charles Daly or EAA Witness

[Fat Boy]

The local shop has a Charles Daly 1911 available- blue steel, with what appear to be several modifications: skeletonized trigger/hammer, extended grip safety, ambidextrous thumb safety, checkered-arched mainspring housing, mag well, and external ported compensator. 1 magazine, Chip McCormick brand. Price is $499 before tax.

This is, from one perspective, an opportunity to obtain a nicely modified 1911 for under $500 (slightly under)

I don't know a great deal about Charles Daly 1911's for sure; I think they are imported from the Phillipines from the same maker that provides Rock Island, Armscor, etc???

My biggest concern is with durability; does anyone have an idea of how long the Charles Daly brand guns tend to hold up?

On the other hand, there is an EAA Witness in .45 acp for the same price, but the 1911 platform would be my preference...

 

[MyGreenGuns]

Dont buy Charles Daly

I had the "Commander" edition. Its .45ACP, basically a shortened 1911.

My problem was the swing link attached under the barrel. During one of our shooting trips the gun jammed. We cleared the mag, but the slide was seized in place with a round loaded. We tried to free the slide to unload the gun, but were unable to do anything in the field. It took quite a bit of creativity to disassemble the gun at home, while it WAS LOADED. The swing link had fractured and was jammed into the frame of the gun. The slide had snapped back forward and gotten the broken part wedged between the barrel and slide. Mind you, I bought mine used, so that may have something to do with it.

Yes they are from the Philippines somewhere. I gave up on trying to contact them for replacement parts. I sold my broken gun to a friend who had a custom barrel made for about what I paid for the gun.

There is a reason they are so cheap. Save your money and buy something name brand.

No comment on EAA Witness, havent shot one yet.

 

[snooperman]

I have a RIA 1911 and it is very reliable for a plain Jane...

I have had no problems with it and it shoots as good as my Colt 1970 series. Mine was made in the Philipines and the parts can interchange with the old G.I. Colts.

 

[dwhite]

Until you get the 1911 and shoot it you don't know how
badly it's possibly been "bubbaed" on the inside. Only
downside to buying one used.

If you're proficient at pistol repair it may be a good find.
If it has to be worked on by someone else could end up
pretty expensive.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[BFC]

Don't know anything about the Daly but 8 years ago I bought a 9mm Witness and I have put well over 10,000 rounds through it and it's still going strong. A bit looser mind you but that Witness has been BY FAR the best bang for the buck I have spent on any gun.

 

[railroader]

That seems a little high for a used daly and here is a better deal on a witness 45acp. For $501 shipped you can get a witness 45 with extra 22lr top end. Two guns in one. They have the same thing in 9mm. http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_231/products_id/200214 Mark

 

[Snowdog]

The only personal experience I have with a Witness was with a Witness Compact (.40S&W) that I had to send back to EAA for a malfunctioning manual safety, then two more times for consistent failures to feed (which I complained quite a bit about at TFL about a decade ago). The pistol appeared stout and well made, but was utterly unreliable with all ammunition.

The only experience I have with Charles Daly is with my HP that had to be sent back to Charles Daly twice for the same problem (failure to extract, complained about that here about 5 years ago). However, I still have this pistol now that it is reliable. The second trip to the factory yielded a new barrel that somehow resolved the issue.

I don't have any experience with the longevity of EAA Witness handguns as mine had about 200 rounds through it before I gave up and sold it defective/as-is.
From the few rounds I put through it, it did have a decent trigger and accuracy seemed fine.

My CD HP (frame indicates a US manufacture) has held up nicely, with about 1,500 rounds, mostly reloads. Besides factory repair, I also had to replace the hammer spring with a lighter one just to get the trigger to "acceptable". The trigger is the most critiqued feature of the BHP design, from my understanding.

My RIA, made in the Philippines has easily seen twice the round count of the CD HP and has been perfect from day one. It has been a pure joy with no work done to it. The trigger, out of box, was nearly perfect. This comes as no surprise as the trigger is often a much praised feature of the 1911. It's hard to believe both the BHP and 1911 were designed by the same man.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The witness is a good solid gun. I have had several and currently own a witness match elite. Very accurate and quite reliable. Do some searches on it and see what you find. The witness is a good choice.

 

[rdrancher]

Love the 1911 platform...the Charles Daly version...not so much. Bought it cheap from an LEO that had FTE, FTF and stove pipe issues from day one with the gun, even after sending it back to CD and having his armorer work on it. I tried several different brands of ammo and several manufacturers mags, and finally had a local gunsmith give it a go. It was accurate enough, but I never could solve all of the problems or trust it as a carry piece, so I sold it a few years ago.

 

[wally]

The swing link had fractured and was jammed

It happens, stuff breaks. Its a $5 part replacement and you be back in action. Happened to my first RIA at about 3000 rounds, put in a $5 Wilson link and 12,000+ rounds later no issues.


I've heard that RIA is servicing the CD guns since KBI went belly up. If true they'll treat you way better than EAA especially for a used gun. Armscor of the Philippines makes the RIA and made the CD 1911s except the polymer wide-bodies which were Bul.

As I always say, if you've never broken a gun, you just ain't been shooting enough!