Should I replace this slide?

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I purchased this Caspian .38 Super Open Division gun back around 1996/7. It was used at the time and I have nor idea how many rounds the previous owner put through it. I can't really ask him because he died of a heart attack while attending an IPSC match. (Yes, while wearing this pistol) I have used it in competition pretty regularly for the past fifteen years. So, what do y'all think?


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A little JB weld and it will be fine...I would wear really good safety glasses and kevlar gloves from now on when you shoot it...
 
looks fine
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Is it that bad on the inside of the slide?

ETA: I realize, of course, that it might not go down far enough so you could actually see the damage.

If the other side of the gun is OK I would just shoot it. [laugh]

-Mike
 
Is this really a question? That crack is right down the bearing face of the slide, what do you think? How is your dental insurance? In the market for a new chin?
 
V out the crack and weld it up. some JB weld would help too

What is the worst that could happen?
 
I wouldn't shoot it.

Unless it was the only gun left in the world and I was in the middle of a zombie attack.
 
I sent it back to Les Baer this past winter when the crack was only about 3/4 the size it is now. (He built the gun) Les said "just shoot it another 10K rounds and then get it replaced." [shocked]

No, it has seen it's last match. I have E-mailed Pullman Arms after reviewing their web site and will probably bring it there tomorrow if they say they can weld it. If not, oh well, time for a new slide to be fit to the gun. no worries, it lasted me 15 years and thousands of IPSC Major power loads.

One thing many people keep saying is that they think the rear half of the slide will fly off the gun once the crack goes all the way down. The opposite side of the slide is still intact. I suspect it would simply bind once the left side lets go.

I was thinking I should have made this a poll..........

1. I wouldn't fire it.
2. Best to get it replaced.
3. try some bondo/super-glue/duct tape/gorilla glue.
4. Ah that'll buff right out. [smile]

The frame has the "typical" Gen-1 Caspian frame crack behind the trigger through the bow area which hasn't grown at all since I got it.
 
Wow, you don't see that every day.
I cracked a slide once on a Walther P-38, but the open top design of those aren't nearly as strong as a 1911 slide.
I stopped shooting it after I noticed the crack, I ended up trading it in to Colmans for short money.
 
That's a fatal crack, it can't be welded without warping the slide rails. You will need a new slide and if you are lucky not a new barrel. Be sure who ever does the replacement has a command of the 1911 platform.
 
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