Kimber .40 S&W to 10mm conversion

[Sundance]

I have heard of several gunsmiths doing this conversion, and it caught my interest. I understand that the bare minimum required is a rechambering of the factory .40 barrel and a stronger recoil spring. The only gunsmith that I have spoken to is Dane Burns (found him over on http://www.pistolsmith.com. He insists on using/requiring a shockbuff for his conversion. I really don't like shockbuffs (let's not get into another discussion of the pro's and con's of shockbuffs here please). Does anyone know of any other reputable gunsmiths who do this conversion? Does anyone have any experience with a Kimber .40 S&W that has been converted to 10mm? Will the factory .40 mags work or will I need to find some 10mm mags?

By the way..."Why don't you just buy a used Colt Delta Elite?" is not an answer to any of the above questions.

Thanks!

[radius]

i rechambered my para p14 to 10mm. i found a new p16-40 slide & bbl at the creek about 2 yrs ago. i never like the 40 for all the reasons you can find on this board, but i like the 10mm from firing a friends glock. since a 10mm round is the same length as a 45acp, i knew the mag well was long enough to accept the round. i bought a couple of para p 16 (40 s&w) mags after noticing that they didn't have any spacers installed to take up the extra space for the shorter 40. i then bought a 10mm finish chamber reamer from brownells and hand reamed the 40 s&w bbl. i've kept the 40 recoil setup and have fired more than 500 rounds of reloaded 180 gr lead FN (8.2 gr of no5) and about 200 180 gr JHP thru it. i've been making time to reload and shoot more, and just shot some 145 gr lead FN (8.2gr of no5 - yea, it's light, didn't want to adjust the powder measure) :rolleyes:. shoots great, recoil is less than the 45 IMO. my friend rechambered his p18-9 to 38 super and it works great also. there's other guns that rechamber also. a nice small hi cap auto is the astra a100. rechambered that to 38 super. THAT'S NICE!! just pop out the spacer in the back of the mag and ream away.

[Zundfolge]

Its been my understanding that converting .40S&Ws to 10mm is a bad idea but that conversion of a .45 to 10mm is kosher.

[John Forsyth]

It can be done. While it may be less expensive to just ream the chamber to 10mm specs, I think the long range answer is to have a 10mm barrel fitted and have the ability to shoot both. I did exactly that with a Caspian single stack. Mine does not use ramped barrels as the Kimber does, but it runs equally well with either barrel in.

I use the .40 barrel when shooting IDPA and the 10mm when I want to play or shoot IPSC. Using a one piece FLGR with 14# recoil spring in .40 and a 20 or 22# spring in 10mm. I also use shok buffs.

The factory .40 mags I have seen have a spacer in the mag body. I do not think they will work with 10mm. I use Metalform 9rd 10mm mags for both .40 and 10mm.

With respect to converting a .45 to 10mm, forget it. Breachface cut on slide is different, and ejector is different. The ramp on the frame is also different.

[Sundance]

Zundfolge,

We are talking 1911s here...it'll work...trust me...the conversion from a .45 would require a new slide most likely...much more difficult than from a .40.