Posted: 2/2/2011 9:58:11 AM EDT
| are they any good? |
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Yes, Witnesses are fantastic guns. I have a full-size steel .45 Elite Match and a poly compact 9mm and one of my best friends has an older full-size .45 steel-framed standard model. The Elite Match is the finest handgun I've ever laid a finger on and is the most shot handgun in my collection. The P Compact is used for carry and has never given me a problem, but it is a completely different gun than the steel framed versions. It is lighter and slightly thinner but just as comfortable, although does not run as smoothly nor does it have the same trigger feel that the steel guns do.
Hope that helps. |
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good stuff I'm picking up the 9mm compact this weekend I'm looking for a light to mount while at home. TLR-1? I own a 9mm Compact witness. It is too heavy heavy for a daily CCW IMO but I love it anyways. It has never failed to go boom and it eats anything I feed it. Looks cool too. |
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I have a full-size 9mm in the black finish that I bought as my first pistol purchase back in 1991 when you really couldn't get CZs in this country. I have had some trigger work done to it to lighten and smooth it out a bit and love the gun!
It is large and heavy, (think service pistol) but I like it alot. I have since bought a CZ75 Compact as well and it they are two of the best feeling guns in my hands. I still have a soft spot for CZs and clones. If you are looking for a deal on a full-size in 9 or 40 a local shop has them on a blowout price of $299 on gunbroker. Here's a link for the 40s and here's for one of the 9s. If you search his listings you will see more of them I am not associated in any way or anything, just passing on a good deal. |
| My buddy has a compact wonderfinish 9mm & it is more accurate than my customized Sig 229. Don't know if it's the weight (steel frame vs. aluminum) or the smoother trigger. Bottom line; it is the best range gun I've used. I think he paid $ 330 for it 4 or 5 years ago. About 1/3 of the price of my Sig? I would buy one without a doubt. |
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I just bought an EAA / Tanfaglio full size witness today. It came with a .22lr conversion upper half and mag also. I haven't shot it yet, but it feels fantastic in the hands and being that fit and finish seems to be amazing for the price. The barrel fit to the slide seems very tight and so does the slide to frame fit. I can't wait to shoot it and see how it does in both calibers (I'll be putting it through its paces tomorrow). Being that I spend quite a bit of time shooting polymer combat handguns, mostly Glocks, this thing is a TANK compared to what I'm used to. It's a good tank, but a tank none the less. It feels like a beast in your hand, but because the grip angle and size is so ergonomic the weight seems very well balanced and handled. I gotta believe that the heavy nature of this thing is going to really make shooting .22's a load of fun with practically zero recoil.
The only knock I have on the gun so far without actually shooting it, is the dastardly heavy double action pull and the strange "two stage" feeling single action pull. I'm sure a little messaging and stoning will take care of most of it and I'm also sure that there are parts out there to remedy the heavy double action pull. I'll let you guys know how it works out tomorrow on the range. 
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Well I got some time behind mine on Thursday and in its 9mm configuration it was an absolute joy to shoot. Without any practice whatsoever, or "getting to know you time" I was able to dump 50 rounds tightly into the head of a standard FBI "Q" bottle from 20 yards and there was not one single malfunction. The gun ran smooth as glass, the weight was perfectly balanced, the recoil was pretty much non existent and the SA pull, while certainly needing some work, is very easy to get used to. The DA pull blows, but it's really kind of worthless anyway since the gun doesn't have a de-cocker anyway.
Moving onto the .22lr upper half.... Well, the gun is on its way back to EAA...  The .22 upper was nothing but trouble the entire time. It started out as feeding problems, double feeds, stovepipes, you name it, it did it. After a few rounds and some heavy lubing, it started to feed a little more reliably, but then crept up a whole different issue. The gun failed to go into battery on just about every shot. As the slide stroked forward it would stop about 1" - 1.5" short of full battery and with a little push from my thumb it would then lock up and fire. I sent EAA an E-mail on Friday night and they returned it first thing on Monday as well as followed it up with a phone call. Both requesting that I return the firearm in its entirety and they would address any and all issues.
So..... So, far the customer service has been pretty dam good. They returned my contact quickly and not only did they respond to my E-mail but they followed it up with a phone call a few hours later and assured me that they would make it right. I dropped it off at my dealer today who is going to take care of all the shipping for me so as soon as I have some information, I'll get back to you guys. |
I can vouch for their service and warranty as well as how well the full size .45's shoot. I bought a blued frame .45 years ago that I loved but I wanted the wonder finish so I traded it to get one of those. The new one shot great but had a weird feed problem that wouldn't let it take a full magazine. 8 rounds or less worked perfectly every time though, so I just let it go for 9 or 10 years and didn't really think about it. About a year ago I saw that they were recalling a set of serial numbers that included mine for a redesigned firing pin. When I sent mine in I just mentioned the magazine issue and asked them to look at it. They called about a week later and said the smith had checked it over and couldn't be absolutely sure he could permanently fix the problem (I'm still not sure exactly what it was) so instead they sent me a brand new one from the factory. The redesign makes it more of a slab-side but it's still a perfect fit for my hand and I haven't had a single issue with it. You can't beat a brand new .45 for the cost of shipping one to FL! 
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