EAA 10mm

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TheTurtle101

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Been looking hard at the eaa line lately. Google seems to have limited info on this topic, so I'd like everyone's opinions. I've heard there are conversion kits available as well. Anyone ever handled these pistols? Are they more of a cz75 clone? I'd like to have a 10mm upper for carry and 40 s&w for practice, as I have buckets of 40 brass. How does the polymer version hold up against a Glock? I'd like to avoid glock, I like my safeties. I'd like to hear about what kind of loads these can handle too.
 
The pistols in the EAA Witness line are essentially CZ 75 clones made by Tanfolglio, although I don't think many parts are interchangeable. They have a good reputation in the combat gaming world.

EAA seems like a good place to shop for 10 Autos -- lots of choices.
 
I believe at one time the Witness 10mm had some issues with slides cracking, but those were years ago now. I haven't really heard or read anything else bad about them, but I also haven't been actively looking into them.
 
Saw one of these match grade at a gun show today. Too bad $690 didn't fit today's gun show budget. I'll have to buy the conversion for my poly .45
 
This is my Witness in 10mm. I've shot over 1500 rounds from 6 different manufacturers (Underwood and Double included) and not had one single FTF or FTE. Nor do I have any issues with broken parts. I still have the factory spring/guide rod it came with and have no trouble with the hot stuff.

I love it. For the price I paid I should have bought 2 of them...
 

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10mm

I have the poly compact in 10mm which is a tad bit smaller than the the carry. It is light but not overly so which is probably good if you want to use real 10mm loads and not 40 smith power level rounds. I have only run maybe 50 rounds through mine but it runs quite well.
 
My own personal experience with the EAA 10mm Match Witness has been poor. I really liked the look, feel, fit and finish of the gun. I liked the CZ-knockoff factor--I've always been a CZ fan. I should have just gotten an actual CZ, is what I've come to realize.

Anyway, my fanboyness isn't really the important thing.

I had cycling issues with my EAA (about 3-4 every 10 to 15 round magazine), and I sent it back into the factory with no luck or help from them. I basically got charged for nothing. However, I will admit now that I know more about inconsistencies in loadings of the 10mm cartridge itself, I should have tried more ammunition types. The ammunition I had purchased with the gun was locally manufactured and did not list the bullet weight, the ft/lbs, or ft/sec. Since some 10mm is loaded to basically .40 S&W instead of full-power 10mm, I could have been using weak target ammunition. But my deciding factor to sell that gun came down to the low availability of 10mm locally. I didn't want to spend $40 to $50 a box at Gander Mountain to learn that my EAA Match didn't cycle it either.

If I got another 10mm, I'd be tempted to buy a Glock and be done with it. I haven't heard of 10mm Glocks having cycling issues with weak ammo, and so it might make perfect 10mm in that you can fire both quality (hot) and crappy target (weak) loads. Either that or I'd buy a 10mm Dan Wesson or other quality 1911 and be prepared to change recoil springs or spend a lot finding the correct ammunition. Now that 10mm is more popular and there are more affordable offerings of 10mm on the internet, it may be a more viable option to those who are "cost sensitive" shooters such as I.

Do you do handloading?
 
Yes I handload. I'm already set up for 10mm as well. I've been looking around and it seems so hit and miss with eaa. I'm going to just take the plunge and rent a g20 tomorrow and see how it feels. Too bad, really liked the styling of the witness. What's some good powders for 135gr and 200gr loads? Guess I should take that question to another board. Thanks for all the input, saved me a lot of trouble!
 
I think Sig is offering 10mm platforms now, P220. External safety, solid reputation. Might be worth a look if your not sold on the EAA.

I have the G20sf and G29sf, both are big, chunky pistols IMO. If you have average to large hands, they feel great.
 
Get the 20sf--at it's price it can't be beat. Glocks are the "AR" of the hand-gun world--there are multitudes of aftermarket parts to make it "your gun." My 20sf is my favorite hand gun at the moment--and despite what they say about huge grip--I have smallish hands but I've found that the grip is excellent--in a way the wide backstrap helps dampen recoil IMO.

The only other gun I would consider at this moment is the para elite hunter--it's a 1911 style and beautifully made. Remmie is about to eliminate their independent production and bring them in house from what I've read, so they will likely be worth some money too.
 
My own personal experience with the EAA 10mm Match Witness has been poor. I really liked the look, feel, fit and finish of the gun. * * * .
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. I had read more than a few positive field reports from owners of the 10mm Stock & Match guns. Supposedly, these were Tanfoglio's high-end, improved 10mm models, the difference between them being the Stock & Stock II were DA/SA and the Match was SA only. The slides on these models were supposed to be thicker, apparently a design modification to overcome the frame-cracking issue that occur on some standard 10mm Witness guns.
 
The issue with the frames cracking was only on the ones with a rounded slide that had been cerakoted. That problem has been fixed.

Just fyi, the Witness has a better trigger than the Glock and a slimmer grip despite the high cap mags. I also don't hear of Witness owners needing after market parts to make them run better.
 
Well I've decided on the glock 29sf model. I managed to get behind one and it was pretty controllable with low 10mm. Hot stuff was easier than 357 mag. Can anyone tell me about the aftermarket long barrels available? I think storm lake offers a 6" or something? Also, does the 9mm eaa suffer from the feeding issues the others do? I noticed they're almost always mag related. My wife saw me looking at them and had to have one now:D
 
I sold my Witness Poly Compact because of feeding problems that EAA refused to acknowledge. I am also not a big Glock fan, not that I have anything against them, I'm just tired of hearing the fanboys, lol. But I found a good deal on a 20SF and find it to be very reliable. I put a Lone Wolf barrel in it that has eliminated the "glock bulge" on full 10mm loads and also put a SS guiderod with slightly heavier springs.

I believe the reliability problems are isolated to the 10mm chamberings. I have heard many praises about the Witness in 9mm. I would make sure you're wife is comfortable with the narrow slide before buying her one. The small cocking serrations might make it difficult for her to operate.
 
If you are looking at 9mm EAA, I'd go CZ instead. They are almost exactly the same form factor as the EAA (the EAA is a copy after all), and they have no problems running 9mm and are basically as known for their reliability just as Glocks are. Also, with a CZ you get the lego-like abilities as the Glock, since they are often customized.

As far as 10mm Glocks, check out the new 10mm 6" factory Glock: http://us.glock.com/products/model/g40gen4mos
 
I love my Tanfoglio Stock 10mm. It's my 2nd favorite gun to shoot; first favorite being my Sig X-Five. I'd say the "style" of the Tanfoglio Stock is similar to a CZ, but internally, it's a lot different. Mine has a cone barrel, is da/sa, slide is shaped differently, and the internals look different than my CZ 75B 9mm. Mine has been exceptionally reliable and nothing has ever broken on it. Accuracy is phenomenal, and the action is tight and smooth. It has the best da/sa trigger I've ever experienced.
 
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I handled a friend's Stock II, and it felt very good in the hand.
Tanfoglio seemed to be constantly fiddling with their 10mm magazines. When the Vltor Bren Ten appeared to be a reality, and it was announced that the gun would use Tanfoglio mags, there were a lot of posts on the Bren Ten forum about improving the mag, and it was interesting to see the different combinations of springs, followers, modifications to spring and followers, etc., that people were advocating.
In the last year or two, it appeared that Tanfoglio's latest design was getting high marks.
 
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