, but, that was all he did to it,,

He did shoot it often,, he had access to ammo,,,

colt box.jpg

Enhanced.jpg

Here is my BSTS box,,
and the gun

gold cup bsts.jpg

Colt BSTS.jpg

What was an Army fella doing in Jacksonville?

Got lost coming out of Bragg. How is the Mongolian B-B-Q there in J-Ville doing? Was pretty good when we ate there a couple of years ago.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

This is true. I'm guessing that Colt did not want to introduce the extra machining steps required for the receiver to use a ramped barrel into their 1911 production line. Fortunately, 10mm Auto brass usually has a pretty thick case head.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I have a Kimber Stainless II and a SA Ronin in 10mm, both have ramped barrels.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

If the serial number has the letter E at the end, then it was part of Colt's 'Enhanced' program. I don't recall any of the 1st Gen Delta Elites that were.

I did at one time have a NMGC Delta in Bright SS. I sold it years ago and it brought really good money.

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On the Oak Savannah

There are three stainless finishes that I know of that Colt offers. The normal satin finish, Bright stainless where the flats are polished and then the Ultimate Stainless where everything is polished. An "E" in the serial number will indicate the enhanced status and it can also be identified by a scallop cut behind the ejection port. There are a couple other minor details, but an aluminum frame is NOT one of them. I have an "Enhanced" GCNM in Ultimate Stainless and you better have dark sunglasses if you take it outside or you will go blind. It is a mirror finish. Of course all that extra polishing adds to the price tag.
I've had two Stainless Delta Elites, and although I liked them, I sold them because of the non-ramped barrels. Both bulged the brass so bad with factory ammo that the brass was unreloadable. I was too scared to run any full power 10mm through them.
Even so, the op's find is a great one for the price.

Cool gun Fuzz! If it was mine, I’d feed it a very limited diet of full power 10s. The 1911 was never designed for that much horse power. Oh, it’ll work. For a while. I remember seeing pics of a cracked frame on a 1911/10M.

Early production Delta Elites did crack their receivers. The crack was in the receiver rail, just above the cutout where the tang on the slide stop entered the magazine well. It was not a catastrophic failure and the solution was to mill away this portion of the rail.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA