Experiences with the EAA Witness?

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BIGSLOWHEAVY

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I'm currently in the market for a new gun(so what else is new!). I've been looking at a full size steel framed EAA Witness is 45ACP for several reasons. For one, you can carry it as either an SA or a DA. This is big for me because I'm not totally comfortable carrying cocked and locked, but at the same time I really can't stand the feel of a DAO. Another feature that I am extremely impressed with is the fact that if you get one in 38 super, 10mm, or 45ACP you can easily(and fairly cheaply) convert them to 22lr, 9mm, 10mm, 40sw, 38super, or 45ACP! This is both good and bad. The good part is that I probably would never buy a 10mm or a 38super in a separate gun and this would give me the oppurtunity to experience these two cartridges in a cost effective way. The bad thing is that I can see me just HAVING to get each and every barrel and slide combination possible! I have found this gun locally for right at $325 brand new. I don't think I could go too awfully wrong at that price, but I would like to hear about your experiences with these guns whether good or bad. Also, I would like to hear about their customer service and what ever else you may be able to offer.

Thanks and take care,
Marc

Oh yeah, I heard that a pistol chambered in 38super will fire 9 x 23 just fine with NO mods. Is this true?
 
MY EXPERIENCE

I have three Witness frames; two 'small', bought as 9x19's, and one 'large' purchased as a 45ACP.

The small frames take 9x19, 9x21, 40 S&W, and 41AE. I have them all.
The large frame takes the 38 Super, 10mm, and 45ACP. We'll get to that.

My 'smalls' are great, and I can recommend them. Like a CZ75.

My 45ACP has never been reliable; feed and extraction problems (but is just too accurate to sell). However, when I added a 38 Super top end the thing runs awesome, accurate and reliable. Don't know about the 10mm top end, and I'm going to buy a whole 10mm gun for peace of mind (and then if I want swap to 38 Super or 45ACP tops).

I know other folks with the 45's that have perfect results, so it may be mine. It's in the safe wearing the 38 Super top.

As for 9x23 in a 38 Super; why? Get a 9x23 barrel and be safe.

The 45 Witness is a buy.
Let us know.
 
Lots of EAA lemons out there.

I have the .40S&W EAA Witness compact with Wonderfinish.

It's accurate, pleasant to shoot, aesthetically pleasing (IMHO) with hign marks in the ergonomics department. Relatively inexpensive too... only mine doesn't work.

One or two FTF in each magazine, always.

I have sent it back to Tanfolio for warranty work 3 times! I always get the report "test fired, ok". NO, it's not ok- it still doesn't work!

I have all but given up on the pistol. I would absolutely love it if it weren't for the fact it doesn't want to feed anything.

After new high-tension springs, polished feed ramp, different magazines tried, scores of different types of ammunition tried, nothing helps. Then I read of EAA's polymer .45acp Witness tried by Gun Tests having similar problems.


Like I said, lots of lemons out there.

Pic of my sick Witness compact:
 

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In defense of EAA, I have heard that there are a lot of lemons, but my 10mm is great and I would not part with it. I have had no problems once I replaced some of the real early magazines they imported (at no cost by EAA).

Do a search on witnesses and you will get a lot of good feedback.
 
I have only one EAA Witness: a .45 Sport Long Slide, which I got in a trade with a guy who was having problems with arthritis in his hands and wrists.

It was accurate and reliable from the first, but had a trigger so heavy and so stagey that you almost needed a bumper jack to pull it back.

Had a local gunsmith do a trigger job, which improved the SA pull, but didn't help much with the DA...

Tried to sell it and couldn't find any takers.

Took it back from the gunshop and started dry firing it every night as I played with the computer. After about a month of 300-400 dry fires a night, the gun has a superb DA trigger, the SA is almost as good as my custom 1911, and its fast becoming my favorite gun.

They make good guns, but the trigger may be a problem. Look around for a gunsmith with Witness credentials, and you might be happy.
 
I had a "bad" experience with EAA (not with the
witness) so cant recommend them, but for 45acp
not to costly look at the cz line, none better
or more accurate for the money.
 
I've had two full size .45 Witnesses, a black one and a ported one with the Wonder finish. The porting reduced recoil by a surprising amount. Both of mine shot quite well, to point of aim with 230 gn ammo. I only put a few hundred rounds through each of them, but never had any complaints with either one. The local gun shop here sold quite a few of them in various calibers, then sales of the Witness line dwindled and they stopped carrying them. Market saturation I guess. It's a small market in my area. I only remember problems with one 9mm compact. It was fixed at the shop instead of being returned to the factory for service. One of my friends still has a .45, no problems so far in several hundred rounds. One of the things that did surprise me about the ones I saw and handled, (and I think I saw eveyone the shop ever sold), was there were noticeable minor variations in every one. It's like each gun was a unique individual. The magazines had slight variations in them as well, their overall length seemed to vary by just a small amount. I sold mine to finance other purhases to sate my curiosity, not because I didn't like them.

I do think CZs are superior to the EAA line, although they have more limited caliber conversion ability in the line up. Unless you get a lemon, and let's face it, everybody makes a few at one time or another, I think you'll be happy with the .45 Witness.

For a Witness gunsmith, I'm told Alex Hamilton is the man for the job.

You might wanna read this...

http://hunting.about.com/library/weekly/aasteaapistolsa.htm
 
I had a 45 ported with wonder finish and had many feed and extraction problems. Sent it to factory and it came back the same way. Dealer took it back. Haven't missed it at all.
JohnBoy
 
I never shot my .45 Wonderfinish Witness with anything but factory FMJ. No malfunctions at all in stock form.

The SA trigger was GREAT on my gun and it was extremely accurate. The first time I shot it was my first pistol competition and I took 3rd.

Two things bothered me.

1. There were obvious firing pin wipe marks on the primers of fired cases. As if the gun were unlocking too soon, or as if the firing pin spring was too weak to retract the pin (or the pin was sticking). I polished all the affected parts to make sure there were no burrs or excessive friction that could cause the pin to stick--No effect. So, I went to an extra power firing pin spring and a heavier recoil spring. Result? No change on the firing pin wipes, but now the gun was no longer reliable. It would fail to feed about once a mag or so.

2. I noticed that the safety would disengage when the trigger was pulled with the safety on. Pull a couple of times, and the pressure from the trigger would cam the safety off. A little disconcerting. I removed ALL the lube from the safety assembly and that fixed the problem.

I ended up trading it for a new Ruger .45 Auto that wouldn't work--but that's another story.

My recommendation would be to shoot it with light loads or at least light bullets. It's a great fun gun, but I always got the feeling that chambering it in .45 ACP was asking a little too much from it.
 
I've got a full size carry-comp in .45, have put at least a thousand rounds through it. It won't feed SWC's but everything else digests well. Zero problems, trigger's not the greatest in the world but certainly not the worst either.
 
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