Hi All:
Am interested in the new Grand Power P40L 10mm. That pistol is available in 10mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG calibers. My queries are:
1. Are the exterior barrel dimensions of all those 5" barrels the same, or close enough that a gunsmith can fit them in an existing frame/slide combination?
2. Are the recoil springs the same for all three cartridges?
3. Will the 10mm magazine accommodate .40 S&W, as well as .357 SIG cartridges?
4. My current 10mm is a Smith & Wesson 1006. Will there be a significant difference in felt recoil between that pistol and the Grand Power (rotating barrel)?
5. Does anyone have familiarity with the Grand Power pistol and care to offer an opinion on that pistol's durability with the 10mm full power loads?
Thanks,
Bernie
Bernie, you pose some very good questions, but you may want to get with Grand Power directly or on their Facebook site to get the answers for more people who have knowledge or experience dealing with the specifics of those different barrels and pistols. I just don't think many of the members here have access to the others although some do have the 10mm chambering. I recalled some were having issues with the magazine dropping out while recoil was taking place. Some had sent the pistols back for service and I think they fixed the issue for them...
Hopefully some of the owners will chime in and share info for you...
Hi Shadow,
As on my general interest post, thanks for the thoughts. Will try the Facebook option you suggest. Tried the Grand Power Forum and Eagle Imports without success. If the barrel dimensions are close (presuming the frame and slide of the P40L are also) the swap should be possible. Glock 20 and 40 10mm magazines accept .40 S&W cartridges. The difference in length (21.59mm vs 25.2mm) is 3.61mm (0.142 inch) may permit such use in GP mags, as well.
Being familiar with Colt 1911 structural problems, 10mm full load stress worries me in firearms originally designed as 9mm platforms. Glocks, while not favorites, appear to handle 10mm loads, as well as anything else for which they're chambered, without distress. Is the GP as strong as a Glock? Will heavier 10mm loads impose unacceptable wear on the GP rotating barrel?
No local (Reno, NV) option to examine the pistol exists and print/video 'Torture' or 'Stress' tests have not been found, finding answers is difficult.
Best regards,
Bernie
I have a couple of the 3rd gen 10mm Smith's and a GP. There is a noticeable difference in the recoil but I would not call it significant. As TheShadow has said the Smiths are built like a tank. The GP is even beefier on the top side. The O.D. is 0.667 vs. 5.80 as compared to my Colt DE barrel.
I can't comment on the springs or mags. But I will say my DE and Smiths have never worried me when shooting full power loads.
All in all once the bugs were worked out of the GP it is a blast to shoot.
I have a GP40 also, among other 10mm handguns. The GP40 hands down is my current favorite and I do enjoy shooting it. One of the biggest things in its favor is the brass does not travel far and does not disperse, so it is pretty easy to pick up. No problems with the GP40 now, I did have the mag drop issue talked about above but that is history now. The only problem I would say is the lack of night sights, I purchased a rear night sight before Christmas and a couple months ago received what was supposed to be a front night sight but it was not for the GP40. So I'm still on the hunt for a front night sight, hopefully Henning will step up on that.
It's better to get all your answers here.
The spring weights are different for caliber type. The 1006 is a tank and probably not much recoil difference. I thought GP has a night front sight available?
What 1911 structural problems?
Quote from: Intercooler on October 23 2017 07:15:49 AM MDT
It's better to get all your answers here.
The spring weights are different for caliber type. The 1006 is a tank and probably not much recoil difference. I thought GP has a night front sight available?
I received a MK 7 sight in a MK 12 envelope. They refunded my money and told me they were no longer importing the Tritium sights.
Hi sqlbullet,
The early Colt Delta 10mms, according to several reports, experienced structural problems and some cracks when firing full load 10mm cartridges. I have seen no such comments on the 3rd generation S&Ws. The only repeated complaint with 1006's relates to the trigger.
This thread is raised because while I've owned an early 1006 and enjoy that pistol, the rotating barrel action and 14 cartridge magazine capacity of the GP P40 has appeal, particularly in hte long slide (5" barrel) version.
Best regards,
Bernie
It is true that the frame on early 1911's experienced a crack in the thin part of the rail above the slide stop cutout.
However, this was not a "structural issue". This was a design issue.
A structural issue would be rectified by adding strength to the frame to compensate for the failure. Colt's solution to this problem was to remove the section of rail where the crack would form. You can't crack what's not there!
(https://www.m1911.org/images/dana/stsss.jpg)(https://www.m1911.org/images/dana/bluess.jpg)
The issue was simply that Colt had originally designed the gun wrong. It was just SO over-engineered that until the 10mm came along, the element of the design that focused stress into the thin rail section was never manifest. This crack was purely cosmetic and in no way affected the function of the gun.
However, customers demanded, and not wrongly, that Colt repair or replace frames. Many of them, not understanding that this crack was a non-issue, made lots of noise about the frames being "weak", which was not true. In the end the simplest course of action for Colt was to just remove the rail above the slide stop port.
The issues with the 3rd Gen Smiths, though only to the FBI version of the guns, was that under 10mm recoil the trigger mechanism could lock up the action. This did affect function as the only way to resolve the issue was a trip to a S&W Armorer. In fairness to S&W, the changes to the firing mechanism that allowed this to happen were mandated by the FBI. But, S&W should have forseen the issue and corrected it.
IMHO neither one is a reason to overlook either of these fine 10mm firearms. The magazine capacity, compared to modern designs that hold twice the ammo for the same weight may be a perfectly valid reason to look beyond these guns though.
Hi sqlbullet,
Thanks for the information.
I'm considering selling the S&W 1006 (3 magazines & a Galco leather shoulder holster with 2 magazine carrier) and replacing it with a Grand Power P-40L 10mm. While the additional capacity and rotating barrel are appealing, giving up the 1006's strength causes doubts.
Thanks for any advice.
Bernie
The .40 magazines have an added rib in the back to make up for the shorter length. I don't know about .357 sig.