After Dornaus & Dixon bankruptcy, the Colt Delta Elite was the only commercially available 10mm pistol until the Smith & Wesson 1006 was release in 1990.

[3] Had it not been for Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company making the unexpected decision in 1987 to bring out their Delta Elite pistol, the 10mm Auto might have sunk into obsolescence, becoming an obscure footnote in firearms history.

The 2009-version Delta Elites were manufactured with the traditional barrel/bushing arrangement, consistent with the 1987-version, even though they were initially announced at the 2008 SHOT show to have the "bull" bushingless barrel setup.

Colt Customer Service stated they had a lack of acceptable accuracy problem with the announced barrel setup and that was the cause of the delay in the Delta Elite's production schedule.

[5] Colt introduced upgrades at the 2016 NRA Show to the 2009-era Delta Elite product line, including; Novak sights, undercut trigger guard, dual spring recoil spring assembly, high ride upswept full-width beavertail grip safety with palm swell, composite stocks (compared to the wrap around rubber grips dating back to the original 1980s version), lightened three-hole aluminum trigger, speed skeletonized hammer, extended thumb safety, tighter tolerances, no full-length recoil spring guide so it breaks down without tools, Delta triangle does not have "10mm" marking inside (nor does it have "10mm" anywhere on the slide), and new angled cocking serrations on the rear on the slide only.

Original release of Colt Delta Elite featuring pebbled texture wrap-around rubber grips and a solid silver aluminum trigger.