EAA brand, opinions?

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I ran into the Tanfoglio rep at a S.H.O.T. Show in Orlando several years ago. When I tried to tell him how bad the customer service at EAA was, he turned his back on me. I got in his face and used some phrases I'd learned from SEALs. I am not, as you may suspect, much of a fan of Tanfoglio.

After Springfield orphaned my P9C, I bought some replacement parts directly from Tangfoglio USA distribution network. My experience with customer service was pleasant but I won't disagree that some folks had less than pleasant experiences with them.
 
This probably doesn't help at all, but I'm going to toss it out there anyway.

I owned two EAA "Windacator"s. I have enjoyed both. Entry level revolvers, very heavy. But they work great.
 
I talked to the "nasty guy" at EAA a couple of times, but I don't think he's there anymore. The last couple of times I called them, they were very nice and I have no complaints. One problem was a magazine had a malformed follower, and the other time, the adjustable sight's screw was stripped. I was sent new ones without any charge without any begging on my part. I've never had a serious issue with a Tanfoglio made gun, my Witness .45 was just great, without a single problem, except the slide locked back on the first shot out of the box. It never happened again, and I think I somehow hit the slide stop when I fired it. I sold that gun when I needed cash, but I still miss it.
 
I have an Tanfoglio EAA Witness Stock III in 9 MM. Thus far it has been an excellent pistol. All steel and wood. Zero Aluminum. Excellent target adjustable sights and very accurate. The gun shows quality construction throughout. Very few tool marks with an excellent fit and finish, along with rich, deep bluing.

After buying and shooting this pistol, I am of the opinion these EAA Witness pistols are some of the most underrated semi auto handguns on the market today. Tanfoglio of Italy builds some very nice guns. With that said, I cannot speak of their customer service, simply because I've never had to use it.

The gun didn't have to go back to the factory so they could, "Make it right". Simply because they did when they built it the first time.

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All I know is that I want a 9mm to accent my 45acp.

Me too. I bought the 10 and Super at the same time. They had 9s and 45s as well, but I could only afford 2 guns at the time. I figured that since I had 9s and 45s out the wahzoo I’d go for 10 and Super first. I have not seen any more of these guns anywhere since.
 
A friend has a Wonder Finish metal frame Compact Witness 45acp that I have also shot and would love to have a Compact 9mm like it. Or maybe a Compact Witness in 40S&W. I don't have a 40.
 
EAA's customer service problem was limited to some cracked slides some years back. EAA was a family owned business and, as I understand it, the head of the Customer Service area was a senior family member, who could be difficult (to say the least). That's not to say that there were some cracked frames -- but the slides were a big issue and turned off a lot of buyers (most of whom swore to never buy from EAA again.)

The problem slides were mostly for the 10mm models, but a few .45 a.c.p. guns had issues as well. The head of customer service at the time claimed the problems were due to too-hot, non-factory ammo, and that was NOT the case for many of the owners -- who were shooting factory ammo.

The problem person was eventually moved to a different compnay position a number of years ago, but the memory of the bad customer service due to a slide problem has lingered on. (Tanfoglio redesigned the slide for the large-frame guns, and the problem apparently went away.)

I've not heard of any problems in the last 10 years (+/) and all of my dealings with EAA --(which was been for parts for used guns, not under warranty) has been very good.

If you're buying a Tanfoglio-made gun from EAA, you're very likely to have a gun that doesn't need warranty work, and if it DOES need warranty work, you'll probably be treated well. But as others have said, EAA doesn't make them, and you need to research the gun (and who made it) for your own comfort and protection.)
 
Also, for anyone who just cannot get past something that happened 15+ years ago with EAA, there's now another importer of Tanfoglio-made pistols - Italian Firearms Group. Rather than branding their Tanfoglio's as "Witness," theirs are branded "Defiant." And they have a smaller selection of models, none of which precisely line up with the EAA imported models. They're still ramping up (adding volume and models), but if someone wants a modern Tanfo but has sworn a blood oath never to give money, even indirectly to EAA, they're an alternative. http://www.italianfirearmsgroup.com/ftitalia
 
I used to have a couple of EAA pistols and they ran nice. I ended up selling them to buy other stuff I wanted more.

Had I been treated like some of the people were in this thread I would have told CS that I will NEVER buy another EAA product ever again if they don't stand behind their products. There are just TOO MANY choices out there to settle for a company that gives lousy CS. I guess this is the reason I buy Ruger firearms, their CS is top notch on the two occasions I actually had to call them.
 
I guess this is the reason I buy Ruger firearms, their CS is top notch on the two occasions I actually had to call them.

OK, but it's not as though Ruger makes something that is particularly comparable to the Tanfo' pistols that EAA imports, particularly the nicer ones. Ruger makes some very nice guns, and this isn't a knock on them... they just don't have anything that would be seriously competitive in that particular market niche is all.
 
OK, but it's not as though Ruger makes something that is particularly comparable to the Tanfo' pistols that EAA imports, particularly the nicer ones. Ruger makes some very nice guns, and this isn't a knock on them... they just don't have anything that would be seriously competitive in that particular market niche is all.

That is true for now. Ruger however has their new Custom Shop, they may have something you like.

https://ruger.com/micros/customShop/

They make high performance competitions revolvers, 1911s and 10/22 rifles.
 
Sure, but none of that is the same kind of thing that Tanfo' makes and EAA imports from a competition perspective. All that stuff is for different games or at least different equipment divisions. Not a criticism, just saying that Ruger and Tanfo' don't really go head-to-head on much of anything. Different niches. Each does their niches well, IMO.
 
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