browningguy
Member
My youngest daughter, being somewhat fashion minded, wanted something other than a black pistol for her carry gun. She just got her Texas CHL in January and has been carrying a Walther PPS 9 in 9mm, although she has gotten reasonably proficient with it at 5 yards she still has not mastered the very short sight radius at longer ranges and had been looking for something with a little less recoil and a longer barrel. She's shorter (5'1") and has smaller hands than average so anything much bigger than a mini-gun grip was getting too large for her.
Enter the Witness Pavona .380:
Now I'm sure lots of people will see a downside, it's not black, it's not a Glock/1911/Whatever, and it's a .380 instead of a caliber starting with a 4. Having said all that her groups at 8 and 10 yards were significantly smaller than with the PPS, on the lines of 2-3" instead of 4-8", and that seems a worthwhile difference.
The quick answer, we ran 150 rounds of ball through it and 50 rounds of a very blunt HP ammo that is well known for feeding problems in my other .380's. Not a single failure of any kind. We also shot a couple of mag's of the Hornady FTX ammo that she will be carrying in it and it was exceptionally accurate, easily capable of 1 hole groups at 8 yards.
The good points:
Very accurate with everything we shot.
Small grip size fits her hand very well.
Very good fit and finish, the low luster finish on the slide is very even and attractive, the finish of the frame (whether you like the color or not)is very high quality.
The molded in checkering is very grippy, I can't see anyone having a problem with this even when it's wet.
The large scallops on the rear of the slide make slide manipulation very easy even for someone with small hands.
Controls are very well placed for small hands, she had no problem reaching the mag release or operating the slide mounted safety. And although it felt too small in my hands it worked well for me also.
Sights are adequate if not great.
Single action trigger is decent enough, not at the level of their match pistols but I would guess around 4-5 pounds with very little creep.
14 + 1 capacity in a medium small frame.
It's pretty inexpensive, you should be able to find either the .380 or 9mm for under $400, hers came from Davidsons Gallery of Guns.
The bad points:
Double action trigger pull is longer, heavier and grittier than it needs to be.
It only comes with one magazine.
Sights could be improved.
Overall I would rate this highly for someone wanting a low recoil medium frame pistol. She's planning on carrying it in her new EAA black snakeskin carry purse cocked and locked, so she'll need to practice the manual of arms to get used to swiping off the safety.
Enter the Witness Pavona .380:
Now I'm sure lots of people will see a downside, it's not black, it's not a Glock/1911/Whatever, and it's a .380 instead of a caliber starting with a 4. Having said all that her groups at 8 and 10 yards were significantly smaller than with the PPS, on the lines of 2-3" instead of 4-8", and that seems a worthwhile difference.
The quick answer, we ran 150 rounds of ball through it and 50 rounds of a very blunt HP ammo that is well known for feeding problems in my other .380's. Not a single failure of any kind. We also shot a couple of mag's of the Hornady FTX ammo that she will be carrying in it and it was exceptionally accurate, easily capable of 1 hole groups at 8 yards.
The good points:
Very accurate with everything we shot.
Small grip size fits her hand very well.
Very good fit and finish, the low luster finish on the slide is very even and attractive, the finish of the frame (whether you like the color or not)is very high quality.
The molded in checkering is very grippy, I can't see anyone having a problem with this even when it's wet.
The large scallops on the rear of the slide make slide manipulation very easy even for someone with small hands.
Controls are very well placed for small hands, she had no problem reaching the mag release or operating the slide mounted safety. And although it felt too small in my hands it worked well for me also.
Sights are adequate if not great.
Single action trigger is decent enough, not at the level of their match pistols but I would guess around 4-5 pounds with very little creep.
14 + 1 capacity in a medium small frame.
It's pretty inexpensive, you should be able to find either the .380 or 9mm for under $400, hers came from Davidsons Gallery of Guns.
The bad points:
Double action trigger pull is longer, heavier and grittier than it needs to be.
It only comes with one magazine.
Sights could be improved.
Overall I would rate this highly for someone wanting a low recoil medium frame pistol. She's planning on carrying it in her new EAA black snakeskin carry purse cocked and locked, so she'll need to practice the manual of arms to get used to swiping off the safety.
