New EAA Witness .45 blued

[aprayinbear]

Greetings Everyone,

Just picked up an EAA Witness .45 steel blued at Buds for a great price. Knowing the service issues with EAA I paid $18 for the Buds lifetine fix or replace warranty (including shipping) just to be sure.

Out of the box and cleaned, I was very pleased; decent 3 dot sights, good trigger, very low recoil for a .45 and quite accurate. This CZ clone fits my hand much better then the 1911s (although I love 1911s.)

I know about some of the past issues with the Witness line, especially cracked slides on the wonder finish models.... so... do you think I should change anything on mine just for safe keeping. I was considering installing a slightly stronger recoil spring.

Oh, I almost forgot..... I only shoot target loads in my gun as this is a range gun.

Thoughts.... suggestions?

 

[ATLDave]

Check out henning's webstore for all kinds of parts for Witnesses/Tanfoglios. A lot of it is geared to the competition shooter, but you can get recoil springs and other parts there. He's also got videos about how to detail strip and reassemble both the slide and the frame.

If you're going to shoot it a lot, I suggest getting a spare extractor on hand. I had the edge of the extractor claw on a Witness chip one time... it still ran, but not 100%.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

The problems with slides was quite some time ago, and before EAA/Witness/Tanfoglio made some changes to the slide shape/design. I don't think it was limited to the WonderFinish models. The real problem was that EAA wouldn't back their product in those cases. I suspect the damage to their reputation (in terms of lost sales) has been far more costly than the expense of replacing damaged slides.

Wonder Finish isn't really a finish, but a heat treatment; the color is applied after the heat treament is completed. (That's what EAA says on their website.) I believe them.

I've had a bunch of Witnesses, and they've all been fine guns. I only had problems with one, that I bought used (and not covered by warranty): .

The barrel failed in that gun (cracked), and the SuperSight broke. (The SuperSight was a fancy, proprietary adjustable sight that used a special dovetail cut for which no aftermarket sight was then available). Because I had no warranty claim (no warranty for a used gun), it cost me several hundred to get the gun running right, again. My bad luck.

No other problems with any of them, and despite the costs of that (.45) Sport Long Slide with a bad barrel and sight, I still liked the gun that gun a lot. . Some of the newer, more costly .45s and 10mm guns are very nice, with a lot of very attractive enhancements.

It's unlikely that you'll ever have problems with your blue .45. (I think that's a sprayed on finish, too, and it may be Wonder Finish underneath.) The couple I had were NOT truly blued (heat or cold.)

 

[wally]

IMHO the steel frame Witness .45 (and possibly the .38Super) are the safest buys from EAA. I've had issues with them in 9mm, .40S&W and 10mm -- magazine related for all three plus a cracked slide on the 10mm.

 

[ATLDave]

One other thought. My Witness Elite Match, which I use for USPSA, seems to like grease, rather than oil, for lube on the rails and barrel lugs. It's a very tight barrel/slide/frame fit, so lube is important. With grease, it runs like an absolute sewing machine. Smooth and fast and 100% reliable with thousands of competition rounds through it. It was never totally 100% with oil as the lube.

 

[Torian]

Check out henning's webstore for all kinds of parts for Witnesses/Tanfoglios. A lot of it is geared to the competition shooter, but you can get recoil springs and other parts there. He's also got videos about how to detail strip and reassemble both the slide and the frame.

If you're going to shoot it a lot, I suggest getting a spare extractor on hand. I had the edge of the extractor claw on a Witness chip one time... it still ran, but not 100%.

Depending on the type of loads you want to shoot, upgrading the recoil spring at the minimum can really improve the feel and performance of the weapon.

In my Elite Match I've installed a 20 pound wolf spring and upgrade guide rod from Hennings.
It eats hot loads for breakfast like they are nothing. Great gun for the money.

 

[ATLDave]

I keep a 20, 18, 16, 14, and 12 on hand. Throw a little color-coded testor's enamel on there to keep them straight.