Caspian for Frist Open Gun

[denw]

The question I have thinking of maybe making a Caspian Open Gun my first open gun. I am a super senior and haven't been even shooting USPSA that long but would like to give open a try. At my age not sure the gun is going to make all that much difference and don't expert to be competing at a top level and I can find Caspians at a much more affordable price to give a try.

Any reason this would be a bad idea?

[denw]

By the way forgot to mention would buy used.

[lcs]

The question I have thinking of maybe making a Caspian Open Gun my first open gun. I am a super senior and haven't been even shooting USPSA that long but would like to give open a try. At my age not sure the gun is going to make all that much difference and don't expert to be competing at a top level and I can find Caspians at a much more affordable price to give a try.

Any reason this would be a bad idea?

You would be better off to pick up a used STI 9 or 38S from a known seller on Enos. Mags are easier to find. Being a SS myself, forget 38S as you don't want to be bending over all the time picking up brass. Go 9 Major and have fun.

[caspian guy]

If you can find one that runs that includes mags (including at least 1 170 mm mag) then the are just fine. The only real downside to them is that they are heavy having a steel frame, and there is much less aftermarket parts support.

[lcs]

If you can find one that runs that includes mags (including at least 1 170 mm mag) then the are just fine. The only real downside to them is that they are heavy having a steel frame, and there is much less aftermarket parts support.

All that too!

[denw]

I was also looking Caspian as can find much more reasonable and just didn't really want to put a lot of money out at my age. If I find this is great and decide then could possible upgrade but if Caspian doing fine save my money or I decide open is not for me I still have a gun that I don't have a lot of money in can still play every now and then..

[zzt]

The problem you will have with a Caspian HiCapacity is the mags. They are finicky. I seriously looked into building one for myself, but was scared off by all the mag horror stories. I wouldn't mind having one, but only if it came with 5 mags that worked flawlessly, and two of them where big sticks.

[Glk21C]

What does reasonable mean to you? Sounds like you've convinced yourself to buy a Caspian you've seen but depending what your definition of reasonable is there might be other choices.

Good luck with whatever you find and have fun.

[rishii]

I've been shooting caspians for 20 years, some of the thing I've found

There are 3 generations of frames

1st gen w/round trigger guards, they had a problem with frames cracking in the area of the grip safety cut out to the grip window, if they were reinforced in the in the grip window they're fine

2nd gen w/square trigger guard and standard dust cover

3rd gen w/square trigger guard and thick dust cover, similar to sti's

Mags, again 3 types

Blue finish, I never had any luck with those, during the awb, we had no choice but to use these, now days I would use those as dry fire mags, or cut them up and use the bottom half for a welded 170

Silver mag, my favorite, I'm still running 4 of my original 6 mag I started with 20 years ago, they been dropped, kicked, stomped on, buried in the mud etc, and they just keep going, I found instruction online on how to tune them, I'll check them every couple of years and clean them once in a while, they are still available from caspians, but they cost more than the new design

Current removable base pad, no experience on super, got some in forty, took a while to figure out how to make them work

Cons

the mags don't hold as many as a sti

The frame is heavier than an sti, but svi,ck arms, Phoenix trinity are all making steel grips for the 2011 frames, so it may not be a disadvantage

Aftermarket parts, other than egw and Dawson precision, on one makes caspian parts

[Bamboo]

I have both Caspian and STI open guns.

And yes, there are pros and cons -

Personally, I like the way the Caspian frame feels in the hand...a lot. I have two and one is 50oz, the other is a few ounces less. The STI I have is about 42oz.

There is better aftermarket support for STIs, but Caspians use mostly 1911 parts. The one exception (kind of) is the thumb safety. People can make the 1911 safeties work or you can weld up and modify the stock caspian if you want something different than stock. Also, the grip safety...but the stock Caspian grip safety is as nice as any.. EGW and Dawson make good magwells for the Caspian.

Shooting wise i really like the Caspians. They just shoot well and fell balanced in the hand. Would an STI with a metal grip feel the same? Pretty close, I'm sure.

The big thing between the two platforms is the mags. It took me a while to figure out how to make the new style mags with the nice quick change base pads run. Once I got a tuning technique that worked for me the mags have been a non issue. But, the new style stock mags will not run reliably without tuning and that is disappointing to many. On the plus side you can get 140mm mags for about 60 bucks, put a 19 dollar Grams spring in them, do the tuning and you have a nice reliable 140mm mag for $80, a big stick can be had from Caspian (gotta call and ask for it) and it comes with the grams spring and follower. Last time I checked the 170mm mags were $125 and yes, you will have to do the same mag tuning to them. Also, Caspian can use Tanfo large frame mags with a little tweaking, Once tweaked the mags can be used in either Caspian or Tanfo guns. Capacity on the caspian 140mm mag is an easily reloadable 23, with the 170mm mags 28 or 29 reloadable depending on the mag.

It is easier to get out of the box ready to run mags for the STIs, that is a fact. I have had good luck with the MBX mags as far as being ready to run out of the box, and there are some folks selling tuned mags that are also good to go.

Having said all that - If you are getting into the open game from scratch and just want to shoot, and not tinker with mags, I'd recommend a nice used STI gun. Either 9mm, or 38 super if you don't mind picking up brass.. It would be the easiest path since everybody and their brother shoots STI guns, and when you have issues the knowledge base for those guns is broader. The exception to that might be if you know of a Caspian that is reliable and comes with a nice quiver of mags that have been tuned to work. Also, there have been some really good deals on used open STI/modular type guns in the classifieds lately.

I am hoping that MBX will get around to make Caspian/Tanfoligo 140 and 170mm mags. i believe that would put Caspians back on the table and more people would use them.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Bamboo

[Racinready300ex]

Bamboo, what did you do to tune the new mags? I just picked up a Caspian, and just ordered a new 170. I'm going to test it out this weekend. I also have 4 of the old style gray mags. They don't seem to run great.

[Bamboo]

Congrats on the new gat!

Check these threads out:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=118831

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=161103

and if you want to mod Tanfo Mecgar mags:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=164432

BTW - I am the poster in those threads with no name. My account was accidentally nuked by a software glitch, and my old posts were orphaned - but thankfully not deleted.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Have you thought of shooting Open minor using a Glock 9mm with a dot mounted on it? Mags are easy to find and parts are cheap. That way you could see if you like shooting open and then move up to something a little more racey. Thanks, Eric

[Racinready300ex]

Thanks for that Bamboo. I think I found that post once before, and somewhere I found one about bending the funnel of the mag to do the same thing. I will see how it runs as is, and then I may give it a try. Doesn't seem to hard.

I want to get this gun running 100%. It will be a back up for my STI, but I'd like to at least win a few locals with it. The last owner was a good friend of mine who passed away last year. I think some of the guys in the area need to loose to his gun a few more times. lol.

[RippinSVT]

Hello: Have you thought of shooting Open minor using a Glock 9mm with a dot mounted on it? Mags are easy to find and parts are cheap. That way you could see if you like shooting open and then move up to something a little more racey. Thanks, Eric

This. You can build a fairly competitive Open Glock for a reasonable price and build it in your garage in an hour (barrel, comp, mount, dot, magwell, trigger parts, springs, racker). I was unsure about transitioning to USPSA and did this and got 1st in my very first match of 35 guys. Mine runs flat, fast, and reliable.

[rishii]

For tuning the old style silver mags, caspian used to include instructions from Matt McLearn with every mag

1. For 38 super, 38 rimless, 9x21, 9x23, open the feed lips to .330 at the back of the lips, ad .345 at the front of the lips, there is a gradual taper from the back to the front

2 polish the lips of the magazine using a cratex wheel and a dremel. (I found this especially helpful because the feed lip on the old style mags are rough and sharp)

3 remove high spots on the weld seam and then polish the seam

4 bend the top coil spring upward to prevent the follower from nose diving down during feeding

5 check your mag catch engagement with all your mags. To do this you must insert your mags very slowly, watching your mag catch as you do this. Your mag catch should move upward at least .030" before it snaps back into place.

[jcc7x7]

One of the guys I shoot with runs a Caspian that is 15+ years old

The gun runs great

Only time he says anything is on a 30 round stage due to mag. limitation

[Front Man]

Magazines are the main issue. Get a used STI True-Bore?

[Front Man]

But. I love mine. Caspian's are awesome. If you shoot indoors on concrete floors. Be prepaired to adjust th magazine feed lips every time you drop a partialy loaded magazine on the floor.

[Glk21C]

Whatever happened to the OP?

[teros135]

The question I have thinking of maybe making a Caspian Open Gun my first open gun. I am a super senior and haven't been even shooting USPSA that long but would like to give open a try. At my age not sure the gun is going to make all that much difference and don't expert to be competing at a top level and I can find Caspians at a much more affordable price to give a try.

Any reason this would be a bad idea?

You would be better off to pick up a used STI 9 or 38S from a known seller on Enos. Mags are easier to find. Being a SS myself, forget 38S as you don't want to be bending over all the time picking up brass. Go 9 Major and have fun.

Amen to that. Unless you have a real serious budget for brass, you get a lot more exercise with .38 in retrieving brass. That and losing time schmoozing with your squad because you're focused on the ground, looking for those elusive pieces the Range Goddess is taking in tribute.

[teros135]

For tuning the old style silver mags, caspian used to include instructions from Matt McLearn with every mag

1. For 38 super, 38 rimless, 9x21, 9x23, open the feed lips to .330 at the back of the lips, ad .345 at the front of the lips, there is a gradual taper from the back to the front.

rishii, this is good info for STI mags also. We know that many tuners recommend a much wider lip gap (e.g., .355-.360 for .38), but I noticed that my 9mm/.38 MBX mags came at about .335-.340 and ran fine, but my STI mags caused feed jams at the recommended gap. A friend also had the same problem and recommended a smaller gap, and by golly it works. The top round stays stable and pointed slight upward, and they feed fine and don't interfere with extraction, which is what happened at the wider lip gap.