Can a 10mm 1911 feed, fire, and/or eject .40 S&W with no alterations?

[Deaf Smith]

Especially the magazine. Can a Colt Delta Elite function with .40 ammo with no alterations?

Especially interested in if the 10mm mags work with .40 ammo.

Thanks,

Deaf

 

[gotboostvr]

It might.

We've shot 40s&w out of unmodified G20's before.

It's worth a shot, I'd just be sure to really scrub the chamber clean after shooting the 40's.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Especially the magazine. Can a Colt Delta Elite function with .40 ammo with no alterations?

Especially interested in if the 10mm mags work with .40 ammo.

A solid "maybe" qualified with a "sometimes"

There are two issues in trying to make a 10mm 1911 function with the .40 caliber cartridge:
1. The .40 is too short to headspace on it's case mouth. This is where the "sometimes" comes in. A tight extractor can hold the rim against the breech face so that the firing pin can cause the primer to ignite
2. The short OAL also makes feeding the .40 somewhat problematic. It is common in competition to load the .40 "long" when trying to make them function in a 1911
3. The magazine is where the "maybe" comes in. Most 1911 magazines designed to be used in a 1911 have a spacer, either at the front or the rear to allow from reliable feeding. You might get a few rounds to feed before a round releases too early or nose dives

 

[Cannibul]

If the 1911 is sprung for actual 10mm loads it may not eject with the .40 Short and Weak.

 

[Riomouse911]

As they have all previously posted, there are a lot of variables in play with an autoloader firing a cartridge it isn't specced' for.

Shooting a .38 Spl. in a .357 Mag. revolver is easy: the rim holds it in place for firing and there is no set pressure needed to cycle the action. Autos? Not so much.

Shooting a .40 S&W in a 10mm has issues: the cartridge headspaces on the mouth, so if the extractor doesn't hold it tight against the frame the firing pin with either miss the primer or just bump the cartridge forward in the chamber. It could be a tight fit, which means a rod is needed to push the unfired round out. I'm not a fan of playing touchy with live soft-strike rounds still stuck in a barrel.

The springs are set for 10mm recoil, so if a lighter .40 is fired it may have enough oomph to cycle the slide fully to the rear to eject, cock, and strip a fresh round out of the mag....but I doubt it will do it reliably. (This goes for a Coonan .357 auto with the .357 spring in place. A .38 will fire because of the rim, but it wont push the slide back enough to cycle reliably until you put in the .38 specific spring). If you do put in a lighter spring, then BE SURE you replace it to the factory 10mm spring when you shoot 10mm or you will batter your Delta badly.

The mag is built for a specific length, so if the shorter .40 round shifts it may pop out early and tie up the slide on the return.

I stick to the mantra of firing only the caliber(s) the gun is made for, and I never load my own loads to the max, just to play it a bit extra-safe....others do with varying degrees of success. To each his own

 

[ny32182]

I wouldn't do it personally, but I have a friend who shot a good bit of .40 through a 10mm Tanfoglio with good function and no apparent ill effects. As mentioned, you are headspacing on the extractor. If the 1911 can't do it, I would say it is something specific to that design. Spring rates should be all be close enough to be interchangeable as long as you aren't using ammo on extreme ends of the spectrum.

Personally, I'd also be worried about bullet shavings building up on the front edge of the chamber where the 10mm case would normally headspace. I never looked in my buddy's barrel to see if that was going on. He was shooting jacketed/plated. It might be a self-limiting thing, or maybe it is not a problem at all; I don't know. But it seems like it is at least possible as a potential issue to me.

 

[stchman]

Never a real good idea to shoot a caliber out of a gun that it wasn't designed for. Just because it can does not mean you should.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Why not get a .40 barrel fitted?
Or buy reloading gear if you're after low recoil practice loads.

I fired quite a few 40's in my Glock 20, no harm, but the conversion barrel worked better.

 

[Sunray]

Biggest difference is the case length. 142 thou difference. However, you cannot fire a .40 is a 10mm due to the headspace. Fire a .40 in a 10 and you will have massively excessive headspace. As in no headspace.

 

[wally]

2nd to get a conversion barrel, lighter recoil spring if needed, and some .40S&W 1911 mags.

I have and RIA double stack 1911 (Para P16 clone) in .40S&W and it is one sweet shooting pistol.

 

[Zerodefect]

Having fingers is overrated anyways.

 

[the duck of death]

Don't know about a 1911 but 40 works fine in my G29 10mm using a 21lb recoil springs. Most straight walled pistol cases HS on the extractor.

 

[bangswitch]

Especially the magazine. Can a Colt Delta Elite function with .40 ammo with no alterations?
Especially interested in if the 10mm mags work with .40 ammo.

They can work. I've also shot .40 from my G20, as a demonstration that it will work. You can shoot .380 from a 9mm, too.

The question to be asked is: "why would you want to"? If you want a .40S&W, I've got a very nice one I'll trade even for your Delta Elite.
Use the cartridge the pistol is designed for.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Especially the magazine. Can a Colt Delta Elite function with .40 ammo with no alterations?

Especially interested in if the 10mm mags work with .40 ammo.

Thanks,

Deaf

It will probably work for a while. But the .40 and the 10mm both headspace off the case mouth. The .40 in a 10mm chamber is too short to properly headspace, so 35000 PSI of bang is held in place only by your extractor. Not if but when your extractor has enough of the abuse, you may be in for a hand-tingly surprise.

 

[the duck of death]

"QUOTE"
It will probably work for a while.

As stated I don't know about 1911s, but its been a long WHILE in my G29.

Where do you get your prediction info from??

 

[Deaf Smith]

Well here is what I'll do tomorrow. I have a .40 S&W NM barrel that drops right in the DE. I'll try it and dig up my Colt 1911 that was made in .40 S&W and try that mag as well as the 10mm Colt mags and I'll let you guys know how it all works out.

Deaf

 

[Varminterror]

If the extractor holds for the impulse between setback of the primer until case thrust pushes the case back, it'll operate. The price difference in 10mm ammo vs. 40 S&W will pay back the cost of replacement extractors.

I don't do it myself, but it's not dangerous, and I can't say I knock anyone for doing it if they recognize the beating they're putting on their extractor.

 

[Tallball]

"I have an RIA double stack 1911 (Para P16 clone) in .40S&W and it is one sweet shooting pistol."

Yeah, me too. The size and weight totally absorb the recoil. It is reliable and was inexpensive.

 

[jmr40]

My G20 shoots them great. Not something I do on a regular basis, but have done it enough to know that if I were ever to run out of 10mm ammo 40 would work in an emergency.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Deaf, you're a reloader, right? I imagine you'll be saving your 10mm brass and just downloading it a bit for lower cost, and lower pressure practice ammo in the future?

 

[Jim Watson]

When the .40 came out, Ken Waters did a Pet Loads article on it. Being mostly a rifleman and not inclined to spend money on a new pistol, he got a "conversion kit" for his Delta Elite. Function was poor with the kit installed. He started swapping stuff around and got good function with the 10mm magazine and recoil spring AND THE .40 BARREL.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I know Glock owners are very proud of their pistols, but I'd like to remind posters that relating their experience using .40 in 10mm non-1911 platforms doesn't address the OP's question.

While they are both pistols chambered in the same caliber, their extraction system is only similar in that they use a "hook" to "control" the cartridge against a breachface

 

[Nathan Detroit]

When Ken Waters did his Pet Loads article on the .40 S&W, he did not have a .40 barrel fitted to his gun at the start. He just used his Delta Elite as is and it ran just fine. He may have put a lighter recoil spring in it, but I cannot recall, but that was it. He also didn't recommend it for the novice, though.

 

[Danoobie]

Since the federal agencies started going back to the 9mm, there have been a lot of
40 S&W showing up, at good prices, in the pawn shops. Why risk an 1100$ gun on
bullets meant to be fired from one you can get at half that?

 

[Deaf Smith]

Deaf, you're a reloader, right? I imagine you'll be saving your 10mm brass and just downloading it a bit for lower cost, and lower pressure practice ammo in the future?

Oh yea I save brass and I do reload 10mm (just got the dies today!) Got almost 1/2 a coffee can full of 10mm brass now.

I just wondered if .40 would work. According to Wilson Combat (who I contacted) they said the 10mm and .40 S&W mags for the 1911 ARE DIFFERENT. Thus there might be jams. Also that means if I use the .40 S&W NM barrel I need to dig up the .40 S&W mags so it feeds right.

Didn't do that today as other things came up. But I did shoot my Glock 22 with, I think, Montana 'Gold' slugs reloaded. They are 180s and wow... 10 yard group about the size of a quarter firing with a good two handed Isosceles stance (even with NY-1 trigger!) Not bad at all. Shot a very slight 6 o'clock hold. Dang good gun that Glock.

Deaf