Convert .45 frame to 10mm?

Yes, The conversion is straight forward... The ejector will need to be changed... A 38 Super will work.

The 45 Ramp should work out okay, but you may need some tuning, if you plan to switch back and forth, be careful, and try to avoid changing the angle/contour too much.

FWIW, I talked to Bar-Sto about a year ago concerning doing that and they said it wouldn't work. Basically, too many of the dimensions are wrong (e.g. the feed ramp) and it is prohibitively difficult to make it actually WORK.

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CastleBravo
The Pit: http://www.geocities.com/mr_motorhead/index.html

Not to contradict the experts, but with all of the repeated talk of the problems switching calibers, I've never had a problem with it. I've never had to recontour a feed ramp once it was properly polished for the original caliber. Just lucky??

The other hard part is the breechface dimensions. SInce the .45 rim is wider, it may be hard to get enough tension on the extractor in a .45 slide to make it work right.

This is much the same as the difficulty in getting 9x23 to work in a 38 super slide. 9mm slides are much easier to work with when converting to 9x23.

Would a 38 super frame work?

A 10mm frame :ie: reciever is the same as any other. You should leave the feed ramp alone. You need a 10mm top end and it will work fine. Match the ejector to the slide. A 38 Super or any Commander should work. I have built 9mm, 38 Super, 10mm, 40 S&W, and 10mm Centaurs, along with 45 ACP with the same lower ends.Of course, you have to have some skills that most of you do not have, but don't let that stop you!

Evil Thrives when good men remain Silent Eagle' Law

Originally posted by Springfield No.1:
I could be mistaking but I always thought that it was the other way around

. You know since the 9x23 has nearly the same dimensions as the .38 super. But then again I could be wrong

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9x23 and 38 super have nearly the same dimensions EXCEPT for the rim. 9x23 has a slight taper from mouth to end and 38 super is straight walled. 38 super is semi-rimmed and 9x23 is rimless and the rim size is nearly identical to 9mm luger. The 38 Super and 9mm Colt slides that I have worked with have different breech dimensions. I like 38 supercomp which is a 38 super case with 9mm size rim. That way I can use my 38 super dies and my 9mm slide. SOme 38 super Colt slides are wide enough to take a .40/10mm case.



[This message has been edited by James P (edited 09-04-2001).]

Originally posted by Dave Sample:
A 10mm frame :ie: reciever is the same as any other. You should leave the feed ramp alone.

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This isn't true with all guns. The ramp on the Colt 9mm is shallower....45 is deeper and wider. Sometimes, a 9mm/38 super/9x23 top end on a 45 frame will result in nose dive jams. The 10mm frame looks more like the 9/38 super than the 45 to me.

I have got all sorts of combinations to work including 10mm on a .45 frame but not all of them will be 100% reliable and some of them don't work at all.

I agree though, don't mess with the ramp. If the conversion top end doesn't work on your frame but the original caliber does....it would be my preference to use a different frame.

Originally posted by BBBBill:
Just lucky??

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I have had the same experience in most cases where it seemed a whole lot easier than everyone said. After doing several, I started to realize what all of the fuss was about.

But isn't it great when luck works for you??!!

Changing calibers on 1911's is dumb, anyway. A new lower end is cheap , cheap, cheap compared to all of the monkey shines you people go through. I you want a 10mm, why don't you just but one? And why all of the nonsense about 9mm-38Super when that is a whole different issue. I have never let a 1911 out of my shop that wasn't 100% reliabile regardless of what I used to build it. I built one of the first 3 40 S&W Hi caps in this country and there wasn't any 40 lower ends then. 10mm are for sale here cheap because no one has enough balls to shoot them. They also tend to self destruct as they come from Colt who insisted on putting a flimsy ,plastic ,recoil assembly in them.

"Dumb" might be a little strong. A new lower usually involves FFLs, dealers, brady checks, pistol permits, or whatever other hassles your state chooses to put you through. You don't buy a new lower to shoot .22 do you?

I got confused on the 9mm/38 super. Was thinking back to shooting 10mm out of a 38 super slide....not 10mm out of a .45 slide...sorry.

Not letting anything out of the shop that isn't 100% reliable and accepting the fact that a certain barrel/slide/frame combination aren't going to work together aren't exactly the same thing. I suppose you can make anything work for a single caliber but I'll guarantee that I could find a .45 frame that can't be "easily" converted to 9mm/38 super and possibly 10mm for that matter.

In a world where you can get a blue Delta Elite for as little as $550 if you shop around I'm not sure what the point is either. If you want a completely new 10mm 1911 Dane Burns suggested on http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?topic=3172&forum=4&5
that converting a .40S&W to 10mm is very workable but requires a bit of extra fiddling.

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CastleBravo
The Pit: http://www.geocities.com/mr_motorhead/index.html

[This message has been edited by CastleBravo (edited 09-04-2001).]

Define "self-destruct" in the Colt 10mm Dave. If by this you mean the recoil system will wear out, okay. If you think that this will actually lead to catastrophic failure I think the statement is a little harsh. While I am not a gunsmith, with all due respect I have not met many people who have fired more rounds of 10mm than I have, much of it out of single stack Colts.

While my Limited 10 Colt 10mm has a metal full length guide rod, my carry DE is stock and the recoil system is doing just fine. A previous DE I owned had thousands of rounds through it with no signs of wear. I've been hearing stories in the wind about Colt 10mm's failing for years but have still not seen one, or met anyone who has had this actually happen. Usually its gun shop B.S.

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NRA, USPSA, IDPA and MCRGO member
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~bchamber/10mm.html

I don't really like any kind of Colts and I think putting a plastic recoil guide in a hard shooting gun is nonsense. I hear a lot about collet bushings never failing ,too, but have had to beat slides apart with lead hammers too many times. I don't know how many guns you have built and I don't care. If you want to bet your life on plastic in a carry gun, so be it. Mine's worth too much to me to do that.I don't do many Colts because they don't meet my standards. They are built for lawyers, not pistoleros.I do use a 1954 Colt LW Commander for one of my carry guns but it has been modified by me and is a honey. I use 1954 GI Ball ammo in it and I rarely shoot it. I will drive the bottom feeders nuts in court with that one!

I already stated I don't build guns, I'm not a lawyer, and certainly not a bottom feeder, though I do enjoy fried catfish.

What I am is a shooter, and I find this tells me a lot about what works and doesn't work. If a plastic guide rod survives 5 years of IPSC, 5000-6000 rounds a year it will in fact be enough to stake my miserable Colt-loving life on.

Thanks, however, for your kind input.



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NRA, USPSA, IDPA and MCRGO member
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~bchamber/10mm.html

Originally posted by Dave Sample:
I don't know how many guns you have built and I don't care.

If you want to bet your life on plastic in a carry gun, so be it. They are built for lawyers, not pistoleros.

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First line - feeling is mutual. Your opinion is as good as any other so long as you can express it a bit more tactfully.

Rest of it - Now I know that many of the members of the 'wandering band of rogue pistolsmith pistoleros' are packin non-lawyer equipped weapons but those that actually carry their gun for a living generally have those court friendly doo dads in the slide and surprised or not....there is a lot of plastic as well.



[This message has been edited by James P (edited 09-05-2001).]

Originally posted by CastleBravo:
In a world where you can get a blue Delta Elite for as little as $550 if you shop around I'm not sure what the point is either.

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On top of the reasons/hassles I already gave, you can convert a gun for much less than $550 and have a match barrel and better fit to boot. Chances are you are going to have to add tax and or shipping on top of that $550.

Besides, some of us like to fiddle ourselves and not leave it to the "pros" to goof up. I am sure you can understand where I am coming from. As far as making a .40 a 10, why send it to Dane when you can buy a chamber reamer and a spring and do it yourself?