Restoring 1st Generation Caspian Hi-Capacity Frame

JohnHeiter wrote:Thought about welding up the mag catch holes and redrilling them? Not that I expect you'll be changing out mag catches frequently but it might not be too hard to do and could save you some fitting headaches later on.

Just a thought. Cool buy.

I hadn't thought about messing with them in any way since the Caspian mag catch dropped right in.

Is there something about the older mag catches I don't know about?

My bad. I meant the ambi-safety hole. The one you said was oversized that I didn't pay enough attention to.

Anyway, just one of those things. I've got a slide with an out of spec front sight cut which means I have to custom fit any new sights I put on. I really can't think of many reasons why you would need to change out safeties once you get one fitted but whatever, just thinking filling and redrilling an oversized hole may be easier than creating a bushing.

When I talk to Bobby next, I'll see what he thinks. That's not a bad idea though. And it would eliminate any "play" in the safety.

It's been an experience, but it's finally done. I apologize for the poor quality pictures but it's a bad camera and I did what I could.









This last picture I just included with the tag that came with the frame when I ordered it.


The frame was coated in two coats of Burnt Bronze Cerakote done by www.plate-tacular.com.

Nice job Will. It's reminding me of a classic car restoration, taking something once seen as junk and turning it into something we're all jealous of.

looks great!!

It also turned out that the thumb safety isn't even an issue. It works just fine as is.

JohnHeiter wrote:Nice job Will. It's reminding me of a classic car restoration, taking something once seen as junk and turning it into something we're all jealous of.

Like History Channel's American Restoration.

How much in the whole project Will?

Wow that looks great!

Cliff Cargill wrote:
Like History Channel's American Restoration.

How much in the whole project Will?

Frame- $35
Top end- $300
Misc. Small parts- $225
Cerakote- Daniel Hidalgo is a part of the Freedom Gunworks team so he gave me a great deal. He bead blasted the slide and bushing for me as well.

All told I've got less than $600.

jdphotoguy wrote:
Nice to finally see it, since I was driving, never really got a good look at it yesterday. Now you just need to break her in, which might take some time as I seem to recall you saying the slide to frame fit was rather tight.

It was extremely tight BEFORE the two coats of Cerakote. But after cycling it a few hundred times, it's starting to move a bit better. It'll hand cycle ammo now. After a few hundred rounds through it, it should be great.

Man that thing looks good!!! Good job!