[RepublicanMan]

Anyone have any experience with the EAA Witness in .45ACP? I can get one for what appears to be a good deal, wonder finish and one mag only for well under $300. How reliable with JHP ammo? Accuracy? Would become a carry gun so this is important to know.
Please give me your experiences with them and not just opinions. The mag it comes with is marked Tanfoglio (heard of them but no knowledge of rep as far as reliability or durability).

[Sisco]

I had a blued one, carry comp, in 45. Nice gun. Only reason I sold it was I wanted a 1911 and something had to go.
The only ammo I had problems with was short lead semi-wadcutters, they wouldn't feed at all. Everything else fed fine.

[Marcus]

The .45 ACP version is just like my 10mm. Accuracy is almost on par with my CZ-75B Mil. which is quite good (remember at the shoot ? ;) ). It tends to have a slightly different point of impact with the first hand chambered shot but that`s common of many autos. Reliability is very good with low,mid and upper mid range 10mm ammo (still hotter than .45+P). It`s about 90% with full tilt boogie loads. I`d imagine the .45 would be even better. I often carry mine in the winter and although it fits in the same Kytac holster my CZ does it somehow "feels" larger and heavier. The thick plastic baseplate tends to print slightly more than the CZ`s flat steel one. That said I can still conceal it under an untucked T shirt provided the shirt fits right and is of decent weight. Since you plan to carry it you may want to look into the compact model,it`s heavier and chunkier through the grip than your SIg but otherwise about the same size. Marcus

[RepublicanMan]

Hey Marcus, was hoping you'd chime in on this topic.
I'm not even real sure I want it although it is in good shape and all. Right now I'm just not real happy with the groupings I'm getting with the Sig and I think alot of that has to do with the fact that I'm just much more comfortable with the way a larger gun feels in my hand. I tend to be much more accurate with the .38 Super for example. I have been offered the following deal:
A used EAA (Tanfoglio) Witness in .45 Super with the one mag and a new Saiga Rifle for an even trade on my Sig and two standard mags that came with it.
I'm torn to say the least, not the least because I'm concerned about reliability / durability issues with the Witness. CCW isn't much of an issue as I'm a fairly large framed person and tend to wear oversized T-shirts or button-downs / polos with tank top type shirts underneath.

[marklbucla]

Funny this question should be asked right now cuz I just came back from a range trip to determine whether or not I wanna keep mine. I have a full size Blued Steel .45 ACP.

I think through ~1400 rounds of Round nose ammo, I've only had 1 jam, though I forget what type it was. I did not have any major problems feeding 50 rounds of 230 Grain Remington Golden Saber Brass Jacketed Hollow Points. With the Tanfoglio magazine it fed perfectly. With the promags it still fed, though it was definitely not as smooth.

I don't know what I can say about its accuracy, but I've surprised myself a few times with it. Sometimes it shoots better than I do.

I think I'm probably gonna sell mine too in the very near future. I don't know if I really need a .45 at all considering how inconsistant of a shot I can be.

[dfariswheel]

I have a rather rare stainless Witness 45, and I've had excellent luck with it.
Accuracy is very good, and reliability has been 100%. The ammo I've used has been ball, 230gr Hydra-shok, and some of the notoriously hard to feed Speer 200gr "Flying Ashtray" loads.

I'd like to have a CZ 97B but the Witness is just too good, and I can't justify deep sixing it for the CZ, since they are so similar.

As to the Tanfoglio-marked mags. The Witness is actually made by Fratelli Tanfoglio in Italy. They've made almost ALL the CZ-75 clones sold over the years, including the Action Arms, Springfield P9, the Israeli Baby Eagle, and others. Usually Tanfoglio makes the basic parts and the various companies finish them out.

My Witness has Mec-gar marked mags, and they've always made the Tanfoglio mags. I think Tanfoglio just started having them marked with their name. Mec-gar also makes the mags for the CZ-97B.

The sole problem with my Witness was a "mushy" safety that needed to have more "snap" on and off, and a small void in the frame casting in the area of the beaver-tail. This is in a non-critical area, and I suspect there may have been a problem with the stainless guns, since they weren't made very long.

All in all, I recommend them, and I'd buy another.

[Big Mike]

I had a .45 Witness full size blue steel for almost 2 years. Never had a jam at all. I sold it because I needed a smaller gun for CCW, but really liked it. It felt as if it were made for my hand. I had no real complaints about it and did use it as a winter CCW when I wasn't carrying my Beretta. I would buy another, possibly the 10mm in the future?? HTH, Mike

[Dr.Rob]

You know just after we had a discussion about the 38 super I found a witness compact 38 super for like $300.. I was tempted.

[PCRCCW]

The Witness is one of the truer (actual word ?) CZ Clones. They run and run , when they run right. The older Witness's were hit and miss, but the odds are your getting a good gun...the Vunderfinish guns are TOUGH as nails also.

Things to check for....Pitting inside the gun...many of these guns were made and imported in "large lots" and spent time in warehouses...setting themselves up for spot rusting in places...check it out inside and out.

Slide to frame fit...the internal frame rail design is a killer design and will take a beating forever. lately Ive stumbled across more than 1 witness that has had LOTSOMILES on them. Very poor frame to slide fit..looser than your grand dads army issue Colt 1911. Make sure its fairly tight.

Id be hesitant about a 45 Super gun....Tan never made one that I know of, which makes it theoretically impossible :scrutiny: :rolleyes: Uh huh...whatever, anyway....its ALOT of caliber and the large witness framed gun may take the punishment given by this load forever but it may not.

Make sure you have a stock pile of heavy recoil springs if you get the gun.

Shoot well

[stans]

I have not heard of anyone recommending the Witness for 45 Super, only the various 1911's and S&W 4500 series. I have read about at least a couple of Witness 45 slides cracking near the ejection port.

[loudernhel]

The Ace Custom Guns .45 Super faq specifically does not reccomend .45 Super for the Witness:

http://www.acecustom45.com/faq.htm

Whether this is based on an actual failure or simply ant-Witness snobbery because it isn't expensive enough is unknown. Tread carefully.

I've had a .45 Witness for three years, carry it frequently, and have found it to be extremely reliable and functionally accurate. Use Tanfoglio or Mec-gar marked mags. Avoid Promags.

Regards,
Davod

[Walt Sherrill]

I've got a Witness Sport Long Slide, a little-pricier version of the basic Witness .45, and its a fine gun. (In fact, I kept it and traded away a CZ-97B and a Norinco-based custom 1911.)

After a good bit of work, mine has a trigger that is superb. Very nice gun and very accurate.

I think the big metal frame Witnesses are the best guns they make.

[nvrquit]

A fellow competitor in IDPA has an older stainless(yes, at one time Tanfoglio produced a stainless pistol) large frame Witness. His was in .45 ACP and it too experienced a cracked slide at the ejection port. As a replacement, he had EAA send him the 9mm top end and .38 Super mags. On the mag issue, he arrived at that as EAA didn't have the correct conversion mags to go with the 9mm large frame top end at the time. The .38 Super mags work great for him and let him load his rounds to greater OAL(his statements).

Curious thing is the slide cracking issue seems to have happened mostly to the .45 ACP pistols. I would've thought the 10mm would have experienced a greater chance of that happening than the .45 ACP.

The Tan Witness offers a lot of options and possibilities for mods. The full size, large frame Tans don't seem to run into near as many issues as do the Compacts and of the Compact Tans, the 10mm's seem to have the higher amount of issues.