Opinions on EAA Witness Autos

[RBH44]

I saw a real nice EAA Whitness in .38 super tonight at my local LGS.
I know next to nothing about this brand of semi autos so thought I'd ask what you all think of them. Unfortunately the gun counter was so busy that I wasn't able to handle and check it out properly. Depending on the feedback I get here, I may go back and check it out thuroghly. Thanks for any and all help.

 

[wally]

I think the guns are great, the magazines, not so much. I've had issues with all except .45ACP which is IMHO the safest bet and is the pistol the CZ97 should have been.

If you get good mags, I suspect you will like it very much. Most of the mag issues can be solved, but its a PITA and not a confidence builder.

 

[hardluk1]

While i was shooting in some local match's i had a witness match in 40sw i paid 499 new for it . I also bought a 9mm upper for it that cost 200. With any pistol i detail them before shooting and tune the mags so they all measure the same . Mine had well over 1500 rounds of 40 and 2500 rounds of 9mm shot with NO failures of any kind. Go to brian enos eaa forums for any help you might need and henningshotsguns for asserories and help also. Eaa has a new model new out called I think K-2,check to be sure but retail price is 450 dollars. Should be able to buy that for well less less than 400 bucks. The witness line are very accurate and if you have problems it will more than likely be mag related and most always you can tune that problem out. Find any old 1911 shooter and they will know how to fix mag problems. With the stocks and match line of pistols you can buy new kits to change from 9mm to 38super/9-23, 40sw, 45acp 10mm and a 22ir kit.

 

[aubie515]

Good pistols for their price point. I don't like their polymer pistols...I owned one...but their all steel pistols are nice. I especially like the match witness.

ETA: EAA Witness pistols are CZ clones. The Wonder finish is actually a pretty good finish.

 

[MrIzhevsk]

Make sure you inspect your gun thoroughly before you buy it, Tanfoglio Witnesses are basically sold "as is" and EAA isn't much of a company to brag about. I have a Jericho which is a second copy which is manufactured by Tanfoglio and its great.

 

[Japle]

Generally good guns for the money.

Worst customer service in the industry. I keep hoping they'll improve, but there was another thread about how poorly they treat their customers a couple of weeks ago.

Google "EAA" and "customer service".

 

[Shadow 7D]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
wonderful copies of a great gun

Horrible company

 

[RBH44]

LOL, I've read a ton about their poor customer service here and on other sites since posting this thread. I've also been reading that these guns are prevelent to cracked slides and can be avoided by changing out the recoil spring for a heavier one.

I'm hoping to get back there in a few days. One of the reasons that I was there was to pick up a gun that I had work done to from the resident gun smith.
I was planing on asking the smith to strip the slide off and do a propper inspection of the gun prior to me purchasing it. That is, as long as there is no store policy aginst it.

 

[Xfire68]

Here is the deal! If you get a bad gun your screwed! Not something I would risk even with your money! Buy a CZ!

 

[Eric0424]

There have been a lot of reports of the slides cracking on some models with the round slides. Some say the heavier square slides are not having a problem. Some feel the problem is from weak recoil springs from the factory and there may be some truth to it. However, out of all the threads, links, blogs and reports I've read and the the few witness owners that have come to me for repair or advice, I've never heard of one in 38-Super developing a crack. I've read 9mm, 40 S&W, 45ACP and 10mm, but not one mention of the 38-Super that I can recall.

If you decide to get the 38-Super I would recommend replacing the recoil spring just to be safe, it would be cheap insurance.

As mentioned before, my dealings with eaa's customer service have been irritating to say the least and I try to avoid it when ever possible.

 

[RBH44]

Good point Xfire68! I purposely excluded the price that the LGS is asking for the gun so as not to cloud the opinions.

 

[JoelSteinbach]

I own 3 different EAA witness in 10mm, Great gun, great price,

 

[RBH44]

Ok, what would be a fair price on a used,in very good condition EAA witness in .38 super with the wonder finish,checkerd wooden grips and a standard drift rear sight?

 

[Eric0424]

Here is the deal! If you get a bad gun your screwed! Not something I would risk even with your money! Buy a CZ!

You know, I've been booted from one message board and had posts deleted and/or edited by the admin. or moderator on another for voicing the same opinion.

 

[orbitup]

I've had 2 .45's, one steel and one polymer. They were both great guns with no problems. I guess it's good that I never had to deal with their customer service.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I handled a Witness Elite Match 45 at a local gunshow recently. I really liked it. I want one.

 

[genek]

I bought a Witness Match in 40SW a little over a year ago. You couldn't ask for a better gun regardless of price. As someone stated before they are made in Italy by Tanfoglio and they are outstanding. The Match comes w/ a nice trigger and adjustable rear sight. It is an all steel gun and so the weight really cuts down on felt recoil. I love it. Genek

 

[Don357]

I had a Witness Compact P[olymer] .45acp. 8 round double stack, 3.6" barrel, 3 way safety (hammer down-on, half-cock-on, cocked and locked -on). Also safe loaded and hammer down. I really liked it and wish I hadn't traded it. But I wanted a full size gun. Traded it for a FEG GKK 5" .45. The Witness I had was great gun. Never had a missfire or a FTF or even a FTE or stovepipe. The sights did take some getting used to, it needed a different rear sight for the short barrel. It always shot about 6" low at 20 ft.

 

[wbwanzer]

I've got one in 9mm that I like. I got it used so I don't worry about EAA's bad customer service. If it breaks I'll send it to Enos or someone else to get it fixed. The trigger is almost as good as a 1911.

 

[Hammerhead6814]

Can't really say anything about their customer service. The Witness I've shot was great. It compared very well to my old CZ 75b, and with respect to accuracy and the ability to eject a spent cartridge it was BETTER than my CZ 75b. Before any CZ owners go nuts let me say I owned one of the most problematic 75b's in the history of problematic 75bs.

I don't know what is really different between the two, but the 9mm Witness feels just fine.

 

[greyling22]

+1 to everything posted. CS blows, gun's great, 9mm mags are problematic. I love my elite match.

 

[Erik M]

My brother carries one of the compact versions with the 'wonder' finish. Its a bit thick due to the grips and double stack magizines but it has been %100 reliable for him. I think they are suberb weapons and are under rated.

 

[millertyme]

HAHA. Most any of us who have owned an EAA have the same opinion: Great gun, horrible company. I didn't particularly like the Witness-P I owned a while back but I have thought once or twice about getting a steel 9mm. As long as I don't have to attempt to deal with EAA over it, I might try the pistols again.

 

[alroc06]

I have two of them; a Witness Match in .38 Super and a Witness polymer in 9mm, convertible to .38 Super. I've long been a fan of guns made by Ruger, Kimber, and Colt, but these EAA guns cannot be beat for price. Mine were all accurate right out of the box, I've had no trouble with the polymer frame after a lot of range time, and I believe the customer service issue is really old news (like the polymer frame issue). I have worked with EAA customer service twice, and found them to be polite, responsive and thorough.

My Kimber TLE II spends a lot of time on the gun safe shelf now that I have these.

If money is no issue, then there are a ton of good guns out there to choose from. Even in that case, I'd still give a lot of thought to buying the EAA - - especially the Witness Match. Great gun and great value!

 

[wristtwister]

Got a compact 10MM and 4 slide sets including a .45 cal setup for $400 from a guy who used to be an EAA salesman. He went to work for another company, who told him to get the EAA stuff out of his car, so I got a deal on one of the best guns I own. The 10MM setups just rock... and I got both the long slide and short slide versions, and two different finishes, so I can change the looks of the gun too.

Now, I need a .40 cal setup, and I can dump several other guns I own to shoot different calibers.

The only problem I've run across, was a mag problem where the slot was not located correctly, and a little work with a dremel tool, and it worked fine. As for all the EAA "problems", I've never had one, other than the one mag I bought that had the slot problem. No FTF's from the gun with either setup on it, and none with the .45 setup on it either.

The design of the gun is such that it just sits and rocks in your hand, so that second shot recovery is almost instantly back on target. The slide stays in contact with the frame in a balanced fashion, so there's little "jump" from the gun. For my part, they come highly recommended.

WT