EAA Witness Elite Limited, worth the money?

[Matt304]

I really like the looks of this pistol. It's just that the rest of their pistols look sub standard in a certain way, if you know what I mean.

These go for $1000. I've never had a chance to see one in person. I'm just wondering if this model is all that for the price, or if I am paying for minor mods to a base hull that's maybe not so great underneath.

Thoughts?

 

[wow6599]

I guess it depends on the person and how much cash you want to blow. Me...........no way in hell I'm spending 1K on any Witness.

JMHO

 

[millertyme]

I wonder if EAA will treat you better if they know you spent that much on one of their products.

 

[Matt304]

wow6599: Me...........know way in hell I'm spending 1K on any Witness.

OK, some details would be nice. (You mean "no" way?)

Like, what gun would you spend 1K on, and what would that gun be giving me that the above gun will not give me?

 

[Japle]

Google "EAA customer service" before you buy.

 

[wow6599]

OK, some details would be nice. (You mean "no" way?)

Like, what gun would you spend 1K on, and what would that gun be giving me that the above gun will not give me?

OK Matt, if I buy a gun with a MSRP of $1354.00 it is going to bes a new S&W, Springfield, Kimber, Sig, HK, etc.

Now, If you want to spend that kind of money on an EAA Witness (European American Armory Corporation) then be my guest..........but do some homework on the company first.

Japle gave you a great place to start.........then google reliabilty.........and quality..............

And before you ask - yes, I have owned a Witness (10mm) in the past and I sold it about a month later.

 

[schmeky]

No.

 

[Usmc-1]

If your willing spend more than grand , why not go for proven quality and good customer service , buy a Kimber!

 

[ojibweindian]

I've heard that the Witness Elite is a good gun. However, EAA's customer service experience, for those who've had to use it, generally, is an absolute nightmare.

On a personal note, I once had a stock Witness in 9mm for a few weeks. Very accurate gun, and very reliable. Only problem is it, on occasion, and unpredictably, would go "full auto".

Ended up taking it back to the dealer and exchanged it for a Taurus PT92.

 

[hardluk1]

I love the witness elit match and bought mine new for 500 dollars BUT I ain't pay'n a 1000 dollars to anyone for any handgun. None are worth that kind of money.

 

[yhtomit]

On a personal note, I once had a stock Witness in 9mm for a few weeks. Very accurate gun, and very reliable. Only problem is it, on occasion, and unpredictably, would go "full auto."

That's "reliable"? That reminds me of our family's cars when I was small -- they reliably could not be predicted to work

timothy

 

[MachIVshooter]

If your willing spend more than grand , why not go for proven quality and good customer service , buy a Kimber!

From someone who owns both a Witness Limited and a Kimber Stainless Target II (both 10mm), I choose the Witness hands down for competition.



I love my Kimber, but the Limited simply shoots better. More ergonomic shape with agressive checking front and back, better balanced with more weight up front (big help with 10mm loads), poly rifled tapered cone bull barrel, 15 round capacity advantage, more intuitive safety and better trigger, it's an easy decision. I paid $900 for my Limited, $865 for the Kimber on sale. The Witness is more gun for the money.

And it gets tiresome seeing so many people who don't even own these guns bashing EAA, having never dealt with them. My experiences with EAA CS have always been positive.

 

[wbwanzer]

I've got a Witness Elite Match in 9mm that I consider to be a fine pistol. I'm more accurate with it than any of my other 9mms. If I was looking to spend $1000 for a target pistol I would not hesitate to look at a Limited. I've had no problems with the Elite Match.

 

[greyling22]

I've been very impressed with my elite match. EAA customer service is pretty lame, but henning walgren can help you out if you get in a bind. If you really do like the gun but want better customer service, cz makes a comparable gun for 11 or 12 hundred. cz tactical sport. the EAA should be able to be had for 900 or so.

 

[ckone]

For the money, actually, they're an incredible value (and can be had closer to $800 than $1000). We're talking an honest-to-goodness USPSA Limited gun with most, if not all or more of the bells and whistles you'd expect on a upper-level 3K+ SVI/STI (a base-model STI Edge which is pretty much the standard for limited guns starts at $1,750).

It really comes down to which platform one chooses on whether they're worth it or not: 1911-patterned w/ straight-back trigger or CZ-patterned w/ pivoting trigger? For me, I prefer the less-popular but every bit as good CZ-patterned guns over 1911-types so the savings is just a bonus.

Another very real difference to consider is that SVI/STI guns are lighter guns where their hi-cap design means a big helping of polymer making up the lower/grip, not so with a Limited, all recoil-absorbing steel, and in a design with an inherently lower bore-axis and lighter slide out of the box.

For a long time magazine tuning issues were their real hang-up (and pretty much still is with STI/SVI's too really), but things have gotten better to the point that just this year Mec-Gar started producing mags that can be taken out of their packages and ran, and they're relatively inexpensive. To put things in perspective, many shooters who run SVI/STI's spend more than what these guns cost to get 4 "tuned" mags.

Yes, EAA CS blows by most accounts, but chances are if you're buying a limited-gun you could care less, they aren't so horrible that they'll leave you high and dry if you do encounter a defect.

Remember, "Witness" is importer EAA-speak, they're really Tangfolio's which are respected and have won matches all around the globe. You'd need to spend a significant amount more money to get a gun that is more gun than Tanfoglio's Limiteds.

(P.S. Most Kimber's are 80-series patterned 1911's with firing-pin-blocks and Shwartz-safety nonsense... IMHO they don't deserve inclusion in this discussion...)

 

[Matt304]

wow6599, let's see what you're telling me about the gun. I asked:

Matt304: OK, some details would be nice.

What would that gun (your recommendation) be giving me that the above gun (Witness Elite) will not give me?

And you tell me:

wow6599: OK Matt, if I buy a gun with a MSRP of $1354.00 it is going to bes a new S&W, Springfield, Kimber, Sig, HK, etc.

That reply still does not answer my question about what I am getting from anything you are suggesting that the Elite does not provide.

wow6599: Now, If you want to spend that kind of money on an EAA Witness (European American Armory Corporation) then be my guest..........

In that part of your reply I am still searching for what is wrong with the gun. Are you saying that the company name does not sound worthy?

wow6599: but do some homework on the company first.

Oh, homework. Well part of my homework was being here gathering shooter advice on what they have found out about these guns after using them.

wow6599: And before you ask - yes, I have owned a Witness (10mm) in the past and I sold it about a month later.

That doesn't tell me anything! Why did you sell it? What was wrong with it? A Witness what, Elite Limited like I am asking about, or a different model?

You see wow6599, I'm sorry to pick on you. However, it's really hard for you to persuade me away from an Elite Limited, when you are basically just telling me not to buy one and nothing more, without supporting details. On the other hand, I have ckone telling me every detail about the gun, and why it is worth the money, while he compares its features to other features on much more expensive guns. And MachIVshooter explains why the Elite shoots better than his Kimber. Even a few other guys saying they are in support of the Elite.

Yeah, it's not that hard here to see what's really being said from most of the actual owners. Sure sounds to me like I should be buying the gun instead of talking about it!

I had the feeling I should offer something in the <$975 range. I never look at an MSRP on a gun, anymore. Not after my local dealer pushed his wholesale catalog across the counter to me to read. Wow! I had no idea what some of these guys on Gunbroker are nailing people for over wholesale. Oh well, I can't complain if the people are paying it. More power to them. The bad thing for me is that dealer never can get anything in his book half the time. Always out of stock on models I want, and I end up internet shopping. That's what I will do with the Elite. I want one.

Honestly, the only thing I've ever used customer service on, firearm-related, was a scope. So I'm not going to let that deter me from the possibility of owning a worthwhile firearm.

Thanks greatly for the input, shooters. It is much appreciated.

 

[Smaug]

I would say they are worth the money.

I was at the range shooting my Para 1911 one day. Doing OK too.

The guy in the next stall had never shot a 1911, and I had never shot one of those. We swapped. That gun was more accurate than mine, with a softer SA trigger, and with less perceived recoil. A really nice gun. On par with the HK USP Expert 45 I'd shot (another guy's gun) a couple years ago.

EAAs are under-appreciated, IMO. 1911s are nice, but over-appreciated.

 

[Supermoto]

The Limited is a fantastic gun for the money. The grip ergos are some of the best in the business, The guns shoots soft and are accurate. They are easy guns to work on and you can get a lot of aftermarket parts from Henningshootsguns.com You would easily spend over 2x the amount for a STI limited gun. I haven't notice any issue or had any problems shooting a EAA and STI back to back. I prefer the straight back trigger of the STI 2011s but when the timer goes off, I don't notice the hinged trigger. The only issue is that the older 10mm mags like to have the ammo loaded long to keep from nose diving. But this was only when you were running 21 rounds