EAA Witness Steel Compact

[Zendude]

Has anyone here shot one of these? Is it better, worse, or about the same as the Canik C100 or any other CZ 75 compact clone? It looks quite handsome, not sure what the "Wonderfinish" is though.

 

[MAKster]

The EAA Witness pistols are made by Tanfoglio in Italy. They started as CZ clones but have evolved over the years. Tanfoglio now uses a larger frame than the CZ-75 which allows them to use one frame size for 9mm, 40, 45, and 10mm. The Canik which is made in Turkey uses the smaller frame. The difference is minimal but means magazines are not compatible. I think the Witness and Canik pistols are about equal quality-wise but the Caniks cost about $150 less.

 

[browningguy]

They are excellent little pistols, even the plain jane model has a better trigger than you would expect. I would rate them better than almost any clone, and I actually like them better than the original.

 

[justin22885]

i dont think you get the options to easily convert to so many different calibers on the compact as youd get on the full size model though

 

[railroader]

I have a polymer witness that I really like. One thing you should know is the front sight is part of the slide so it isn't easily changed. With CZ compacts the front sight is removable and there are different height rear sights if needed.

 

[Goju]

They certainly are good looking...but what's with the ridiculously exagerated beavertail on a carry gun? It's about as needed as an accessory rail on a sub-compact...rant off

 

[Grunt]

An EAA Witness compact in .40 S&W with the traditional blued finish was my first true carry piece replacing my old 1911. It was a little lighter, but the big draw was that it was more compact. I never had any problems with it and liked it enough to later buy a full size .45 ACP model.

 

[oldandslow]

zd,

I bought two new .45acp Witnesses pistols with the Wonder finish, one a compact and one a full size about 8 years ago.

The compact was a jam-o-matic with standard FJM ammo. As well the hammer would drop at the same time you flipped the safety from safe to fire. It also developed cracks in the slide by the recoil spring tunnel and at the rear frame rails with a low round count (2800). The Wonder finish seemed to have problems with pitting type corrosion similar to stainless so I had it re-coated in hard chrome. EAA refused to honor their "lifetime" warranty saying the hard-chroming voided their warranty.

I understand every manufacturer puts out an occasional lemon but their customer service should have fixed the problem. I once called to talk to their gunsmith-technician and got a very rude man who was no help at all (I think his name was Paul)..

No more EAA products for me.

best wishes- oldandslow

 

[Japle]

No question, EAA has the worst reputation for customer service in the industry. I've owned and worked on several steel-frame Witness pistols. They're excellent as long as nothing goes wrong. When it does, there's an excellent chance that EAA will tell you to get lost.

The only Witness that I still own is a safe queen. EAA's "gunsmith" refused to fix it, even though it was under warranty, and hung up on me.

Google EAA and "Customer service" and see what you find.

NOTE: Both EAA and Tanfoglio are well aware of the customer service reputation.
They don't care.

 

[Zendude]

Maybe I will get the Rock Island version of the Witness instead. I have heard their customer service is excellent.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Good pistols, I have one in 10mm. They're not all that compact or lightweight though; it's nearly equal to my S&W 5906 in both size and weight.

 

[hemiram]

I shot both my compact and full sized Tanfoglios, identical to the early small framed Witnesses/TA/90. They both shot great, but both needed new recoil springs, which came yesterday. They will both shoot anything without any problems. A friend and I shot several guns, including a Taurus PT111 G2, a Canik TP9V2, an S&W 5906, and we both agreed that the full sized gun was the best shooter of any of them, with the compact and the 5906 tied for second. I was impressed with all of them, even the Taurus ran very well, but the "Mossad" Tanfoglios were the best ones that day.

 

[ny32182]

I've never held that one, but the picture looks like it has the same frame material/finish/pin dimensions, etc as the full size competition models.

If so, they can shorten the slide or frame a bit, but it is still going to be a very heavy gun by carry standards, if that is what you want to do with it. And what else would be the point of a compact, really?

The full size models are great shooters, but the properties that make them so are going to make them not-so-great carry guns, in my opinion.

I shoot the Stock 2 in competition, and currently carry the CZ P07. Identical manual of arms/operation, much lighter weight.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I've never held that one, but the picture looks like it has the same frame material/finish/pin dimensions, etc as the full size competition models.

All the steel models use cast steel frames and billet slides, but the finish on the elite models is hard chrome; not the same as wonderfinish, which is basically nitrocarburizing, although nobody seems to have ever found a definitive answer as to what chemicals are used to achieve the bronze-tinted satin stainless look.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

The poor customer service is basically the reason EAA and Tanfoglio are on my do not buy list.

That is very unfortunate, as I really like their designs. IWI Jerichos and Magnum Research's Baby Desert Eagle are as close to CZ derivatives as I will ever see. But I'm much more inclined to just buy a CZ.

 

[ny32182]

Tanfoglio large frames have some attributes that no CZs do. Just depends what you want ergonomically.

Customer service straight from EAA might be junk, but there are several retailers out there that stock everything and deal with EAA so you don't have to, and they are pretty straightforward designs on which you can do virtually anything that might need to be done yourself. They aren't quite Glock-simple, but only basic tools are needed.

I've never owned a handgun that I'd waste the time sending back to the manufacturer for anything, even if their customer service was perfect... Tanfos no exception.

 

[HankC]

Buy RIA MAPP instead. Same Tangfolio gun but with best customer service in the industry and life time warranty. Also, RIA MAPP is small frame that uses CZ mag and EAA switched to large frame and unique large frame mag.