Just found this forum. I was in a local, well 85 miles away is local in Montana, Friday and saw a new Colt Delta Elite staring at me in the case. I ended up taking it home with me. I had some factory ammo and will start reloading for it soon. I had read that earlier Delta Elites did not hold up to the 10. Is that true and if so, is it still true? Anything I need to be aware of? Thanks
The Delta is sweet.
I shoot the new Federal 10mm rated at 1275 no problem. Some say the more powerful rounds requires a ramped barrel, Buffalo Bore ammo disagrees.
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=114
Quote from: bigarm on March 23 2015 10:39:28 PM MDT
Just found this forum. I was in a local, well 85 miles away is local in Montana, Friday and saw a new Colt Delta Elite staring at me in the case. I ended up taking it home with me. I had some factory ammo and will start reloading for it soon. I had read that earlier Delta Elites did not hold up to the 10. Is that true and if so, is it still true? Anything I need to be aware of? Thanks
Welcome to the forum.
Colt did have issues with early DE frames cracking. It was a design issue and not a strength issue. In fact, the resolved the issue by removing metal from the frame in the later iterations.
The frames cracked at the frame rail above the slide stop lever relief, or the point where the slide stop pawl passes through the frame to engage the magazine follower. The fix was to machine a gap in the frame rail at that location. You can see representative pictures here: http://forums.1911forum.com/showpost.php?p=3561649&postcount=8
I know Buffalo Bore says the DE barrels work just fine for full power loads. I have found that to be very barrel dependent, especially in used guns. You don't know what the previous owner may have done to a barrel in misguided attempts to correct feed issues. Good advice is to visit the pull down section and work up to the factory load level, looking for signs of an issue.. Better than have a case head blow and destroy magazines, grips and possibly more.
While the Colt will run fine with the factory spring setup, I am a big fan of the following combination: 18.5 lb recoil spring, 25lb main spring (hammer spring) and a flat bottom firing pin stop with the edge just barely broken. This will make the gun noticeably harder to rack the slide with the hammer down. But, it won't subject the slide/frame or slide stop to the higher load when the slide returns to battery.
I go into this in some detail here: http://10mm-firearms.com/general-discussion/1911-owners-we-are-doing-it-wrong!/
The main thing was the chamber support, some of the highest impulse ammo did show case expansion about 150 degrees around the casings. Some had case blow outs at the feed ramps. (Not good) Finding ammo that will serve you needs and work well with your firearm is the key. Some ammo makers tailor loads specifically for the DE's.
Handloading can be the best way to dial in the perfect loads for a balance of performance and safety.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the responses. I will be loading for the Delta Elite. I have 40/10 dies but bought another set from someone so I don't have to readjust dies to do either one. I use 40 in USPSA. I need to buy brass, probably Starline as I have had good luck with it in other calibers. I cast and powder coat my own 200 grain .40 caliber bullets so most likely will use those for plinking loads.