colt delta, not elite
I have a new toy, which is a little diferent and hope that some real Colt experts can fill me in. This pistol has a early serial number, DEL014x. The left side of the slide is stamped DELTA 10MM, not Delta Elite. The right side is stamped, -SERIES 80-, not government. there are several parts that may be after market, the extended safty, the grip safety, which comes back further than stock and the hammer has a oval hole instead of the round one, and is most likely a little extended. It has a flat spring housing that looks like plastic. The adjustable trigger is white alloy like a Videcki, with three holes. The front sight has a red tee, and the non-adjustable rear is a white outline. It is finished in a dull black, and appears to me, to be original. The grips are black rubber, non wraparound. The real puzzler for me is that the notches in the slide for the hold open and the take down/slide releaseis father apart than on other pistols. The half round notch for the slide release is over the front of the trigger, while in battery. From the markings on the slide, it must be a veriation of some sort. What can you tell me???
jal
jal
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What you are describing seems to be a completely "Customized" gun that even probably has been refinished. After the mid 80's, there is no published Serial Numbers available that I have been able to find. These were made after that. Colt also made little changes from time to time to attempt to entice the consumer, (which wasn't very successful), but they never made a gun called a "Delta." There is also the possibility this Slide you have was made by someone else. There was a number of slides made by after market sources which were marked different from the Colt but had the names of various Models "almost" on them but not quite!
The only sure way to find out about this gun and what it was originally and with what features is to call Colt and pay for a "Historical Letter" pertaining to this gun. They will be able to tell you the exact manufacture date and who it was shipped to and exactly what it looked like when it left the factory. They charge for this service, but it is generally easy to add to the value of the gun if the gun matches the letter. Good Luck!
"Life is FRAGILE!" Handle With Care!0 -
John A;
I have to go along with ranchopaul. Sounds like a custom job.
Here's another wrinkle, the frame may be aftermarket/custom, as well.
This would mean, quite possibly, most if not all, of the gun is non-Colt. I have seen several very nice, very accurate custom 1911 type pistols that did'nt have a single Colt part on them. Look the pistol over very closely. You might well find makers marks or logo on it. They may or may not be visable when assembled. Some cleaver makers put the logo's under the grip panels, inside the slide, or on a section of the frame not visable when assembled. Makes it easier to pass off as something it's not. The established custom builders don't do this. They want it known who built thier pistols. Like Paul I'm not familiar with a Colt "DELTA" Model. Is the Colt logo stamped into the slide? How about Colt's address? These things are ever present on Colt produced firearms. If it lacks the proper Colt logo and adress, I would say it's a complete custom, built entirely from aftermarket/custom parts.
Kill all the lawyers and the world will be much better for it.0 -
The frame has the, Colt's PT F.A. MFG CO. HARTFORD CONN U.S.A., above the grip and the serial number starts with DEL. The slide has no colt trademark or any other marks other than the -SERIES 80- on the right and DELTA 10MM on the left. If the frame is a Colt Delta unit, I don't understand why they would put a replacement slide on it. The slide seems pretty plain and unembilished, but I don't know that much about them. I never understood why they didn't sell better and were dropped. I have a S&W 1026, but don't like the double action and trigger, just partial to the Colt, and it's grip safty. It has a full lenght spring guide, black, with the hex socket on the end. I have no experience with the Delta Elite, however it seems to me that I read something about it having an inner and outter recoil spring. Maybe that was after market, anyway this one has only one spring. The bushing seems to be very close fitting and I can't rotate it to disasemble it with casual effort, so I'm leaving ot alone for now. I really don't know much about newer 1911's, the other ones I have had were reworked service pistols or a couple Argentine emports. There seems to be no modifications to the ejector port, ramp, or barrel. I kinda really hope it isn't special, I want to blast away as soon as the dies and components get here. It looks interesting, in a accurate way. jal
jal0 -
Welcome John, glad to have another 10mm fan on board. There are a few of us die hard 10 fans, other than that it seems many people are uninformed of its potential.
At first glance, I too would think it was a mix/match job, but I have seen what I think you are talking about. It was a blued 80 series that looked like the government model but wasn't stamped so. I really don't know for sure either - I'd be real tempted to take rancheropaul's advice about the letter, it'd sure make it easier to sell and also to properly eveluate what you have.
Here's a site that might have a little more detail on it (I doubt it, but ya never know...)
http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbour/347/10mm.html0 -
Thanks Banbihunter. The 10MM Firearms Page has a picture of my gun, DELTA 10MM, in the 10MM Stats Page, picture 5. The one shown is labled as being stock, it appears to have the same finish, it dos not have the extended safty, extended grip safty, adjustable trigger and it has a spur hammer. The grips are the same and the DELTA 10MM staping on the slide. Wonder what the history of these are?
jal0
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