First off. Stop using cheap foreign ammo. Then maybe swap out recoil springs for a different set. Yes, you shouldn't have to do any of it when a gun is new. I would also demand that Colt tell you what was done with the damn thing when they had it and send if off again if you don't like to tinker with 1911's. Tell them you don't want it back till it works. Period. That is if they bother to answer the phone!!!

 

They won't take it back or exchange it I assume although I would try to force them to do just that.

Or talk you dealer into trading to back in towards another gun and have him deal with it, split the loss or whatever. I am hooked on Dan Wesson but there a little higher $ and all dealer can order one I assume.

How is Sellier & Bellot crap ammo?

 

I would try some better ammo, Win, Fed or Rem. I have a rather new Wiley Clapp Commander and it feeds everything I've tried in it, 230 RN, 200 RN cast, 225 TC cast. S&B usually works, I don't know about 180 grain tho.

 

Picked up a new two-tone Delta Elite last month and have had nothing but problems. Using Armscor, Magtech, and Sellier & Bellot 180 gr, this gun has had nothing but failures to feed.

The gun has already been sent back to Colt and I received it back on the 27th of November. No notes or anything in regards to what they did if anything. Fast forward to today, I took it out with some Magtech and Sellier & Bellot 180 gr and again experienced failures to feed from the magazine when loading the gun.

I've used the same ammo in my two Delta Elites and they work fine, so it ain't the ammo.

The rounds aren't nose diving, they are pointed up towards the chamber and wedged, just prior to really engaging the extractor.

Would you consider polishing the chamber a bit? If the rounds are wedging against the roof of the chamber and they are just plain jane ball bullets then maybe the chamber is on the rough side. Just my guess.

I find it hard to believe that the gun was shipped with the wrong recoil spring and Colt didn't even check on it when you sent back the gun. However since that recoil springs are dirt cheap, it doesn't hurt to get a Wolff spring of either the correct weight or slightly heavier and see if that would help.

Now, if I download the magazines to less than four, the gun will load and chamber fine, with a few exceptions. So, what am I missing here? Magazine spring tension seems to be the common denominator, here. I really dread the thought of sending it back to Colt for another month. However, with that said, Colt can't seem to want to answer their phone to take Customer Service calls. I'm about to cut my losses with this one.

I'd say send the darn thing back and have Colt make it right regardless of how long it takes. It can't be the magazine issue since that you use both the Colt factory mag and Wilson mag.

Or take a loss and sell it off and go to Colt's Facebook page and shame them.

I had a CCO that shot 6" low at 7-yards. I sent it in for correction and it took Colt six months to put in a new sight. But it did come back shot to point of aim AND they threw in a steel MSH replacement without charge...so it wasn't all bad.

 

I'd say send the darn thing back and have Colt make it right regardless of how long it takes.

I've been on this forum long enough to have formed the impression that Colt customer service is pretty atrocious. In fact, when my Colt had a few bobbles, I didn't even bother sending it to them, as I was afraid I'd be without my gun for months and months, and it would still come back not fixed. I sent it to Dave Panciotti right off the bat. I'm very happy with that decision, but it did cost me money. Yes, Colt should make it right, but do they? Have things improved in the last two years (the last time I was a regular here)?

 

One thing to try, load your magazines completely full, and let them set a week, that will break in the mag springs, and maybe take care of your problem. I just got a new Wilson Supergrade, and in the instructions it says to fully load the magazines so the springs are fully compressed to break them in. Worth a try.

 

Just wondering - does the mag spring exert greater upward pressure when loaded with 3 or 4 rounds or with a full magazine? There's less t lift with fewer rounds, but the spring is less compressed than with 7 or 8 rounds loaded. I ask because I'm wondering if there's an extractor issue. Too much tension, a sharp lower edge or a bit less than ideal daylight between hook and breechface?

If lifting less means the spring exerts greater pressure, maybe it's enough to overcome whatever's getting in the way.

 

You have it backwards. A fully loaded mag exerts greater force on the top round than a half loaded magazine does.

Force per inch of deflection x inches of deflection = greater force.

And yes......load those mags full and let them relax for a day or 2.

 

I would try Winchester 230 gr. Ball and see if you still have the same issue.

Some .45 Auto ammo does not have enough chamfer at the extractor rim and that causes the round to get bound up on the extractor when feeding. Sometimes you can see a mark left on the case rim chamfer from the extractor.

 

Ahhhhh, you are aware that the Delta Elite is a 10mm not a .45?

 

If Brent was still there he'd make it right. Unfortunately he isn't.

And it's not an ammo problem either. S&B ammo is great stuff, and Armscor and Magtech are still just as good as Rem-UMC and WWB. A gun like a Delta Elite shouldn't require premium ammo just to work properly. Anything that's brass-cased would work. It sounds to me like the OP needs to either send it back to Colt and make them fix it, or else go straight to somebody else who actually knows what they're doing and pay them. The downside to the latter solution is that, if the issue is a manufacturing problem the gunsmith cant solve then you're out of luck because the warranty may be voided.

 

This is correct.



S&B makes excellent ammunition. Something is wrong with the gun, or the magazines.

 

It's not the recoil spring, unless someone forgot to include both springs and you're running on just the 7# spring?

If it seems to run better with less mag spring tension, then I'd suspect excess extractor tension; both combined are too much for that 7# recoil spring ( ) to overcome.

 

It sounds like it has too tight of extractor.

I would check that first.

Then I would check the slide, taking everything out and mounting it on your frame. Work it back and fourth to see if its binding.

Also check your recoil springs.

 

From your original description I would look at two likely culprits - and both are minor to correct.

I have owned three Deltas, and none had feeding issues with quality US made factory ammo, despite the stronger springing for the 10MM. I did use factory Colt or CMC mag back in my IPSC days and no had issues. Also, interestingly enough, all three of mine shoot fine with CMC or Wilson .45 ACP mags, too.

I would not condemn the gun without running a full box of Winchester/Remington/Federal factory 10MM through it. I don't trust the off shore makers as much as some here.

1.) Apparently the rounds are not cleanly sliding up the breech face and under the extractor "in time", but are being shoved up against the top of the barrel before they can straighten out and feed into the chamber as normal. Is this what appears to be happening??

2.) If it is, either the breech face is rough/not flat, etc., and not letting the base of the cartridge case slide up easily, or (more likely) you have an extractor that needs to be properly beveled on the bottom edge and/or tension adjusted. (Lots of info here or online.) If the case rim is encountering a rough breech, it may just be slowing the angle change enough to hang things up. If the extractor is too tight or has a square edge stopping the rim from feeding up under the extractor cutout, same problem can occur - either upsets the timing of events.

I would attempt to make Colt fix it, but if you otherwise like the gun, you will save time and perhaps improve it a bit by letting a custom 1911 smith make it run. Barring something way off on the barrel or slide, (unlikely in this day of CMC) it's probably pretty simple. CC

 

The pistol should run 100% from Colt. Send it back and if they don't fix it then call them and inform them they will be hearing from a lawyer. Just the threat sometimes works. Colt has an obligation to make it right.

 

The pistol should run 100% from Colt. obligation to make it right.

This^^

 

Magazine and/or ammo issue; not the gun.

 

I have been thru this and its very disappointing and frustrating.
But with enough times back to Colt they eventually get it right.

 

I had to send back a new classic 45 because the front sight was loose. It came back 3 weeks later with a Tight but canted front sight. No repair notes were in the box. I was pissed and my dealer bought the gun back. I complained about colt on there page and was banned. LOL

 

My Colt 1911s are my most cherished pistols, but I don’t see myself ever buying another Colt. I feel fortunate that my Colts are acceptable fit and finish and run ball ammunition reliably (.45auto). I just don’t feel that if I had an issue with a new purchase I would get acceptable customer support from Colt.

 

I can't believe people are blaming this on the ammo. :biglaugh:

 

I can't believe that people think S&B or Fiocchi are subpar ammo because they came from Europe. Or MagTech and Aguila are subpar ammo because they came from South of the Border.

 

It would be interesting to have someone look closely at the extractor. Not only tension but the exact shape of the hook at the end. Maybe with enough trips back to Colt they will find somebody to do that or find what else is wrong.

 

^^^^ agree ^^^^

 

Maybe the gun is just a POS? Getting to be that way with Colt!

 

I think the majority of Colt’s firearms are fine weapons. It just seems if you are the poor fella that gets a dud, which they don’t mind sending out, Colt will probably not be very concerned about righting their wrong.

 

I'd bet this is really a simple problem to fix. From what you have described, this sounds like an extractor problem, perhaps the extractor pushing the round out of the magazine instead of controlling it, i.e. the rim of the cartridge is coming up ahead of the tip of the extractor instead of in the groove. BTW, I have yet to get a new Colt that has the extractor poperly fit. There's no excuse for that.

My $0.02... keep sending it back to Colt on their dime until they get it right. And instead of working from the ground up, start with a polite but firm call to the head office and let that trickle down to the lower levels.

Edit: BTW, nothing wrong with your choice of ammo. My XDm-10 has no problem running S&B or Magtech. Nor should your Colt.

 

I have to yet own, shoot, handle or examine a Colt post 1970s that meets my expectations of a quality firearms I like to own. All this back/forth only fits my perception of what that company has become. I carefully looked over the new 'snake' guns at the Shot show and they made me laugh out loud....I mean...

 

Other than the Python, the rest of the old snake guns ranged from decent (Diamondback) to mediocre (King Cobra/Anaconda).

 

**Update** Finally got through to Colt CS. I specifically asked what they did to the gun on the first return. Come to find out, they didn’t do a thing! They took it to their range and test fired and shipped it back. Nothing else and no explanation. So, I sit here awaiting another FedEx label and this time they stated that they would expedite the repair and that the development team would be examining it. I’ll keep this thread updated.

 

Good..As someone who went thru what you are doing..
I wish you the best,,mine came back repaired and it is one of my favorite guns.

But just as a note:
I happen to have sent my gun in at just about the same time of year and it landed on a 3 week Colt factory Christmas shutdown period and I took 2 months total.

 

You defined the problem in your post.
Sounds like the cartridge overall length is too long for the feed lip geometry of your magazines - whatEVER brand they are.

The 10mm uses a TC bullet nose that tends to strike the frame ramp "earlier" than does RN designs, and if the feed lips are still gripping the rim, the slide face will shove the rim down against spring force, causing the round to be abruptly canted upward to jamp with the nose just inside the chamber.

10mm ammo tends to be loaded "long" which means anything remotely approaching "wadcutter" feel lips is going to present problems and many "hybrid" feed lip designs aren't much more "hybrid" than being slightly LONGER than wadcutter but with inadequate "splay" at the front. Very likely cartridges with a slightly shorter OAL would chamber just fine, but I would suggest you try a Chip McCormick Powermag loaded to one-shy of full.

The reason the mags feed with fewer rounds is because there is more "give" in the rounds stack when the bullet nose hits the frame ramp and so the guns just kind of "joggles" its way into chambering.

 

There could very well be something here.



I have generally been loading 10mm at 1.25" for my S&W 10 series ten mil guns, It runs well. But I found that this is too long for my Colt Delta. Once I went to 1.24" COAL the problem went away.

 

New Colts are not "junk" and they are a very good value for the money.

The 1911 was designed, spec'd and built by craftsmen in the old Colt "Onion Dome" factory that were essentially members of a Guild system - you had beginning journeymen types who were overseen by higher level (more trained and experienced) master level workers who taught them their trade in every department. When (after months to years of experience) the new guy proved himself, he was moved up to more demanding and exacting work. Anyone could be fired for inability or incompetence if they did not turn out excellent work. And were. All Colts produced prior to the 1960's came through this old school system. But labor was cheap, a few dollars an hour, and good steel was expensive, and the priorities reflected that. Parts were smoother, fitted more closely and so everything worked. The level of manufacture of the time was perfectly capable of turning out excellent 1911s - using the Methods of that Time.

Then Along came the 1960's - and, eventually the United Auto Workers Union. Increased competition from new gun makers challenging S&W and Colt, who used cheaper designs and methods (example Ruger and foreign guns) - that worked quite well. Economic competition - make it cheaper, faster, etc. And cheap always threatens to destroy good, long term. Methods - and skill levels - changed.

I would say current Colts are excellent guns - but no one still working for Colt's production line is anything but an assembler. The vast majority of parts are "in spec" and most of the guns don't give trouble or Colt would be out of business. But the 1911 is at it's best with a well fitting extractor and firing pin stop - which are now just "drop in" parts. Barrel fitting is usually very good today (CNC) but it was usually spot on up through the 1950s. And CNC machines are great, but they also tend to get rid of people who know how to make things "perfect" with a couple of file strokes or a small tweak.

I worked for over eight years in an American Pistolsmith Guild 1911 shop. We sold all the major brands, to include Wilson. And I have personally sold a new $2000 plus Wilson to a well heeled, top local shooter - and it did not run. Earlier Kimbers were too tight jamamatics with lots of MIM part breakage. We also were the state warrantee center for Winchester, Remington, Marlin, etc. etc. - and guess what - they all had duds and recalls, too.

Anything touched by the hand of Man can and will get screwed up - period. Unless God made it, it is not guaranteed to be perfect. You guys act like Colt is the only company with problem guns or employees. Sorry, they are a typical modern manufacturing firm, balancing costs and methods with making a minimum bottom line - using Union Labor that damn near cannot be fired (pick any privileged Minority/race/sex/etc.) regardless of how sloppy, mentally challenged, substance abused or uncaring they are. SIG, Beretta and Glock have had problem guns and even whole runs of problem guns. Custom shops should NEVER have a comeback - and yet they do. Humans involved, sorry.

If you want to pay twice as much your satisfaction is likely to go up - as it should. But I have simply learned how to do the minor tweaks on my Colts myself (and they are NOT always Needed) and drive on. The 1911 is best in the hands of an enthusiast who is willing to learn it inside and out, like a martial artist knows his tools. If this is too much trouble, you can get Colt to make it right, send it to a smith you trust - or buy something else, usually for more money. Me, I've been using Colts since 1974 - and they have always rewarded any effort I put into them. CC

 

I have owned quite a few Colts over the last 15 years and never had any problems. I love them. I currently own three and am contemplating a new SCG model.