Witness 10mm and bowling pins

M

Mike Irwin

Staff
Went to a bowling pin match in Maryland at the Monocacy Pistol Club this morning.

Shot the first three strings with my new Witness 10mm and 180-gr. Federal Classic ammo.

To put it mildly, I'm VERY pleased with the results, except for one thing, which I'll mention.

The sights on the Witness are much better for pin shooting than those on my Springfield Mil Spec 45, allowing for much faster target acquisition.

My first string right out of the chute was 5.23 seconds.

The 180-gr. load at around 1,000 fps. (I THINK that's what the FC does) is very controlable, more controlable than the 230-gr. LRNs out of my .45 at 900 fps., yet they take the pins off the table virtually the same.

MY only grip was the new magazine that I got for the Witness. It's not stripping the rounds out of the magazine. The slide is hanging up, and I have to bump it with my hand to get it to strip the round. I don't know if the round is being held too tightly by the magazine, or whether the slide is catching on something, but I don't think it's the slide, as hand cycling with the empty magazine in place doesn't cause a problem.

Any ideas on that, Witness owners?
 
What does the magazine look like? If they sent you an old-style magazine with straight feed lips and a black follower that would explain everything. Otherwise I don't know.
 
CB,

Yes, this magazine has a black follower; the one that came with the gun has a red follower. I bought it (the mag) from a friend who had it.

What's the problem with mags. with black followers?
 
I don't have a Witness, but I was told that the black followers allow the rounds to nose-dive into the front of the magazine. The red followers were the fix. It sounds logical to me, but again, I don't own a Witness.
 
Sorry for not being able to give you exact information. My 10mm witness is home in the safe so I cannot precisely describe it.

It sounds as if you have red followers and black followers. If so, take the two mags and put them side by side. Look at the feed lips right at the top of the magazines. You should notice that the black follower feed lips are ABOUT 7mm shorter then the red follower magazine feed lips. The older style black followers release the rounds to early and it will jam up till you tap the slide forward.

I even emailed Tanfolgio (very friendly group I might add) about this and they explained it was related to making of a US 10 rnd mag. This problem does not exist with european 10mm magazines.

The simple answer is replace the older mags with newer ones and the problem goes right away. Also a heavier recoil spring is a nice touch.

PS: if you are going to troll the gun shows for mags, check the feedlips to be sure, EAA now sells replacement red followers, so don't be snookered.
 
EAA now sells replacement red followers
Click to expand...

Seems to me that they ought to give the red followers to those owners for free, since it was a factory issue to begin with.

As a compact 10mm Witness owner, I've not experienced any FTF's with my gun, and it has black followers in the mags.:confused:
 
"Seems to me that they ought to give the red followers to those owners for free, since it was a factory issue to begin with."

Nope, don't agree.

I don't think they owe anyone anything free...they weren't responsible for the abominable 10-round mags forced on us by the nation's most infamous sociopath, nor for the redesign of the follower.

They aren't the only firearms producer to have such a problem.

Send the bill for new followers to that fascist bitch Feinstein; they don't cost much and she's not earning her salary anyway. LOL!
 
Tony,

I've got problems with the slide locking back WITH the red follower.

I'm going to e-mail EAA and see what kind of response I get.

I'm extremely happy with the gun itself, it's just the magazines that I don't like.
 
Just so it's clear, it's **not** just the follower; the entire magazine is different. I had a 10mm Witness and had exactly the same problem with the old (black follower) mags. The new magazines have red followers, re-designed feed lips and (I think) different springs. The old mags are a total disaster. Make sure you have completely new magazines. Mine went from totally unreliable to 100% going from the old to new mags. If you call EAA and order new mags you SHOULD get the completely new mags.
 
After Market Mags

I have been debating the purchase of a Witness FS in 10mm, but have heard nasty comments from the local gun dealers. Seems like "cracked slides" aren't the major concern expressed in these forums, but rather magazines and adjustable rear sights. I have seen aftermarket Witness magazines for the 9mm and 45acp, but none for the 10mm. Is anyone making them? I currently shoot a 1911A1, but don't return to Colt for magazines...I go to Chip McCormick or Wilson. Seems the same should be true for the Witness. Sounds like it has a big following outside the USA. Overall, how would you rate the Witness 10mm versus looking for a used S&W 10mm or Colt Delta Elite?
 
Look at what you have in it. Mine was $285 or there abouts with $15 mags. It is not an expensive gun to buy. It is reliable, reasonably accurate and most of us have already figured out the problems with it. I would not have any problem suggesting you get one. I really like mine because it is so cheap I do not care what I do with it. I certainly would not say that about my Baer custom 1911's.
 
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