Colt Combat Elite 10MM

[BAGGER]

I bought this Colt Combat Elite 10MM about 1990 or so . It had never been shot and came up missing from my home . To make a long story short I got my gun back last week . After years of neglect it looks bad surface rust on the slide and so on after some good cleaning I took it to a friend that does some gunsmithing he took it apart and said that it had not been shot very much looked like it had been put under a car seat and just left. He is re blueing the slide , putting in new springs and repolishing the frame .I don't know much about the 10MM colt . Is the Combat Elite a good 1911 to keep? What is the difference between a .45 & 10MM ?

[John]

The Combat Elite should be in .45ACP, are you sure yours is not a Delta Elite? Then again, I can be wrong, my memory chips are not refreshing as fast as they used to do in the past.

[BAGGER]

It is a 10MM Combat Elite with the blue slide and a SST frame . It also has the Delta grips . I got this one and a SST Delta Elite at the same time. It says Combat Elite on the slide and is 10MM

[RandyColt]

The 10mm Combat Elite is a very rare pistola. It is quite unfortunate that it needs to be refinished. Hopefully your friend will do a professional refinish jop and all the collector value will not be lost as it usually is when you do any refinish work. The 10mm is a serious defensive round which is enjoying a cult like following and resurrgence in popularity.

[BAGGER]

Thanks for the reply . I have seen some of his work and he does nice work . I plan to keep this 10mm and I only shoot a couple times a year . The bad part is when it was taken it was new in the box.

[John]

Sorry to hear the bad story behind this, but it's a great fortune that you now have it back, even if it needs refinishing. And thanks for the new knowledge, I thought that all 10mm Colt's were Delta Elites.

[wichaka]

They do call them Delta Elite, they just have the Combat Elite roll mark.

[BAGGER]

So how does the 10mm compar to the .45 . Would you carry the 10mm or a .45 for a concealed carry ? I had a all SST Delta Elite that I shot years ago but I don't recall much about it . The day I got the 10mm back I bought a Springfield loaded .45 now the question what one to carry. Thanks for all the help I have away from guns for about 15 years and am now getting back into them.

[Hunter]

The 10mm is a little stouter than the .45 ACP. Maxed out a 10mm will shoot a 200 grain ball about 150fps faster than the .45 ACP will with the same weight bullet. I have a 10mm Colt DGCNM and love to shoot it but I still prefer the .45 ACP with the 230 ball for range use of 230 Hydra Shocks as a defensive round. You would be served well with either round but I would worry about overpenetration with the 10mm more than the .45 ACP.