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I have been interested in the Caspian Hi Cap frames for a 10mm build. Anyone have any comments about them? I am interested in a hi cap carry pistol that is no (not much) larger than a standard 1911 in diameter. STI might aslo be in the running, however I am concerned about the plastic grip/frame.

Pics are always welcome while I figure out how much $$$ I am about to spend

Having worked with the caspian since its inception, I can say it is fully capable of providing you with an awesome 10mm. The key will be magazines. I dont remember the specs offhand, but if they have .40 mags available you'll save some time on mags. If not, you can modify super mags, as that was all we had to work with when it first came out. I would reommend contacting Gary Smith about the mags. The rest is easy. first rate products for sure, and definately great people to work with. Chuck

_________________
http://www.warnerpistols.com/
cvwinabq@live.com
Rio Rancho New Mexico

"I like double barrels....Aprilia, Ducati, and sxs rifles"

Chuck,

This is probably a stupid question, but will the 38sup mags run 9mm unaltered? Are they very reliable? I've been Jonesing for a Caspian Ti-9mm hi-cap but worry about having only one mag source and it's reliability.

with factory 9mm I am not sure on the new mags. with handloads I just loaded long. The mags are easy to tune. I pesonaly think a nine could be built to run fine. a lot of variables, but if ya gotta build it anyways, no problem. cw

_________________
http://www.warnerpistols.com/
cvwinabq@live.com
Rio Rancho New Mexico

"I like double barrels....Aprilia, Ducati, and sxs rifles"

Here's a Caspian Hi-Cap 10mm from Marianne Carniak at the Accurizer.
I had her make up a 6" longslide, and a 5" Govt length slide.

Magazines are still not available in .40, or 10mm, this has been an ongoing frustration. The frame casting had a few porous areas that were too deep to address, but are hardly noticable. With the Hi-Cap frame, it limits the parts available for the beavertail grip safety, trigger, etc. It's worthwhile ordering the frontstrap checkering from Caspian, you cannot handcut due to the mag well, and it is hard to find a jig for machine cutting. Just a few of my lessons learned.





I also had Marianne build a STI Hi-Cap commander in 10mm,

Nice gats there Hyper. She did a beautiful job. You didn't elaborate on the mags though. Also, as for the checkering, it can be handcut, even without removing the front of the magwell and re-welding it. I did a couple when those frames first came out.One was for Caspian if I remember correctly. My personal interest lies in the feedlip dimensions you used. As Caspian does not offer other than .38 super mags I have been contemplating the viability of converting some of their tubes into other calibers. Chuck

_________________
http://www.warnerpistols.com/
cvwinabq@live.com
Rio Rancho New Mexico

"I like double barrels....Aprilia, Ducati, and sxs rifles"

A good friend of mine has a Caspian Hi Cap set up for 9mm and he uses unmodified 38 super mags w/ excellent reliability. IIRC he is loading to standard OAL.

I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that Caspian does offer .40 S&W/10MM hi-cap magazines now. They list them in their catalog (not sure about their website) as being 17-rd for $85.00.

Yes, the .40 mags have been in the catalog for over 1 year, they are not listed on the website. It has been several months since I've called, last checked they were not available. Caspian told me to contact an individual working on the magazine prototypes. I have also been told to contact Mecgar. In the end I have not been successful in finding 10mm mags.

Marianne was able to tune the feedlips to the point that the magazines function, but do not hold the expected number of rounds. There have been some postings on how to modify mags, including some welding on http://www.maxmichel.com forum.