Opinions on EAA Witness 10mm

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CowboyJustice

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How goes it? I have been interested in purchasing a 10mm full sized handgun. I have gone to the range and tested a few. My groups were relatively similar and have yet to decide. Recently, I had an opportunity to purchase a used EAA Witness Elite Match 10mm with only 50 rounds put down range. The seller told me he'd sell it for $475.

First, does anyone have opinions about EAA? I have never owned or shot any EAA handgun. So any thoughts would be appreciated.

Second, does anyone own the EAA Witness Elite Match 10mm and can give me their feedback on maintenance, reliability, ect...

Thanks in advance for any opinions or feedback. Have a good one.
 
I had an EAA Witness Elite Match in .45, but had to sell it when i hit a bad financial patch. It was an awesome shooting gun. I put about 1000 rounds through it and only had 1 FTE. It was probably the most accurate handgun I've owned.
 
Have the 10mm here as a loaner.
I'd keep it if I had any use for the caliber, kinda like the pistol.

Make sure you get the most recent mags, black followers.
Denis
 
I have a witness 40cal. Loved it comp shooting. I shooted shoot match's and sold it to another shooter. Very accurate. Price is right. You do know you can buy the 10mm and shoot all the other kits on the same frame. down to 22lr. To heavy to carry but one accurate pistol. Check out henningshootsguns for accessories and options. and Brian enoss eaa forum. Only problem you may find is with mag feeding issues and all are fixed buy learning how to ajust and tune a mag. I had the 9mm kit also . 8 mags between the two calibers and in around 4000 rounds fire never had an issue of any kind.
 
I have the Match in 10mm. I haven't shot it enough to have a lot of hard data on it, but I really like the looks and handling of the gun and it has been reliable so far. Most of what I've researched on it has been positive also as long as they didn't have the lightened slide version. There are issues with it cracking. I have no plans to get rid of mine.
 
hardluk1 said:
You do know you can buy the 10mm and shoot all the other kits on the same frame. down to 22lr.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is valid info for older Witnesses (prior to the "one-frame-fits-all-calibers" Witness that appeared 2008-ish)
 
nalioth You are right but the question was on the full size elit match and not the older small frame . Not really that small but smaller.
 
Before you buy it, Google "Witness 10mm frame cracks", "Witness 10mm slide cracks", and "EAA customer service".
 
I believe almost all the cracks have happened with the "wonder finish" Witnesses. I don't know why, but almost all the accounts I have seen seem to be with the wonder finish. Does anyone else here have any info on why this would be the case?
 
Most all cracks where in older guns and CS is now a in good shape . E-mail and CS, the gall there has always been helpfull and so does fix and repair know. So many folks go by hear say. or owned some old used gun or older model Or loaded to max loads and did not up the recoil spring rates and beat it to death.
 
Most all cracks where in older guns
Click to expand...

Define "older" guns?

http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/Eaa-Witness-Compact-Cr-t99696.html

This thread delt with a brand new gun and was posted March 6, 2011 (also includes an interesting discussion about EAA saying not to shoot full power loads through its compact?)

http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/10mm-Witness-Wonderfinish-t81791.html

and again May 16, 2010

http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/Witness-lasted-30-Round-t78399.html

and again on March 28 2010
 
Most all ihave read of with cracks with new guns wer hand loaded hot and never increased recoil springs. If i wanted a 10mm i would buy anouther witness or maybe that Z2 that eaa sells. It is way lower in cast at only 450 retail. But hay do what you want, can allways buy a glock. Just when you look at guns sales over all what is talked about on a forum like this is a very small number.
 
It's a great handgun by all accounts I've seen or heard. I did a lot of research and didn't find anything negative on it. I took the Delta Elite as my choice for 10mm tho, but your Witness price is nice(r) by several hundreds of dollars.
 
I’ve seen the threads legion3 linked to before and they give a good idea of what dealing with EAA is like. The “gunsmith”, Paul, has a horrible reputation for abusing customers.

Years ago, I was having trouble with my Witness .45 locking the slide back with rounds still in the mag. It had worked perfectly for a long time and suddenly started this with all 4 mags I had. When I got Paul on the phone, he immediately accused me of shooting hot handloads and told me the warranty was void. I tried to tell him that a 200 grain bullet at 820 fps isn’t “hot”, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he hung up on me.

I tried to get help from someone in charge, but was told they didn’t want to interfere with Paul’s “judgment”.

At the next SHOT Show, I found Mr. Tanfoglio at the EAA booth. I started to tell him what a terrible reputation EAA has for customer service. As soon as he understood what I was telling him, he turned his back on me.
I walked around in front of him and used some language I’d learned from SEALs. Then I got out of there before someone called security.

Tanfoglio knows all about EAA’s service problems. They don’t care.
 
I appreciate all of your opinions and feedback. I took it to the range tonight. I am not a hundred percent sure what or why it is, but it just did not feel right. Yes it is larger than most and slightly heavier, but I actually liked the feel and weight. The ergonomics were not bad and sight acquisition was quick and easy once I got a couple rounds down range and made a few adjustments. So again, I'm not completely sure what it was, I just didn't feel to confident with it compared to a few of the others I had rented for comparison.

Thanks again for your replies. Have a good one.
 
To bad. My 10mm Witness was a real early one and I shot the tar out of it. I shot nuclear loads in it that I would not shoot in any other gun because it was so solid. I had it in my truck as a truck gun for years. Accurate, reliable and built to take a beating. Great gun.
 
Japle said:
I’ve seen the threads legion3 linked to before and they give a good idea of what dealing with EAA is like. The “gunsmith”, Paul, has a horrible reputation for abusing customers.

Years ago, I was having trouble with my Witness .45 locking the slide back with rounds still in the mag. It had worked perfectly for a long time and suddenly started this with all 4 mags I had. When I got Paul on the phone, he immediately accused me of shooting hot handloads and told me the warranty was void. I tried to tell him that a 200 grain bullet at 820 fps isn’t “hot”, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he hung up on me.

I tried to get help from someone in charge, but was told they didn’t want to interfere with Paul’s “judgment”.

At the next SHOT Show, I found Mr. Tanfoglio at the EAA booth. I started to tell him what a terrible reputation EAA has for customer service. As soon as he understood what I was telling him, he turned his back on me.
I walked around in front of him and used some language I’d learned from SEALs. Then I got out of there before someone called security.

Tanfoglio knows all about EAA’s service problems. They don’t care.
Click to expand...
Hhmmm....Yes, I've heard horror stories about both EAA quality & customer service. I remember being at a Bass Pro Shop and looking at purportedly "new-in-the-package" replacement magazines (I try to assure myself that extra magazines are available before I purchase any auto-loader)--all the magazines had a label on them stating that they were sold "as is." [Don't know if Bass Pro shop or the distributor/EAA put the label on, but it spoke at least small volumes.] I've read stories about folks sending in magazines & guns for work, and getting them back with no improvement. I still laugh about the story I read on one of the 10mm forums about Vlitor's new Bren-Ten being designed to use EAA magazines. There was a lot of moaning/groaning when one guy chimes in with a post stating he didn't mind at all, because he had gotten very good at fixing/making-functional almost every EAA magazine he'd ever owned.

However, of all the stories I've heard...yours takes the cake. Absolutely incredible. I've never been able to bring myself to buy an EAA 10mm (and they have some really cute guns) because of the stories I've read about cracked-slides, magazines that don't function, and horrid customer-service. [I can live with 2 out of 3 of such crap-shoot variables, but all of them...no I'm not going to consider EAA manufactures for a long time to come.]--Patrice
 
Patrice said:
no I'm not going to consider EAA manufactures for a long time to come
Click to expand...
EAA is an importer - not a manufacturer. They import guns made all over the world, that are branded with their logo.
 
It seems that the OP may have made his decision, but FWIW.......

I have a Compact and a Limited in 10mm, my sister bought the Match. All of them have been excellent guns, though the compact did require a couple minor modifications to run 100% with the hot stuff.

It is the rounded slides you want to avoid. Squared slide, good to go. I pound both of mine with loads that slightly exceed published maximums, they're fine. The Limited is one of the nicest shooting handguns available, IMO.

The Match model you're looking at is probably one of the best guns on the market for the money (though I feel $475 is steep for used, unless there are extras). Lots of great features.

And EAA's CS has been much improved the last couple years.
 
CowboyJustice, I too was wandering about EAA. I was considering an EAA 10mm until I read these reviews especially that guy that learned that special language in the Seals. A good company would have adressed that customers concern especially in that enviroment. I just thought Taurus took a beating on THR. I would'nt buy nothing from a company knowing up front the customer service blows. My interest in an EAA firearm has completely faded away after this read...
 
FWIW..I just picked up a LNIB Witness match in 45 acp from a member on here...shot it the other day at the range..200 rounds of pure fun and superb accuracy..this gun has grown on me. I've heard the cs is definitely better than it used to be also.
 
It's not to believe the amount of Bull Crap on these forums, in our family we have 8 Witness Elite Match pistols and all have run beyond excellent, I myself have over 10,000 rounds thru my 45 ACP and 38 Super pistols--I would and did put them up against high end 1911's any day of the week and the big boy guns didn't show me anything better then my Match pistols.
Tanfoglio has been making guns for a long, long time and they are great, believe what you want, they are one of the best buys on the market.
 
Tanfoglio has been making guns for a long, long time and they are great, believe what you want, they are one of the best buys on the market.
Click to expand...

As long as they continue to work, I agree. It's when they fail and EAA won't support them that the trouble starts.

I was a big promoter of Witness pistols untill I had my first contact with EAA. My .38 Super is still a terrific gun that I don't shoot enough.
 
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