Posted: 8/24/2026 3:57:28 PM EDT
|
I traded into a Para P-16 in 40, i want to convert to a 10mm, Looking for info, i have no desire for a 40, but a double stack 10 mm would be a great addition. Ideas? |
|
Alloy frame? Personally, I'm not a fan of 1911 10mm pistols. Yes, the Delta Elite is a beautiful gun, but my reasearch/experience is that 1911s, especially alloy frames, are a little too weak for full-house 10mm. Yes, my G20 is HUGE. But I've got large hands and I know it can take virtually unlimited rounds of spicy 10mm. |
Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.---John Adams
Joined:
Mar 2026
Posts:
876
EE: 100% (1)
OH, USA
|
since you’ll want a stiffer spring when shooting 10mm, I’d definitely switch to a flat wire spring and shock buffer to help the alloy frame as much as you can… also a square (tiny radius) FPS and stout hammer spring will help bleed slide velocity and fight battering, too. I built a ported island barrel 10mm on an officer frame (CCO sized) and did both those things to keep slide velocity down - the smaller slide with island cutout and optic cut was already pretty light. I used a 22LB officer ISMI flatware recoil spring, 24LB officer ISMI mainspring, flat bottom FPS, a 1/4” full length guide rod and a shock buff. You could ream out the factory barrel - what sort of case head support does the original .40 barrel have? It might be better to just fit a second 10mm barrel; then you can ensure it has great case head support and fits up to 2+ recoil lugs with adequate engagement… then you can keep the factory barrel stock too. You might have to swap or shorten the ejector. That’s pretty simple. Make sure it’s a billet/barstock slide stop… maybe fit the second barrel with a slide stop pin that mates the frame hole snugly with no undersized slop to help fight frame hole egging. Otherwise the mags should be long enough to load 10mm as long as there’s not a spacer for the shorter .40 OAL (vs the .45) |
|
Kart Xact Fit National Match 10MM 5" Clark / Para Ramped Kit Kart Fitting Kit Wilson Combat 1911 Flat-Wire 24 LB Spring Kit -Full-Size 10mm / 460 Rowland #775 The mags are the same for 40S&W and 10mm |
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.”
— Thomas Sowell
— Thomas Sowell
|
First off, find a mag that will fit. The 10mm will not work out of a 45acp magazine. There’s no sense to do all the work, and expense, get the parts, and fitting them, and not finding magazine. Second, you really need to replace the entire top end. I’ve used several PO slides on 45acp frames without a problem, so you should not have a problem there. That means, any brand of slide should work. Note the word, “should”. Third, fit a Flat Bottom Firing Pin Stop to the slide. It makes the slide a little more difficult to open. It’s roughly the equivalent to adding 2# to the Recoil Spring. Fourth, increase the Main Spring (Hammer Spring) to at least 25#. I’ve seen one person who went up to 28#. Fifth, increase Recoil Spring weight to 20#. I’ve seen comments that going higher than 20# can cause frame battering when returning into battery. But I’ve seen one person who mentions using a 22# Recoil Spring. Sixth, change the ejector to a “38Super or 10mm” style ejector. For the barrel, I used a Stainless Steel, unknown brand, 10mm barrel from Numrich. I used both 5” Govt size, and 4 1/4” Commander/Mid Size. They work very well, though they will need to be finish reamed. Very nice barrels for the money. Using max book loads with AA#9, which is listed as about 1250fps for a 180gr bullet, I’ve gotten right around 1300fps(chronographed) with my 5”. |