Delta Elite help

[Shooter25]

*********DISCLAIMER**************
THE LOADS LISTED IN THIS TOPIC ARE WELL BEYOND LYMAN 49TH MANUAL MAX LOADS
*********DISCLAIMER**************

With that out of the way here goes. This actually involves a couple questions and I am hoping you more experience Delta Elite gurus can point me in the right direction.

I was out doing load developement this morning and I am having brass issues. With all loads tested I am getting a crease in my brass about halfway up. It looks like it is from impacting the top of barrel when ejecting. Is there any fix for this?

Next. As I crept up the load ladder at 9.5 gr of 800x I started to get bulged cases. The bulging continued up until 10.0 gr and I quit there. It looks like there is a very significant part of the case that is unsupported. I noticed it was not a fully supported chamber when checking for OAL when loading. Odd to me. I reckoned Colt would have fully supported barrels for the 10mm.

This all leads me to my next question. I figure a new barrel with a fully supported and RAMPED barrel will eliminate all of these issues. The only problem is I don't know which barrel company to go with. I am looking at Bar-Sto, but they have 3 different ramp options. So the bajillion dollar questions are are Bar-Stow barrels fully supported and which ramp style would be best?

Any other barrel manufacturers you would recommend? I will post pictures later and thanks a bunch!

[Shooter25]

My pictures are too big for this forum. Below is a link to another forum where I posted the pictures.

Mods please let me know if I am out of line.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=1754453#post1754453

[sqlbullet]

All the issues I have had with my 1911 and mangled brass have dealt with how the extractor held the brass during extraction.

Clark/Para is a little easier to convert to as the machining is slightly simpler. Overall I don't think there is much difference between the two styles.

I am a fan of BarSto, Kart and Schuemann barrels.  I don't know that I have a preference, so I would go with the best deal.

[Shooter25]

Hmmm. The Delta seems limited in it's potential. I talked to a few people who have owned Deltas in the past, and they had the same issue when they started to sneak up on the full bore stuff. I am looking for non glock 10mm pistol that has a fully supported chamber and can run the 10mm to it's full potential.

I throw this offer out there. I will trade my Delta Elite for one of the S&W 10XX series pistols. The Delta has been 100% reliable. If you are interested send me a PM here or E-mail me at shedd84@yahoo.com.  To see pics you will have to e-mail me at my persoanl e-mail

I bought this gun with the intention of using it as mountain lion protection. It appears that it can't fulfill that role. Time to go.

[DEGOLDCUP]

. For lions a Delta Elite loaded with a good 180 JHP over a hefty charge of 800-X, Long Shot, AA#9, AA#7 will do the job plenty efficiently. Most lions weigh less than 150 lbs which are less than a lot of human adults. This one was about 170lbs and he qualified for the B&C book.

[Vice]

Man those PAWS are Huge!

Good Shot

[Shooter25]

@DEGoldCUp- Do you get the nicks in your brass from the Delta Elite when it ejects brass? Also at what point with the 800X did you see bulged cases, if any? That is a comforting picture to see.

[harrygunner]

Delta Elites are generally nice guns, but the barrel is an issue in my opinion.

I had Bar-Sto make a ramped 10mm barrel for me. Here's photos showing support and some fired cases.



Cases from older Double Tap ammo that 'intercooler' chrono'ed as up to box label spec.



The barrel is their Match Target with a Para/Clark frame cut. Notice the solid lower lug.



They fit the barrel to the frame, slide and barrel bushing. The lockup is tight.  Irv Stone gave me a tour of his California facility and showed me the build process, starting from solid stainless steel rods.

Recommend you send them the whole gun as I did. But, it did cost a bit. They're in Sturgis, SD now.

[Shooter25]

I wish my barrel offered that much support. My Delta Elite is the newer version, so Colt should have been aware of the issues the 40 S&W faced with unsupported chambers and high pressure.

Oh well. I will just shoot the gun within it's limitations and look for a 10XX Series S&W.

I still wouldn't want to be shot with it as is. Now I need to break the chrony out. Also now that I have a pressure/charge ceiling I can start tampering with bullet diameter, lube, and alloy to get rid of leading issues.

[DEGOLDCUP]

@Shooter 25, With 800-X I would say I can go about 1.0 grain of powder less than a RAMPED barrel like Harry Gunner's Barsto or my friend's Kimber Eclipse, which has a ramped barrel. A Delta Elite loaded hot is still plenty of gun though. Here I am pushing its limit with this cow elk. Load is 200gr Nosler JHP over 800-X @ 1200fps. Sorry but I don't experience the brass nick like you do. .

[sqlbullet]

I need to save up and replace the barrel in my conversion.  It offers better support than a factory Delta Barrel, but at some point a previous owner hogged it out and I do see the occasional smile.

[loadedround]

For what it's worth; back in the mid 80's Colt Customer Service told me that little crease was nornal in the 10mm. I talked to my smith about this problem and he ported my Delta Elite slide similar to the Gold Cup slide and the creased cases went away. YMMV however.

[Vice]

For what it's worth; back in the mid 80's Colt Customer Service told me that little crease was nornal in the 10mm. I talked to my smith about this problem and he ported my Delta Elite slide similar to the Gold Cup slide and the creased cases went away. YMMV however.

Fix one thing and cause another.

The porting slows the slide speed down which gives the empty time to "escape" before getting bit by the slide.

Now you have a loud as all get out pistol causing more damage to your ears. 

[loadedround]

Vice:
By count, I have put thru 3200+ rounds thru my Delta Elite since porting and I've not noticed any increase in noise. I do shoot both indoors and out with quality muffs. At least I'm not destroying reloadable cases.

[loadedround]

Guys:
I must have head up "you know where" regarding my original post and subsquent reply. My Delta Elite was not ported per say (barrel and slide drilled). My 'smith just relieved the ejection port similar to the Gold Cup slide. This did eliminate all case crease  damage. Sorry for my "senior moment".