David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XX

[woody]

Oct 22, 2013 11:03:07 GMT -5 bradshaw said:

Boxed factory ammunition trapped in garbage bag from 2004 to 2013, just about ten year. Humidity got in, couldn't escape. Most cardboard containers crumbled to damp dust. Plastic cartridge trays good as new. Cardboard cartridge trays mostly turned to oatmeal. Many aluminum Blazer cases corroded right through. Powder granules span spectrum of deterioration. Federal nickel cases survived ordeal amazingly well.

Thus far, two blown aluminum caseheads, spraying face with particles. Shooting glasses of course a must. Feels as though particles blew rearward between frame & slide, although i can't be sure. No damage to Colt Delta Elite, nor much spray against cartridges in magazine. Impossible to judge beforehand which aluminum cased round will misfire. Blown casehead ammo felt somewhat anemic compared to a healthy round, suggesting powder contamination. Corrosion grows on aluminum. I make no statistical pretense in this SEE-WHAT-SHOOTS experiment. Nevertheless, that this assortment of 10mm ammo suffered exactly the same lousy storage confers validity. Reckon electrolysis played a part, as the aluminum case---the rottenest apple in the basket----attacked first itself, second the copper bullet jackets, then the brass, with slightest affect on the nickel.

Persons storing ammo on boats or an otherwise humid environ might see in my folly a cautionary tale.

My above-stated "30 to 40%" misfire rate with Speer Blazer is a guesstimate made in error, compounded by faux statistical reference. My SWAG tells me about 1/4 to 1/3 of Blazer misfired. Blazer ammo corroded in half or beyond recognition isn't counted, but sure as shootin' would raise the failure rate. Note again, truth is not statistical----we cannot know whether ammunition too corroded to chamber will fire, hangfire, or misfire. Disinclined at moment to scrub aluminum cases to see how many more will chamber.

Plenty of Hornady and Federal 10mm to try. To pursue curiosity, I may take steel wool or Scotchbrite pad to the brass case Federal and Hornady. So far, no brass or nickel cased round has failed to feed from the magazine, although there have been two Hornady misfires.

This Colt Delta Elite has been a magnificent performer from the day I started shooting it, about 1980. This takes the gun completely out of the equation as a culprit in ammunition failure. Got a lot of practice clearing jams, as the heavy 10mm spring tries its best to chamber corroded ammo. I prefer Browning's guidance of recoil spring by slide & frame----retained in the Delta Elite----to the long recoil spring guide rod. To eject an aluminum case jammed half-way in the chamber, I place the spring plug (front of slide) against a firm surface----bench, log, tailgate----and push down.

A misfire is handled as an incipient HANGFIRE. Wait at least a few seconds. The one hangfire, so far, exhibited about 1/4-second between primer strike and discharge.
David Bradshaw

I love my Delta Elite. It is one of my guns that if I could only have one it could do anything I would need. Next would be any of my .357's. As a kid I drooled over them in the magazines until I could get one when I got older. I thought the Delta Elite came out in 1987 though? Is yours an early pre production one?

[bradshaw]

Woody.... I believe you are closer to the release date of the Delta. Amend "1980" to late 80's. The 10mm Auto is a fine cartridge, a much better rural cartridge than its offspring .40 S&W. To digress slightly, while others claim that the 10mm is possessed of greater intrinsic accuracy than the .40 S&W, I haven't tested the claim----let alone using like barrels in the same model pistol. Chamber dimensions may have something to do with accuracy differential, although model of pistol, barrel-to-slide fit in battery, and slide-to-frame fit in battery count more. The 10mm uses a large pistol primer, the .40 a small pistol primer. The .40 took on the SP primer to prevent the primer of a loaded round contacting the sharp ejector of "modern: pistols when the slide is racked. The old, dumb ejector of Browning's masterpiece doesn't share that hair salon sensitivity.

Both are high pressure cartridges. Therefore, for a given pressure velocity gain is realized in the 10mm through increased boiler room. This, along with its proven accuracy, automatically makes it the better hunting & filed cartridge. Unlike Boston, where it takes 300 rounds to wound two terrorists, or New York, where it takes 40 to 50 rounds to drop an unarmed man at spitting distance, firepower in the woods means FIRE DISCIPLINE. Fire discipline means ACCURACY----fire each shot like it's the only one you have. Within the velocity zone of a 180 grain bullet at 850 to 1150 fps, 100-to-200 fps is a big deal, especially so in the woods.

My impression is that .40 S&W has been loaded with brass unfit for reloading, especially loads approaching maximum. Pistols set up with generous ramps for feeding, pistols with light springs, and pistols without Brownings inertia firing pin are more sensitive to a thin-webbed case, or a case wherein the sidewall joins the web at a square corner, these are conditions of a 6 o'clock blowout.

In its presentation to the public, the 10mm Auto repeated the mistake of the .41 Smith & Wesson Magnum. Launched at full power as new medicine for law enforcement, with recoil too stiff for the masses. Remember, the .357 mag won uniformed approval through chambering the .38 Special for qualification. (Practice of which I heartily approve.)

The .40 has the advantage of working in the 9mm Luger format, a consideration irrelevant in a field pistol.

Keep shooting your 10mm.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

oldschool.... Highly unlikely the Delta Elite "rubber" grips were made by Pachmayr. Washers are embedded to shoulder the grip screws. Unlike Pachmayr, there are no metal plates in the panels.

Just finished strip cleaning the Delta, including magazine. Lube on reassembly with motor oil. No sign of chamber or bore abrasion from corroded ammo. However, I may have fired the last of the aluminum cased CCI Blazer, as the misfire rate alone precludes its use from any but the most dire emergency. I will continue to shoot the Federal Hi-Shok (Sierra) and Federal Hydra Shok, as these loads just won't quit. Shoot up the Hornady too, perhaps get a better handle on the misfires and "blanks." Remaining aluminum cased ammo awaits the next bonfire.

GI ammo cans remain the single best portable storage vessel available. Especially in a boat and other humid or unpredictable environs.
David Bradshaw

[cmh]

Gotta love 10mm While I really enjoy shooting 45acp I enjoyed my 10mm even more

[bradshaw]

CMH.... "Gotta love 10mm"----You got that right. With a front rolling in, I loaded the spanking clean Delta Elite with Hornady 180 JHP and proceeded to collect nine misfires in about 50 rounds. In addition, two more "POP" (blank-sounding) loads with insufficient power to eject, one rechambering, the other catching on barrel hood. One Hornady round, totally green with corrosion, chambered and fired normally. Cannot tell by outward appearance whether Hornady will fire, as some misfires show relatively minor corrosion. The Federal 180 JHP again produced no failures to fire, although there was one report lighter than normal.

With a blustery 9 o'clock wind, I took on a steel pot and stones at 200 yards, offhand. Holding a thin chip of front sight, with the right corner of the front sight tangent the left side of the can, I scored four 2nd round hits, with the fourth shot pushing the pot off the rock. Most satisfying, particularly in the wind, but I did not make one 1st round hit. These shots would come much harder with the greater drift and trajectory of the .45 ACP.

The 10mm Auto really is a SHOOTING cartridge.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

John Parker were discussing the 10mm Auto today, and I described shooting .40 S&W in the Colt Delta Elite. Quite obvious the extractor holds rim against breech face. While John Browning’s 1911 incorporated an inertia firing pin, which has l-o-n-g firing pin protrusion, ignition from a striker fired gun like the Glock and XMD depends completely on the extractor to “headspace” the cartridge.

The Delta Elite even fires .357 SIG, albeit with anemic power, puny velocity, and keyholes @ 5 yards.
David Bradshaw