Colt Delta Elite

I looked at a delta elite myself but backed away after reading about the obvious risk of firing full-power loads through one.

Sig, BTW, has gotten the message and is rolling out a whole new line of high-power enabled 10's.
 
There should be no problem firing full-power loads. The problems arise when shooting the boutique ammo that's overloaded.
Other than .44 Special, I don't think there's a cartridge that people just have to overload to be happy, like they do the 10mm.
 
Not sure I agree with the term "overloaded." That seems to imply that the cartridge is loaded beyond it's original and safe pressure limit specifications.
 
"Not sure I agree with the term "overloaded." That seems to imply that the cartridge is loaded beyond it's original and safe pressure limit specifications."

I agree. I think Underwood, BuffaloBore, and DoubleTap strive to load their ammo right at the spec limit, and the result is very close to the original Norma loads. They are sometimes accused of being overloaded, but that's just because all the other manufacturer's ammo is underloaded, and that's what's now considered "normal" by many people.
 
"Not sure I agree with the term "overloaded." That seems to imply that the cartridge is loaded beyond it's original and safe pressure limit specifications."

I agree. I think Underwood, BuffaloBore, and DoubleTap strive to load their ammo right at the spec limit, and the result is very close to the original Norma loads. They are sometimes accused of being overloaded, but that's just because all the other manufacturer's ammo is underloaded, and that's what's now considered "normal" by many people.
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When the Delta Elite was developed, Norma was the only ammo, so if the Delta will handle Norma, but manufacturers warn against using their ammo in the Delta, then I'd consider that ammo to be overloaded.
I've seen some pics of very pregnant brass ejected from a Delta, but I've also heard testimonials of people who have shot very heavy loads with no issues, so it's definitely a measure of YMMV.
I've never seen a swollen case from my gun, but I don't reload cases that have already been used for heavy loads.
I wouldn't shoot any loads that a manufacturer recommends I shouldn't, but I also wouldn't be afraid to shoot max handloads from reputable sources.
 
If it's fair that you say the cheap looking and feeling plastic parts are the same as first designed and have worked just fine with NO changes from original, seems only fair to also mention that Delta's cracked frames when they debuted.

Easy fix, but a black eye at the time.

Don't get me wrong -- I like the pistol. Really. Just isn't enough there for me at $1,100-ish.
 
The cost of a 1,000 pistol is nothing to the money you spend on ammo over the life of a gun if you shoot it much and even if you reload so don't let that be your deterrent from a purchase (just my 2 cents). Especially in expensive 10mm. Brass is hard to find and losing it is almost like losing a tooth (yeah a little dramatic but 9mm brass is cheap and everywhere!). Not to mention half of it isn't worth reloading.

I agree. I think Underwood, BuffaloBore, and DoubleTap strive to load their ammo right at the spec limit, and the result is very close to the original Norma loads. They are sometimes accused of being overloaded, but that's just because all the other manufacturer's ammo is underloaded, and that's what's now considered "normal" by many people.
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Just because they are within SAAMI specs does not mean they are not too hot for many guns. SAAMI is not up to date with the more modern powders and though many don't know or see it SAAMI pressures only cover one part of the equation. Some slower pistol powders can push bullets much faster than when SAAMI published the max pressure data. That extra velocity equates to more recoil and it batters a gun. I have some load data that can push +p velocities easily without going above standard max SAAMI pressures. Just like what they are doing. I don't see a big issue with running them within SAAMI specs as long as they are not the +p's in a tough gun, but they do wear more on a gun with those velocities (even the tough ones).

The problem many are running into is with the +P ammo from them. They run at velocities closer to +P+. When a gun is rated +P I wonder what +P standards they have taken into account. The factory ammo, or the ones that use a powder that pushes that velocity up.

Same problems with early failures occure on .357 magnum revolvers. No secret that a steady diet of .357 will wear the gun out even though it is a .357 gun. Some much quicker than others and if you want a .57 to last a steady diet of .38's for plinking and the gun will outlast you most of the time. Run a few 1,000 or more through it and you may be sending it to repair (if not to the bone yard).
 
Why are the newer tens being released by manufacturers such as Glock and Sig being made to support the higher power loads?

you can buy a 44 magnum and only fire 44 special through many of them--to each his(her) own.
 
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seems only fair to also mention that Delta's cracked frames when they debuted.
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The frame was altered by removing the frame rail above the slide stop window, and I've never seen a Delta, pictured, described, or otherwise, that didn't have the frame modification. Even then, the crack wasn't a structural problem, it just looked bad; to prevent a hairline crack in the rail, they removed 1/4" of the rail.
You can never, ever, have a discussion of the Delta Elite, even 35+ years later, that doesn't include the telling of cracked frames. :)
 
The Bren Ten and 10mm's push on the interested public was dealt out monthly (at minimum) in Jeff Cooper's column and the Delta was shortly after. They were my formative years in firearms, so the memory is vivid.

It is not unlike older guys who lived through the times when 110/125 grain jacketed bullets were the scourge of the K-frame, even if finding evidence of same is extremely difficult. It doesn't change the stigma from the time even if the reality was actually far less of an issue. It certainly isn't irrelevant.
 
You can never, ever, have a discussion of the Delta Elite, even 35+ years later, that doesn't include the telling of cracked frames.
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Yup and a part of the frame that doesn't even exist anymore. The first ones to crack were milled out by some owners who recognized that area wasn't necessary anyway. Colt actually followed suit at the factory after those folks. I also agree about YMMV with the old Deltas, as mine never exhibited any case bulging or any other problem, though I reloaded my cases several times, with proper inspection, of course. Hundreds of Norma loads, hundreds of Silver Tips, hundreds of Hornadys, thousands of PMC and reloads. Lightest load ever was 170 gr hp @1200 fps.
 
Why are the newer tens being released by manufacturers such as Glock and Sig being made to support the higher power loads?
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Hopefully because enough consumers have finally realized that if all they want to do is shoot .40-level 10mm ammo thru their 10mm pistol, they should skip that investment altogether and just get a .40 pistol from the git-go. And, hopefully, because today there's enough of a market of hard-core, full-throttle 10mm users to support the making of 10mm autoloaders that are built to withstand thousands of rds of real-deal 10mm ammunition.

Despite the "watering-down" trend in 10mm ammo following the FBI's adoption of its "Lite" 180gn 10mm load, and the subsequent introduction of the .40S&W cartridge in the early '90s, there's been a resurgence of interest in shooting the original spec, undiluted stuff. While Hornady, CorBon, Geo. Arms, & Proload always marketed one or two upper mid-range loads, the return of full-throttle 10mm ammo, in a variety of bullet-weights, began about 2002 with a now-defunct company called Texas Ammo. McNett started DT out of his garage about a year or so later, and the rest, as they say, is history.

you can buy a 44 magnum and only fire 44 special through many of them--to each his(her) own.
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Well, certainly with the 10mm Glocks, and in theory with any other 10mm autoloader, you could buy an aftermarket .40 barrel and limit yourself to shooting only that lower-powered cartridge.

But again, you could scratch that itch and save some money by getting a .40 the first time around.
 
agt--that was my whole point (but thanks for pointing it into words)!

this whole discussion about under-powered versus overpower and whether one is right and one is wrong is beginning to resemble a dog chasing it's tail. : ) IMO a "real" 10 is one that delivers 625 ftlbs or better of kinetic energy. That is where the 10 stands apart from all other conventional semi-auto's.
 
A local gun shop has 2 Colt Deltas 1 for $1000 and the other for $1200 or in that ballpark. They looked like they were in good shape but I didn't actually handle them.
 
agt--that was my whole point (but thanks for pointing it into words)* * *
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No issues; wasn't arguing with you, just adding my 2-cents and perspective to this awesome discussion. :)

I've been shooting the 10mm since about 1988, a year after Colt's DEs hit the market. Back then you could feed them with Norma's 10mm ammo, which was still plentiful.

Then came Smith's 10XX-series and the Glock 20s, yadda, yadda.
 
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Whirlwind06 said:
A local gun shop has 2 Colt Deltas 1 for $1000 and the other for $1200 or in that ballpark. They looked like they were in good shape but I didn't actually handle them.
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If I could I would pick up a colt delta elite for 1k. I have never seen them under $1150.
 
price

Since we're talking price....I'll tell you a story about a Delta, and a Glock 20.

I answered an ad in a local sale paper, guy had a Delta for sale, his home was not far from mine, it turned out. I drove over, after work, with the cash to buy the Delta.....his asking price, was $500 bucks. This was in the midst of the Clinton/Reno, magazine ban era, say 1995 maybe. (is that right, was it REALLY 20 yrs ago????)

He'd sold it. Somebody else had showed up with the cash and it was gone. I made no bones about it....first come, first served and all that. I made some comment that I was interested in the cartridge, more than the pistol. (I too had come up in the Cooper/Bren Ten/FBI era).

Guy says, "I've got a Glock too, with 4 hi cap magazines. Sell it to you for the same price." Done. Sold one mag for $35 bucks or so, so I got the Glock for $465. Not really shot it all that much, bamaboy shot it for a while, downloaded, as a auto pistol to learn on, easy to teach, no safety, decock, etc. I have carried it a bunch, as a full power wooods pistol.

Load the 10mm with anybody's 180 and enough Unique to run to just under 1200 fps.
 
And nothing you hit is going to know if the bullet is going 1200 or 1300 (especially if it's cardboard); the ballistic discussion is academic.
 
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