Caspian Titanium 1911 Frame
- Thread starter Anthony
- Start date
Titanium frame
I handled a Caspian titanium frame while I visited EGW over the holidays. George Smith and his crew at EGW build some of the finest 1911s available. The frame was not too much heavier than aluminum, and I think the titanium is supposed to be about 30 percent lighter than steel. It had a matte bead blasted finish and was a medium gray in color. Don't know what finishing options are for titanium, but you should be able to use hard chrome and anodizing. I have seen some reports of gunsmiths leaving the titanium frame in the white with no finish. The frame in his shop had been lapped to a slide by a customer using brasso or some such abrasive and this caused some galling of the rails. Not a good idea to lap titanium. Gary Smith at Caspian has reported no problems with the frames that are out there in use. I am considering building a titanium Commander from a Caspian frame and barstock slide.
I handled a Caspian titanium frame while I visited EGW over the holidays. George Smith and his crew at EGW build some of the finest 1911s available. The frame was not too much heavier than aluminum, and I think the titanium is supposed to be about 30 percent lighter than steel. It had a matte bead blasted finish and was a medium gray in color. Don't know what finishing options are for titanium, but you should be able to use hard chrome and anodizing. I have seen some reports of gunsmiths leaving the titanium frame in the white with no finish. The frame in his shop had been lapped to a slide by a customer using brasso or some such abrasive and this caused some galling of the rails. Not a good idea to lap titanium. Gary Smith at Caspian has reported no problems with the frames that are out there in use. I am considering building a titanium Commander from a Caspian frame and barstock slide.
CastleBravo
New member
Yeah, the titanium splits the weight difference between aluminum and steel, but can reasonably be expected to hold up over the long term alot better than aluminum and still give a noticeable weight savings. The price is the same as the aluminum barstock frame but more than the cast aluminum.
CastleBravo
New member
Since Taurus makes .41 Magnums out of the stuff I suspect it would hold up just fine.
Actually, titanium is 40% lighter than steel. I handled a Caspian gun built on a titanium frame at Shot Show, and it felt pretty good. It was noticeably lighter than the all steel version, and the guys at Caspian said it would hold up just as well. Also, titanium isn't as susceptable to temparature changes as steel. So, in cold weather, the titanium doesn't feel as cold, and in hot weather, it doesn't feel as hot. Down here in Miami, that's a consideration. I would recommend having a gun built on Caspian's titanium frame with built-in light rail.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Anthony,
I didn't talk to them about finishes, but you should be able to Black-T it no problem.
With regards to titanium vs. steel, the guy I spoke to about it was one of Caspian's in-house gunsmiths. So you're aware, so far, titanium has not been proven to hold up any better or worse than steel when used as a frame material. Titanium slides, however, don't do particularly well because the increased velocity and pounding due to their lighter weight seems to cause wear problems.
I didn't talk to them about finishes, but you should be able to Black-T it no problem.
With regards to titanium vs. steel, the guy I spoke to about it was one of Caspian's in-house gunsmiths. So you're aware, so far, titanium has not been proven to hold up any better or worse than steel when used as a frame material. Titanium slides, however, don't do particularly well because the increased velocity and pounding due to their lighter weight seems to cause wear problems.