Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 10 mm Colt Delta Elite Custom…..very discouraged

This situation has me shaking my head. I purchased a Colt Delta Elite about eight years ago because I just love that round and the 1911 frame. I began the load workup process and nothing really stood out. It was a very mediocre shooter from the get go. Functionality was just fine. But on my best days it shot minute of pie plate at 15-20 yards from a rest.

After paying Wilson Combat $$$$$$ for their match barrel, installation, plus other items such as flat mainspring housing, beaver tail & such…..I also had tritium sights to be installed. The installation of the match barrel obviously requires extensive milling of the frame as well.

In short…..I was hoping for a nice little tackdriver. Not so. My last group fired this week was typical: 15 yards away and the target looked like a 00 buckshot pattern from 25 yards. I’ve noticed many times when I cycle a first round from the magazine into the chamber, the skeleton hammer falls to a half-cock position. ???

Also, I was indeed charged for the tritium sight work…milling + the cost of the sights…..it came back with plain black sights.

If I was reading this, I’d remark that this needs to be sent back for a number of reasons…that’s obvious. I’m just wondering WHY this pistol shoots like crap even with a match barrel? Is Wilson’s shop not on top of things? Do their barrels have a reputation for not being so hot? What gives? Headed west this week on a pronghorn hunt in NM and am toying around with the idea of stopping by Wilson in Arkansas and handing it back to them.

Opinions appreciated.

I have had one factory Delta Elite and it shot very well and started me down the 10mm rabbit hole. The only experience I have had with Wilson Combat is one of their AR-15s in 6.8 SPC and a 9mm EDC X9 and they all functioned and shoot exceptionally well. I have not had any custom work done by them but from what I have read that sure does not sound like it is up to their normal standards

That sucks. Ultimately you know it needs to go back.

Without a doubt it should be sent back,with all the equipment you added it should shoot like a house on fire. Could it be the ammo you are using?

You can shoot marbles from an iron pipe with Blackpowder and get a group that good. Send it back.

I bought a Delta Elite when they first came out in the 80's. To this day, it still holds the record for most inaccurate hand gun I have ever owned.....and I have been through hundreds over the past 40 years.

Hell, I wouldn't even try shooting a group at 25 yards with that POS. At 50 feet, it could barely keep them into 8 inches. We're not talking groups here......we're talking patterns. And I have personally shot sub-1.5" groups at 50 yards with decent hardware.

Tony

Yep!

Even my Glock 20 will shout 1.5” 5 shot 25 yard groups with most loads.
My Kimber 10mm 1911 is even more accurate.

OK, now I’m crying.

I'm a little puzzled here. I don't claim to know everything about 1911's, but I wouldn't expect a beaver tail and flat mainspring housing to help accuracy any...make it better handling, easier to shoot, yea. It's not obvious to me why installation of a match barrel would require extensive milling of the frame or anything to the frame except maybe some link pin fitting. The match barrel fitting is all in the slide: barrel lugs and barrel bushing. If a match grade barrel has been properly fitted and it's still not shooting well, the first thing that comes to my mind is the slide to frame fit. Was anything done about that? Was it good to start with?

1911 experts, am I off-base on this?

One would think with the amount of work Wilson does on 1911's they would produce a perfect product. Do cull's get out the door maybe?

This doesn’t sound like Wilson produced this pistol as a full out custom. If I understand correctly, the op had a pistol that didn’t shoot well and sent it to Wilson saying, “Do this and this and this…” It sounds like none of what he had done corrected whatever the problem was. If that’s the case, that’s not Wilson’s fault. They did what he asked (except for new sights.) On the other hand, if he sent them the pistol and said, “It’s not shooting well, please diagnose and do whatever is necessary”… that’s a different story.

If a match grade barrel was properly fitted up, it should shoot well unless the frame to slide fit is sloppy. If that’s the case, the best barrel in the world won’t shoot well. In the op, there’s no mention of that.

May be it is the Indian and not the arrow.

My favorite quote at the risk of incriminating myself.

My title appears to be misleading….based on what previous posters are asking, I suppose it’s not a full blown custom. It was sent to Wilson to install a match barrel and the accessories listed. The Wilson match barrel fully supports the case, which the original 1911 configuration barrel does not, hence the milling work. Because of the milling work, the parts are required to be individually fitted. Either way you want to slice it, the gun should shoot a hell of a lot better that the factory barrel and it just plain doesn’t.

To check on what I call “excessive operator headspace” (Indian/arrow), the last three shooting sessions with the Delta Elite, I also brought along my Ed Brown Special Forces 45 ACP. It shot circles around the Delta Elite, as did my old S&W model 29 for what it’s worth. I’ll be calling Wilson tomorrow and see how they view the situation.

I hope you'll keep us apprised of the situation. I would like to know how Wilson handles this.

It dam sure is Wilson's fault if the pistol doesn't shoot well after installing a match grade barrel

Barrel to slide lockup and bushing fit control accuracy not slide to frame.

That sucks, hate that kind of crap, definitely drop it off with a note and pics of your targets, if they think it's you, maybe you'll have time to stand over their shoulder at their range and see if they can do any better with it.

Offered as general info- ramped vs standard 1911 barrels.

https://youtu.be/g2bds_6CRFw

I am curious about the barrel, is it ramped? I had three barrels for my old Delta, the factory pipe, a Hienie compensated tube, and a Barsto, the factory tube shot best, oddly enough, but mine was rare, it WAS fitted properly from Colt, though I knew several guys whose Deltas were not.

I was lucky, I guess, but my gun was a really good one.

I hope so too.

I have an original Delta and have recently been thinking about getting better sights and maybe a new barrel. Wilson would have been one of the shops I would consider because there is no one around my area who does that work anymore.

I would also like to hear Wilson's explanation for the wrong sites in addition to the barrel / accuracy issue.