Alan Meek

Rich, Measure from the back of the slide to the Recoil spring tunnel, a commander slide has a shorter distance (in the area of a 1/10 of an inch if I remember correctly) I need to measure mine again so I won't forget. A true commander frame will also have a shorter dust cover than a full size government. Alan Quote from Bob Londrigan post on 9mm Commander Post "The slide dimensions are the same from the breechface back but the front end is different (along with the slide stop detent cut and removal slot.) The guide rod plug tunnel is further back on the commander, this is what gives a different stroke length (shorter ) if you combine a commander top with a govt. bottom. You can get back to the original stroke by cutting the rails and the plug tunnel but I think it is easier just to shorten the govt. model and keep the original stroke. It is not so much an ejection/extraction problem with shortening the stroke as it is a cycle time issue. If you shorten the stroke 0.160 it does not sound like much but it is a significant percent of the feed time stroke (the amount of time that the next round has to come up into position." (and the size of the piggy bank is all relative to what you want/get)

Ogiebb, My current open gun is a Caspian Hi-cap w/commander slide lightened to 9.5 oz std barrel with Ti comp. I just received my newest addition which is a Caspain Ti HiCap and will be identically set up to the match the former. I feel the big question comes down to if you are shooting a 38Super or 9mm Major. If you are shooting a 38Super I would go with a 5" slide and cut it down so you have maximum stroke. If you build it in 9mm I would use commander slide which reduces your stroke. I feel the longer stroke that you get with a 5" slide it is not needed for the shorter case ofa 9mm. Alan

Bill I have some, although not for sale but I needed to pull your chain. Are you going to Fburg Sun? Alan

Use the Extreme Engineering Warp Speed Hammer, Sear and Disconnector. IMHO the only way to go. Bob Perkins has informed me that there are some incredibly low trigger pulls being acheived with this setup that remain reliable. Alan

The possibility of blowing up a Major 9 is not any greater than blowing up any other caliber if you pay attention to what you are doing. First there is no way to get a double charge much less ~14 grains of powder in a 9mm case. Be diligent in selecting your components and load away. Alan

Ran a full size .40 in open for the last 12 years. Never had a problem and shooting buddies remarked how flat the gun ran. Use 135gr JHP and it should run just fine. But I would suggest looking at a 9mm making Major. Tradeoffs 9mm will get you 2-3 more rounds per mag. 40 brass is cheap (virtually free) 135 gr JHP run about 80 a 1000. 9mm brass is also cheap (virtually free) 125gr jhp run about 60 per 1000

IIRC That was what GM class was suppoosed to be, the shooters that were competing for match wins

Try this link for my chrono results9mm Major Load Data Alan

Caspian 9mm slide.

I'll add my obervations from the after action Qback seat. These are strictly based upon observations of the threads that have been posted. There has been a lot of discussion of the EZWinScore and how it relates to Three Gun / Multi Gun Matches. When you enter a competitor's info for Rifle you have the option of recognizing Major/Minor. Now the USPSA BOD approved MultiGun rules to make the multigun concept feasible within USPSA rules and approved scoring programs. In the MultiGun rules a multigun stage is to be designated as a Rifle Pistol or Shotgun stage as the Primary gun This would then default to the scoring being handled for the declared power factor of that primary gun. Additional guns for that stage would only then engage targets that have the equivalent of a single "A" hit there by negating the major/minor scoring issue if the addtional gun's power factor does not match the primary gun. This was to be accomplished by the use of Steel, Pepper Poppers and Targets with only the A zone available via the B,C, and D zones covered by hard cover. Now while this is probably not the best long term solution it did provide a feasible solution. I am hopeful that in the near future (before the next Three Gun Nationals) that EZWinScore has been revised to score multi-gun stages and the need to impose restrictions of the above solution. I would suggest that the program be modified that allowd the configuration of the stages allow you to desiginate the number of targets to be engaged by each gun in a multi-gun stage. The Score sheet could be then designed with sections for each gun and subtotaled individually. Data entry would then have the same subsections. In addressing the low hit factors and the potential gaming of stages. USPSA while it promotes Accuracy, Power and Speed. Speed becomes the preferred ddenominator in scores. It is generally accepted that handguns are effective to 50yds yet the majority fo all stages shot are within 10-20 yds. I would suggest that in the process of course design diligence be paid to design courses of fire that are challenging but are also capable of being run in average times of the 30 sec window. I would also suggest that the range of target engagement noexceed 50yds for the majority of shotgun targets to be engaged with slugs and keep the rifle target engagement to not exceed 200yds with the majority of the targets set closer. You can always increase difficulty by adding no-shoots and hard cover to limit the available scoring areas. Alan

Ok Phil where is Blancas, I would love to find a good mexican restaraunt. I have been looking for 7 years and haven't found one yet. Alan

Kevin, The big problem with Caspian mags currently is they are as scarce as hens teeth. The first generation of mags would crack at the top on the back. Fred Craig had some after market mags made that required some degree of tuning to get them to work. But the last time I talked to him they were all gone. All of my Caspian mags run as consistently as the S_I mags. I do know that years ago people would cut down the Caspian mag spring. I don't cut down my springs and they have worked fine. Alan

Kevin, If I rember correctly the front to back measurement is failry close to the 1911. It is just a perceived feel due to the grip being wider. As far as building it in 10mm after the ban would be totally dependant on the availability of true 10mm mags. Caspian has only made mags for 9mm/38Super. Back when I got my first Hi-Cap and shot .40 the 9mm/38Super mags would only hold 14 rds of .40. I did figure out a way to modify the mags to hold 17rds of .40. Now all of these mags are aptly named Franken Mags, (Not after Al Franken)

Kevin, A quick question is how big are your hands? The Caspian Hi-Cap frame is an excellent product yet there does appear to be a feeling that the grip is longer front to back than the S_I frames. I have put the Hogue Grips on my Caspians and I like the way the grip is a little wider and rounded. But that is a personal preference. Also if you do build on a Caspian you migh want to look at a titanium frame costs $100 more but reduces the weight. Alan

If you do not have the receipt you can not return them but you can re-gift them to someone else

Where is your neck of the woods Trey? Chris, I have a shooter that has promised me once fired nickel for free. Now if I can only find him again... Alan

I keep hearing talk about the limits of bullet and powder choices to use in the major 9. While I have not tried 115gr bullets I have tried the following powders, Ram Shot True Blue, Hodgdon HS-6 and Longshot, VV N350, 3n37, 3n38 and have been able to make major with these powders and a 124 JHP. Jojo is using a 124 FMJ, Leatham a 135g bullet and a slew of others use the 124 Jhp. So if you compare the bullet choices to those available for the super crowd I think ityou will find the same choices. As time goes on we will try more powder selections and will probably locate more that will do the job. Additionally Hirtenberger has a 124gr 9mm load for subguns use that made major in my short 9. The bottom line is if you want to shoot a 9x19 loaded to make major it can be done, just make sure that you have a chrono and everything should work out just fine.

I have not seen anybody giving a stink with 9x19 loaded to major. There are quite a few people using it know. If you are already established with 38 Super and its variants is there a compelling reason to change? Only if you want. I do know of a local shooter that is going to do a major 9 due to the lost brass issues. The major 9 also opens another possibility for other guns (i.e Glock) to more easily play in open. Alan (Shooting Major 9 and loving it. I have now gone full circle)

ChandlerSniper158 If you are going to be with the rep a few suggestions. 6min dot Capability to mount the Holo sight as low as possible on the gun. Can you get pictures of the mounting system Doug Jones is using? Keep us posted as to how it goes. Alan

Leo, I used the first gen with the integral mount on my old Caspian Hi-cap. 6 min dot. The weight did not pose that much of an issue for me. I just went to c-more due to the fact of not having a viable solution in the 2nd Gen Holo. I do use one of the 2nd Gen on my AR. I feel the first gen's with integral mount were the best for open pistols, the 2nd Gen just doesn't do the same now. Alan

On the eotech website all they show available is the standard recticle. Bushnell shows the same. The 2nd Generation dos not have the interchangeability of the lenses. Unless someone knows any different. Alan

Retired mine a year ago as I was getting ready to build new open guns. The problem with the second gen is there is no integral mount system and the selection of lenses are now limited to a 1-Minute dot with a 65 minute circle. I really did like my Holosight. Alan

My son attended his first match at 4 days old in 1995 and has been a fairly regular attendee ever since. Get him to pick up brass, I have to get him to stop trying to help load my magazines. A few years back at a match he had retreived a mag out of my bag and was using it to point at all of the targets from the gallery just like taking a sight picture. I think in about two to three years he will shoot his first match. Alan

Steve, The mag release is a Caspian, I have a couple on my Caspians. Don't know if they are still making them the same way or if the new ones are shorter. Give Gary at Caspian a cal and see if he can hook you up. Alan

Bar-Sto is all that my pistols will see other than the factory Glock Barrel in my 22. Alan