MacTech
Member
My Taurus PT-99AF was beginning to annoy me, over the past couple range trips, it had been stovepiping on me, and it had inconsistent groups beyond 7 yards, one mag I'd group under 2", another mag, I'd group 3-5", even when braced against a target stand, yesterday it had a rolled brass misfeed, as well as 3 stovepipes out of a box of 50, four failures, I had enough of it....
Today, after going to the range, and shooting some 4-5" groups with my Glock 21 at 50 yards (the pistol range was being used to teach some new shooters, and I wanted to see what the Glock could do on extended ranges anyway), I really started to dislike my PT-99
So, I stopped off at my gun store and traded the PT-99 for store credit, getting pretty much what I paid for it (only lost about $20 on the deal), and looked around at some inexpensive used pistols
It came down to either a RIA 1911 .45, felt good in hand, but the sights were pretty indistinct, or a Tanfoglio Witness 9mm, felt *REALLY* good in hand, pointed well, had a nice heft, the rifling was in good condition, and the slide was buttery smooth, the trigger pull was great, nice and crisp in SA, and smooth and steady in DA
I decided to make the trade, and was out no money, as I had enough store credit for the gun, I found a couple of CZ75 mags as well, and added them to the purchase, now I have 3 15 rounders
Off to the range to test it out....
It balanced well in hand, points naturally, the recoil and sound from the Witness is easily half what the Taurus produced, and at both 7 and 15 yards, it puts down great, tight groups, one and two-holers at 7 yards, and 1 inch groups at 15, target reaquisition time is half that of the Taurus
However, there is a small problem with the gun, it will regularly FTF, unless I slingshot the slide at full force, the nose of the round tends to hang up on the feed ramp, it happens once or twice a mag, I can coax the slide to close by pushing it closed with my thumb, when it does feed, it feeds well, the FTF happens on both hollow point and ball ammo (Federal AmEagle red box, WWB, and Speer Gold Dot)
I'm thinking that the recoil spring may just be a tad underpowered here, it's just not pushing the rounds in with the force needed, logically, a heavier Wolff recoil spring should fix the problem
I admit I'm a little annoyed with the FTF's, especially considering the Taurus had no problems feeding, and had the occasional random stovepipe FTE, but it was less accurate than the Witness, and had both a louder report and snappier recoil
I'd imagine the only thing the Witness will need is a stronger recoil spring, maybe a little polishing of the feed ramp, any reccomendations here
Hmm, maybe I should have gotten the RIA 1911 instead, but if I did, i'd have a pile of 9mm ammo gathering dust, and I do want to keep shooting 9mm as well as .45, .45's more fun and I shoot it better, but 9mm costs me less to shoot
besides, I like to tinker with stuff, and my Glock 21 is too bloody reliable, and gives me no good reason to take it apart, the Witness will be my inexpensive little "project gun", I already filled in the dots on the sights with GITD paint, as the white dots in them were wearing out, I have a big bottle of GITD paint, so even if it wears off, I can reapply it
Today, after going to the range, and shooting some 4-5" groups with my Glock 21 at 50 yards (the pistol range was being used to teach some new shooters, and I wanted to see what the Glock could do on extended ranges anyway), I really started to dislike my PT-99
So, I stopped off at my gun store and traded the PT-99 for store credit, getting pretty much what I paid for it (only lost about $20 on the deal), and looked around at some inexpensive used pistols
It came down to either a RIA 1911 .45, felt good in hand, but the sights were pretty indistinct, or a Tanfoglio Witness 9mm, felt *REALLY* good in hand, pointed well, had a nice heft, the rifling was in good condition, and the slide was buttery smooth, the trigger pull was great, nice and crisp in SA, and smooth and steady in DA
I decided to make the trade, and was out no money, as I had enough store credit for the gun, I found a couple of CZ75 mags as well, and added them to the purchase, now I have 3 15 rounders
Off to the range to test it out....
It balanced well in hand, points naturally, the recoil and sound from the Witness is easily half what the Taurus produced, and at both 7 and 15 yards, it puts down great, tight groups, one and two-holers at 7 yards, and 1 inch groups at 15, target reaquisition time is half that of the Taurus
However, there is a small problem with the gun, it will regularly FTF, unless I slingshot the slide at full force, the nose of the round tends to hang up on the feed ramp, it happens once or twice a mag, I can coax the slide to close by pushing it closed with my thumb, when it does feed, it feeds well, the FTF happens on both hollow point and ball ammo (Federal AmEagle red box, WWB, and Speer Gold Dot)
I'm thinking that the recoil spring may just be a tad underpowered here, it's just not pushing the rounds in with the force needed, logically, a heavier Wolff recoil spring should fix the problem
I admit I'm a little annoyed with the FTF's, especially considering the Taurus had no problems feeding, and had the occasional random stovepipe FTE, but it was less accurate than the Witness, and had both a louder report and snappier recoil
I'd imagine the only thing the Witness will need is a stronger recoil spring, maybe a little polishing of the feed ramp, any reccomendations here
Hmm, maybe I should have gotten the RIA 1911 instead, but if I did, i'd have a pile of 9mm ammo gathering dust, and I do want to keep shooting 9mm as well as .45, .45's more fun and I shoot it better, but 9mm costs me less to shoot
besides, I like to tinker with stuff, and my Glock 21 is too bloody reliable, and gives me no good reason to take it apart, the Witness will be my inexpensive little "project gun", I already filled in the dots on the sights with GITD paint, as the white dots in them were wearing out, I have a big bottle of GITD paint, so even if it wears off, I can reapply it