New *to me* Delta Elite

[Evil One]

While picking up the wife's Marlin 1895 SBL at the gun shop a couple of towns away, I went wandering down the glass cases seeing what kinds of goodies they had.
I got to the turntable case at the very and was browsing there.
Turned it around and what to my surprise did I find but a Beautiful blued delta Elite.
I asked to look it over and stood there fondling it for a while.
OK, little background here.
I was in high school when the Delta came out.
I DROOLED over it in the gun rags, and resigned myself to the fact that I would more than likely never have one.
In reality I have only personally seen 3-4 of them in person.
Caryn walks up and looks to see what I am perving.
"Ohhh you found a Delta"
Yea, the wife knows my list of dream guns.
Salesman wanders back down and my loving wife motions him over.
"We will be putting this one on layaway."
I look at her, slightly in a state of shock and awe.
I had just picked up my 1895 STP recently, and we were picking up her SBL that day... so I figured any more purchases were going to be on hold for a while.

While I was out of town, I work nationwide doing telecom, she stopped in to pick it up.
Naturally her background check was delayed, but I was going to be back in town soon.
I arrive back into town, and she says "lets go for a drive".
We end up at the shop where she presents me with the Delta, the 1 handgun I have wanted since I was a kid those 23 long years ago.
Here she is... the 1911 not the wife.
Sn DE11XXX by the way.

I ordered an EGW flat bottomed firing pin stop, GI guide rod, and wolfe 20 lb spring from midway tonight.
This weekend I shall give her a proper range workout, along with the 2 Sterlings that arrived at the house last week.
Yea, she decided we needed those also.
All in all, its been a great year so far.
I have to say, I love that woman.


Jim

 

[Bob R]

That is a nice Delta. It looks very pristine. You can find correct Delta emblems on Ebay so that when you order your new grips they can put them in for you.

I really like my Delta, it has become my carry gun 99% of the time. If not that then I carry a S&W 610-2.

If you plan on shooting upper range 10mm loads you "may" want to go with a heavier mainspring and recoil spring along with the flat bottom stop or just leave the polymer guide rod in there and buy up a few whenever you see them for sale.

bob

 

[ace22]

congrats, the deltas are great pistols

 

[pawncop]

Tell your wife that we love her almost as much as you do, and we think you should take her out for a lovely dinner,

She sure sounds like a keeper.

Oh yeah, nice sidearm there.

Not to be real negative, but I heard there were some problems with frame cracking with some versions of the Delta.

Can you shed any light on the issue? Can anyone else shed any light on this?

 

[The Highlander]

Just out of college, my shooting buddy bought a twin to your gun, when they were new. He still has it, refuses to sell it to me, and takes it out annually for a shoot-n-clean.

I have still only seen 3-4 in person as well.

Nice gun, nicer wife.

 

[venomballistics]

that was one of my grail guns.
since finding and affording never coincided for me ... I scored a 400 corbon barrel to play with

 

[epj]

I owned one of the original Deltas. It was pretty much standard GI in configuration. The only ammo available was the really hot Norma load. I didn't find the recoil too bad, but the hammer bite and the poor sights got that gun traded off pretty quickly. I now have a S&W 1006 which I find to be a real pleasure to shoot. My only gripe is having to hunt for the brass. It throws it into the next county.

 

[BUFF]

I bought a new blue Delta Elite the first time I saw one. I couldn't get any ammunition for a couple of months, and then all we could get was Norma's 170 or 175 grain JHP and their 200 grain FMJ. The 200 grainer chrono'ed at a shade over 1,200 fps from my Colt's 5 inch barrel and the 170 faster still. Make no mistake, the gun made power; you knew when the hammer had dropped!

I bought several 500 round cases of the good hot Norma ammo from Natchez Shooters Supply, as well as loose boxes found in various shops and stores in town. I and my friends shot more than 3,000 Norma rounds that first spring.

I wish I could say how delightful it all was, but it wasn't. That Norma was pretty hard on the Colt. The left frame rail cracked and a piece of it above the slide slop hole just disappeared. What had been a tightly fitted, no-rattle gun got really rickety most rikky-ticky. As it did, accuracy declined severely.

Nothing broke, though, except the slide rail piece, which didn't really affect the way the gun worked.

Another friend bought one and some more Norma. The second batches were not as ballistically consistent as the first ones we shot. Accuracy was worse and velocities varied as much as 200 fps from fastest round to slowest round in a 250 round shoot session. Just shooting, you could tell they sounded different; "Pop...pop...POWWWWW!!!!...pop..."

After a couple of cases of Norma through his gun, it was just as rattly as mine, it had also broke the left frame rail above the slide stop hole, plus his front sight came off. We never found it.

American ammunition companies' product was a little more mild than the Norma, and the stainless steel Delta Elites I was familiar with held up a bit better than the blue ones. I don't know if the difference was attributable to the ammo or to the metals used.

I later found that the S&W 10mm Autos were more comfortable to shoot. The one-piece gripstrap was easier on your hand than the multiple pieces of the 1911's frame, grip safety, mainspring housing and rear edges of the stocks. I think the S&W was also a stronger design and didn't exhibit wear very much.

It's a neat cartridge. It shoots visibly flatter out to 100-150 yards, and the bullets get there right now. You can download it some, as the commercial loaders did, to obtain the "FBI Lite," the "FeeB 10," the "10MM Minus-P" and my favorite, the "Attenuated Ten," and have a shoot-a-bucket-a-day cartridge.

The Colt 1911 and the 10MM Auto cartridge, good, hard hotrods of their day.

 

[Evil One]

Pawncop, the frame cracking was generally on the earliest batch off the line.
They cracked on the left side above the slide stop.
Colt fixed it by removing the material above the slide stop hole.
This will be a weekend shooter for me, most loads between the fbi load and the norma load.
Not to say I'm not going to sizzle some fast lead downrange.
I will also be looking into a .40 barrel for it so I can get in some less expensive range time if I am out of town working and can't find any 10mm.
She will also be getting a set of night sights.
This is a working gun and not a safe queen.
Kinda like the wife, she isn't a safe queen either... I like to take her out and put her thru the ringer.
I REALLY lucked out finding her, her gun accumulation is about the same as mine now.
We need a bigger safe.


Jim

 

[bishopm14]

Beautiful Delta. I'm like you, they have been one of my Grail guns for a long time. I was around 10 when they came out, first getting interested in guns, and can remember the issue of Shooting Times covering them. Made quite an impression on my little self.
So I finally got my rear in gear and today made the payment on one of the new stainless versions. Should be in this week. Hope it was worth the wait.

 

[Evil One]

CONGRATS!!!


Jim

 

[Bob R]

This will be a weekend shooter for me, most loads between the fbi load and the norma load.

If you don't already, you need to start reloading for the pistol. I have just started working up a load for my Delta using 180gr XTP's and some power pistol. Before that I was using Blue Dot. I still need to check it some more, or my chrono, I was getting about 1250fps with the initial load, which was loaded way below max. Mine sure does love the XTP's, but I also have a Schuemann gain twist barrel in mine which may help out some.

bob

 

[Evil One]

I look at the 10mm like I look at my .44s.
They are reloaders cartridges.
To get the best out of them, and to be able to shoot them to your hearts content, you really need to reload for your handguns.
I plan on buying up some Power Pistol and pulling the handle on my loader for them.


Jim

 

[Badkarma 1]

Delta Elite

Much like yourself, I too became very aware of the 10mm Auto via the gun rags and had to have one! That and the fact that "Sonny Crockett" carried a Bren Ten on Miami Vice didn't help subdue my enthusiasm for it either!
But it was 1986 and I was off joining the U.S. Navy, so I put the Delta on the back burner. It wasn't till 1990 that while home on leave I was browsing a gun shop and found a used blue one, my wallet was out faster than when I was on shore leave in Japan! And the guy working there was somewhat of gunsmith and he suggested some mods very similar too yours, that is a 24 pound recoil spring, a two piece guide rod and a heavy firing spring. I did the mods myslf and was out with my Delta and Winchester 175gr. Silvertips the next day hammering bowling pins at a local outdoor gun club.
I still have the pistol, although it now where's an elctroless nickel finish and skate board tape on the front strap, it still gets a lot of use and is on it's 10 recoil spring! Nothing has broken and NO it's not for sale!
They are wonderful pieces!! Dale

 

[yaktamer]

One of those guns that I've always really wanted, without really knowing why.

 

[Evil One]

One of those guns that I've always really wanted, without really knowing why.

My 1911s have been target sights, novak sights, ambi safeties...
This is my first "basic" 1911.
I have to say I LOVE the minimalist aspect of it.
It will be getting night sights, but they will still be small.
it will be keeping the single side safety.
I really like the fact that it doesnt have all the bells and whistles that many people now feel that a 1911 has to have or its a second class citizen.
Its raw, simple, maybe slightly crude.
However in that it finds its elegance.
She is a lady, she doesnt need make up... bells and baubles to be beautiful.


Jim

 

[bishopm14]

Well, not meaning to hijack the OP's thread, my Delta arrived a couple days ago. Got to shoot it today. What a hoot. My handloads of 180 grain XTPs and Berry's FMJs in front of suggested amounts of AA9 are quite fun. This one definitely seems well put together, guess its true that Colt has gotten their act together in the past few years. They sure aren't stingy with the lube, still seeps oil after being field stripped, wiped down, and a trip to the range. Better than too dry I figure.
After appropriate break in, it will probably be getting an action job, current trigger breaks at 5.5#. And being a lefty I'll need an ambidextrous safety. The factory 3 dot sights are quite usable, and I'll probably be ditching the plastic mainspring housing and that skanky black trigger.
But all in all, I'm happy with it. Wishing I hadn't waited so long to break down and buy one.

With its 10mm relatives. Now for some reason I find myself checking GB for 3rd Gen S&W 10s. Uh-oh

 

[Evil One]

Collect the whole set!!!


Jim

 

[whitecoyote]

Very nice

Congratulations on your Colt Delta Elite!
I recently picked this one up. The Delta Elite is an amazing pistol.

 

[SAFireman]

My Delta Gold Cup

I too am a fan of the Colt 10mm's. My first Delta Elite was a Bright Stainless (mirror) a few years back. A family friend who worked at a local gun shop wanted to sell his personal DE and got me interested by comparing it to the 41 which I like so much. I took it out that weekend and shot it - that was it, I was a 10mm convert right then and there. I have since passed the bright stainless DE to my dad (trying to bring him over to the dark side as well ). The sale to my dad freed up some funds and the wife gave the okay to buy my 2nd 10mm Colt - a Colt Delta Gold Cup - National Match. I could not be happier with it, and now I also have acquired a FBI 1076 to tinker with as well.

I know how you guys like pictures, so here is my Delta Gold Cup NM.

Congrats on your new purchase and may one soon become many