Sarge45
29th July 2009, 20:11
Well, I posted here several weeks ago asking for info on the Delta Elite and many of you raved it up. So, I bought one and have just finished my second outing. I haven't had a chance to run a lot of ammo through it because of availablity but I have run a box of PMC 180 grain and a half box of Double Tap 180 grain. So, here's my thoughts on it so far.
Out of the box the gun is a good looking sample. I noted on the left side of the slide the roll marks are a little light on the end of the Delta Elite logo but Colt seems to have this going on at times. No excuse for Colt but I'm not suprised. I can live with it. The rest of the gun is nicely finished and clean out of the box. Took it home, field stripped it and cleaned really good, then applied a liberal coat of CLP to all moving parts and the finish. Now, to the range.
First time out I fired 32 rounds of the PMC 180 grain hollow points. The gun had almost a 50% failure rate with 3-point jams. Each spent cartridge had a nice smiley creased into the case about 1/8" down from the case mouth where it was hanging on the bottom of the throat of the barrel. On feeling this area I noted it was a sharp breakover and definitely needed dressed.
Also, each case would have a flattened area on the case rim where the slide breachface would impact the upper part of the rim, push the case forward then drag some brass off the case head and rim and onto the breachface as it indexed into the horizontal position going into battery. Close exam of the breachface finds it could use a light touch. Slight burr on the FP hole also.
After the first outing I took it home, broke it down again and cleaned it, keeping an eye out for any unusual wear marks. None found so she appears to be built square. In addressing the sharp breakover at the throat I put a craytex cone on the Dremel and some Flitz and polished the breakover at the throat. This knocked off the knife edge and gave a nice, smooth but still fully supported throat area. Didn't remove any metal, mind you, just polished. Then, took some Flitz and the cone and lightly touched the FP hole to knock off the machine burrs. Followed that up with a cotton swab and some Flitz on the breechface and wallah, nice and smooth but nothing overly done. Again, a cleaning and liberal application of CLP and off to the range today.
Today I had the remainder of the PMC (18) rounds plus a 50-round box of Double Tap 180 grain bonded Personal Defense ammo. Expensive but I need to know if it will work. I intentionally limpwristed one round to see if it would fail, which it did, found it's limit and didn't try it again. Long story short, she ran every round fed today with nary a hiccup except the intentional limpwristed round. The gun gobbled everything I gave it and no sign of a smiley near the case mouth. The back of the rim and case head were also much improved with no real scarring of the brass.
Summary ? I'm very happy with my purchase. The 10mm is a beast and the Delta Elite is a fine gun to run it. Easily controllable even with full power loads. Accurate beyond my expectation. I repeatedly hit the 10-ring from 25 yards slow fire, benched. Nice gun, no question about it. If you're thinking of getting one I would have to say "do it", you won't be sorry.
http://www.kscch.com/DeltaElite1.jpg
http://www.kscch.com/DeltaElite2.jpg
Out of the box the gun is a good looking sample. I noted on the left side of the slide the roll marks are a little light on the end of the Delta Elite logo but Colt seems to have this going on at times. No excuse for Colt but I'm not suprised. I can live with it. The rest of the gun is nicely finished and clean out of the box. Took it home, field stripped it and cleaned really good, then applied a liberal coat of CLP to all moving parts and the finish. Now, to the range.
First time out I fired 32 rounds of the PMC 180 grain hollow points. The gun had almost a 50% failure rate with 3-point jams. Each spent cartridge had a nice smiley creased into the case about 1/8" down from the case mouth where it was hanging on the bottom of the throat of the barrel. On feeling this area I noted it was a sharp breakover and definitely needed dressed.
Also, each case would have a flattened area on the case rim where the slide breachface would impact the upper part of the rim, push the case forward then drag some brass off the case head and rim and onto the breachface as it indexed into the horizontal position going into battery. Close exam of the breachface finds it could use a light touch. Slight burr on the FP hole also.
After the first outing I took it home, broke it down again and cleaned it, keeping an eye out for any unusual wear marks. None found so she appears to be built square. In addressing the sharp breakover at the throat I put a craytex cone on the Dremel and some Flitz and polished the breakover at the throat. This knocked off the knife edge and gave a nice, smooth but still fully supported throat area. Didn't remove any metal, mind you, just polished. Then, took some Flitz and the cone and lightly touched the FP hole to knock off the machine burrs. Followed that up with a cotton swab and some Flitz on the breechface and wallah, nice and smooth but nothing overly done. Again, a cleaning and liberal application of CLP and off to the range today.
Today I had the remainder of the PMC (18) rounds plus a 50-round box of Double Tap 180 grain bonded Personal Defense ammo. Expensive but I need to know if it will work. I intentionally limpwristed one round to see if it would fail, which it did, found it's limit and didn't try it again. Long story short, she ran every round fed today with nary a hiccup except the intentional limpwristed round. The gun gobbled everything I gave it and no sign of a smiley near the case mouth. The back of the rim and case head were also much improved with no real scarring of the brass.
Summary ? I'm very happy with my purchase. The 10mm is a beast and the Delta Elite is a fine gun to run it. Easily controllable even with full power loads. Accurate beyond my expectation. I repeatedly hit the 10-ring from 25 yards slow fire, benched. Nice gun, no question about it. If you're thinking of getting one I would have to say "do it", you won't be sorry.
http://www.kscch.com/DeltaElite1.jpg
http://www.kscch.com/DeltaElite2.jpg