Sidearms & Scatterguns 10mm 1911 recommendations

[TacosGigante]

I have a brain worm that is telling me to combine an outdated gun with an unnecessary cartridge and while I should fight off the urge I probably won't. As such, I would like recommendations for a 10mm 1911 pattern gun in the roughly $2000 range. A couple of wrinkles: I want ambi-safeties and a pic rail, because what would my unnecessary and obsolete firearm be without a light?

I have a couple of candidates already, but am open to others. The candidates are:

1. Dan Wesson Specialist: Pros: Standard size, checks all the boxes, good reputation. Cons: Would a longer barrel help?
2. Dan Wesson Kodiak: Pros: Longer barrel for increased velocity and less recoil/flip. Cons: Longer barrel for carrying around. More expensive.
3. Kimber KHX Custom: Pros: Checks all boxes and is optic ready. Cons: Build quality is likely not as good as a DW(?)

Like I said, I would like to keep it around 2k, so the really high-end stuff is a no-go, but I also don't want something really cheap, this is already unnecessary, no sense making it lame as well.

Update: I ended up buying a 9mm Staccato P. I hadn’t intended to but once I picked it up I fell in love.

 

[Softtail103]

Maybe include the Kimber Camp Guard. Love mine. Very accurate with 180gr ammo.

 

[Zak Smith]

Personally, I'd scrounge Gunbroker for a used STI/SV 10mm 2011. I have found used-but-great-shape STI/SV 2011's on GB for well under $2 in the last 24 months.

 

[Nik H]

I have a Bren Ten and a tuned Colt Delta Elite that I built in 1990

Love both

 

[cas6969]

Fixed sights on the Specialist. That's a no go for me on something like that. When I bought my Razorback I held out till I could find an adjustable sighted one, a good deal harder to find.

The Kodiak is expensive, but it is very nice. Just checking prices on GB, and boy they jumped up a bunch since I bought mine. Wow. There cheapest is a used one, going for what the new ones were when I bought mine less than a year ago.

 

[wvfarrier]

I have a DW Wraith in 10mm and its amazing. My TRP 10mm needed a ton of work to run correctly

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Personally, I'd scrounge Gunbroker for a used STI/SV 10mm 2011. I have found used-but-great-shape STI/SV 2011's on GB for well under $2 in the last 24 months.

This. Also, you can search for 40SW limited race gun and have the barrel reamed to 10mm Auto later.

 

[Freebore221]

AF1911 Polished DLC Threaded Barrel

[email protected]

alphafoxtrot.us

I have two of these, one in 9mm and one in 45ACP.
Smoothest semi auto I have ever felt with the polished DLC finish.

 

[TacosGigante]

AF1911 Polished DLC Threaded Barrel

[email protected]

alphafoxtrot.us

I have two of these, one in 9mm and one in 45ACP.
Smoothest semi auto I have ever felt with the polished DLC finish.

Interesting. I hadn’t heard of them before.

 

[TacosGigante]

Were the Sig emperor scorpions any good?

 

[matthias]

I had a trp Springfield longslide 10mm. 1300 rounds the slide was very loose. I sent it back and they "polished the feed ramp" like magic the slide wasn't rattley any more. Sold the damn thing and have not looked back.

Buy an sti and be happy.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Were the Sig emperor scorpions any good?

I had an early SIG GSR 1911. The magazine path through the grip was broached crooked and the gun wouldn't run. It went back to Sig three times and they replaced it twice. All of them had the same problems. The third gun I sold unfired.

That was a long time ago, could they have fixed their 1911 category in the last 15+ years? Maybe. It's Sig though, they generally produce garbage and then hang the end users out to dry when they arbitrarily release new non compatible generations.

 

[cas6969]

I had a trp Springfield longslide 10mm. 1300 rounds the slide was very loose.

I had a Para Elite Hunter longslide, after 400 rounds the slide was very loose. Most inaccurate centerfire pistol I've ever owned.

 

[pineoak]

Save your $2k for something you REALLY want in the future.

(Like a $500 Ruger Mark IV 22/45 .22 rimfire in one of the many pretty anodized colored available + a compensator & maybe a red dot)

That way you can shoot steel challenge matches with a compensated rimfire pistol with or without optic.

Because compensated .22LR is the way to go given how much recoil the round has.

10mm... .40S&W for wimps.

(seriously though, 10mm tends to beat guns up)

 

[Zak Smith]

A used STI 2011 in 40SW just sold on Gunbroker for under $1500. A few minutes with a reamer and could have been 10mm.

 

[Potsy]

Far from a 1911 expert here (I do own a couple though), but I always thought the first thing I’d do with a 10mm (or as I have with a .45ACP running +P loads) 1911 is swap out recoil and mainsprings for ones of known weight and repute, then, if the firing pin stop had a big radius at the bottom, swap it out.
Whatever you can do to slow the slide momentum down but still feed reliably.
I also tend to come down on the “pro” side of shock buffs in a 5” gun running warm.
No need to let a gun beat itself to death.
Pretty good reads on this sort of thing on 1911 addicts and 1911 forum.

 

[TacosGigante]

A used STI 2011 in 40SW just sold on Gunbroker for under $1500. A few minutes with a reamer and could have been 10mm.

Forgive the stupid question but is that all it takes? Just modifying the barrel? Would the same mags work etc.?

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Forgive the stupid question but is that all it takes? Just modifying the barrel? Would the same mags work etc.?

Yes. The 1911/2011 is designed for 45ACP length cartridges. 2011 .40 magazines will hold 1.250" length cartridges. 40SW and 10mmA are straight wall cartridges, 40SW is simply 3mm shorter than 10mmA.

 

[TacosGigante]

Update: I ended up buying a 9mm Staccato P. I hadn’t intended to, but I picked it up and fell in love.

 

[ironman56]

Not a 1911. But I've had a S&W M&P 2.0 10mm for a couple of months and am very impressed with it , shooting 200gr hardcast PC acme bullets @ 1105 fps and very accurate.

 

[JohnCarter17]

This. Also, you can search for 40SW limited race gun and have the barrel reamed to 10mm Auto later.

Yeah, I remember reading (I think on HKPRO) someone detailing their modification of a USP 40 to shoot 10mm.

 

[Zak Smith]

Not much point in a chamber conversion unless the mags will take a longer cartridge OAL.

 

[Potsy]

Just to totally hijack the thread, if I WERE to 10mm, I’d totally have a 9x25 Dillon barrel for it.
But I’m talking 1911 or Glock 20, not trying to shoehorn a 10 case in a .40 pistol.

 

[Scottso]

Colt, Delta Elite FTW

 

[Southernspeed]

Not a 1911. But I've had a S&W M&P 2.0 10mm for a couple of months and am very impressed with it , shooting 200gr hardcast PC acme bullets @ 1105 fps and very accurate.

Mine was awesome for about 250-300 rounds, now it’s back with S&W as it turned to junk, literally, over night

 

[strikeeagle1]

Mine was awesome for about 250-300 rounds, now it’s back with S&W as it turned to junk, literally, over night

Okay, I'll bite. Do we need to wait for season two to hear about the junk pile happened?

 

[Southernspeed]

Okay, I'll bite. Do we need to wait for season two to hear about the junk pile happened?

Nope, same problems many others are having. FTF jams, stovepipes with live rounds, ejecting the last round in the mag straight out of the ejection port from the mag. It went from running perfectly to malfunctioning several times per mag from one day to the next.
I tried a stronger recoil spring which fixed it for some folk, and whilst it certainly helped, it didn't cure it. Some have had good results with a stronger mag spring but I decided to let S&W look at it.
Seems to be they were just polishing the feed ramp then returning them to the customer which didn't work in most cases but now I hear they are doing more work on them. Time will tell. I hope they find the issue as it 'was' a great shooter.

 

[strikeeagle1]

Thanks. I have not heard of that problem before. Mine has been running as well as the Colt.

 

[Valken]

This is interesting I just purchased a Kimber and 10 mm. So far no problems with the pistol but I've only got approximately 50 rounds thru the Pistol anyway. So tag for future reading