EAA Witness 9mm

[mikitsubizunizu]

Just picked up a nice little Tanfoglio Witness in 9mm. Saw it at Cabela's for $330 and just had to grab it.

Nice sights, smooth trigger, and simple field strip.

Can't wait to shoot it! I'll post a picture when I get my camera charged up.

[21H40]

I ordered one of their "elite match" pistols (I have to wait for the purchase permit to process before I can pick it up ). I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it. The ones I've handled feel great - somewhere between a HighPower and CZ

I've heard good things about the pistols, but bad things about customer service and magazines.

I haven't seen much for holsters for Tangfolio, either.

Let me know how yours shoots.

[mikitsubizunizu]

I'd probably get a Universal holster for it if I ever do carry it. Some of them are quite comfortable.
It's a newer Polymer framed Witness, and it one of the prettiest handguns I've ever owned (other than the 1911).

[KodiakBeer]

The closest I ever came to destroying my Coast Guard career involved an EAA Witness.

If you don't mind a slight thread-jacking...? You don't? Oh good! Anyway, back in the 90's I was sitting in my office after hours and a friend came in to drop some stuff off. He had come straight from the airport and was excited about his new Witness. He had shot my CZ, liked it, and picked up a Witness since none of the gun stores in Anchorage had a CZ in stock.

So... He pulled that pistol out, handed it to me and insisted I try the trigger. I looked around, leveled the gun at a picture of Bill Clinton and then hesitated... Had I checked the chamber? There was no mag in the gun and my buddy was a gunners mate who would never make an idiotic mistake like leaving a round in the chamber. The sights were lined up right between Clinton's eyes, my finger tensing on the trigger. Had I, or had I not racked the pistol and checked the chamber?

Just for good forms sake, I lowered the piece, racked the chamber and watched goggle-eyed as a 9mm FMJ popped out onto my desk.

There were at least 20 people in the building and I can't imagine the consequences if they'd all come running into my office to see me holding a pistol after drilling a picture of the Commander in Chief in the face. There was a young officer in the next office and I might well have drilled her through the head if she'd been standing.

The lesson learned is: Don't trust Italian pistols! No, wait, that's not the lesson at all. The lesson is that all guns are loaded. Yeah, that's the lesson!


.

[mikitsubizunizu]

That would have been an awful... Many might not have hesitated

Had they only been designed with a loaded chamber indicator...

[nalioth]

Had they only been designed with a loaded chamber indicator...

They are.

You just have to read the manual to know where the chamber status is indicated.

[KodiakBeer]

There is always one in the chamber.

[pmeisel]

So, KB, after you recovered from that, was the trigger good?

[KodiakBeer]

Yes, the trigger was quite good!

[Lanius]

Do EAA witnesses look like this:

[nalioth]

Do EAA witnesses look like this:

Those appear to be original (small frame) Witnesses, Lanius.

EAA hasn't sold those here in years, opting to go with the 'one frame fits all calibers" Witness (which is honkin' big).

The original Witness is still sold here, as the Rock Island Armory MAP1 (steel) and MAPP1 (polymer).

[KodiakBeer]

The Witness came about because the CZ was still being made by those commie bastids over there behind the iron curtain. It was difficult to import the real thing. There were a couple of Italian copies and the Sphinx (Switzerland) and likely a couple of others that I no longer recall.

[nalioth]

The Witness came about because the CZ was still being made by those commie bastids over there behind the iron curtain. It was difficult to import the real thing. There were a couple of Italian copies and the Sphinx (Switzerland) and likely a couple of others that I no longer recall.

See this list for a refresher . .

Clones & copies of the Cz-75 - Wikipedia

[KodiakBeer]

That's quite a list!

[xl_target]

When Czechoslovakia was one country, the design of the CZ75 was considered on par with a state secret and so none of its design features were patented. Consequently, the design was copied and duplicated by almost anyone who wanted to. One of the biggest of the CZ75 clone makers was Tanfoglio.They made complete pistols and they supplied parts to other manufacturers (for assembly). The original Tanfoglio TZ75 was pretty much a straight copy of the CZ75 with a few minor difference.

The CZ 75 was the first 9mm semi-auto pistol developed expressly for sale to the West

I believe the Wikipedia article linked to by Nalioth is incorrect. While it was later offered for sale in the west and elsewhere, the gun was developed for the Czech armed forces and not expressly for foreign sales. Maybe Lanius could chime in here.
link here

I have a Tanfoglio TZ75 "Government" that was made in the 80's (FIE import), prior to the formation of EAA. As Kodiak Beer mentions, it is a small frame gun. The "Government" model was the compact version with a chopped slide and grip.The issue with the Tanfoglios was that it was an all steel gun and therefore heavy. However, this gun as a really sweet trigger, both in single action and in double action and even though it's a compact size, it still holds 13 rounds of 9mm and recoil is nonexistent. It is also one of my most accurate 9mm handguns. The EAA guns, while bigger are also pretty nice guns and underrated by most people.

The Tanfoglio small frame 9mm is on the right. You can compare it to the size of the SIG P6 on the left.

[Lanius]

Maybe Lanius could chime in here.

I'll be interviewing Prototypa director on thursday(23/2) , I could ask.

[nalioth]

The EAA guns, while bigger are also pretty nice guns and underrated by most people.

Up until 2008/2009, the "EAA guns" were the small frame & large frame (depending on caliber) variety.

At that time, they transitioned to the "one (large) frame for all calibers" model that is sold today.

[mikitsubizunizu]

Haven't had time to shoot it yet though. Bit difficult for me to go to the range,

[shep854]

Back in the '90s, Springfield Armory imported Tanfoglios and marked them as PF-9s. I had a compact, and it was one of the nicest-looking pistols I've ever seen. Nice, deep blueing, flat flats, evenly rounded curves and rollmarks that were straight and even. Nice shooter as well; you could even apply the safety with the hammer down! However...
The grip frame was just a hair too long for compact mags other than the original to lock in. Nobody's compact mag would work, though it would take standard mags just fine.

[Lanius]

Regarding CZ-75's, I believe the gun was primarily towards export** sales ... or more likely, someone(forgot the engineer's name) wanted to make a great gun, and convinced the state owned company it would sell great.

Worldwide, not just the west. I really doubt it was aimed at the Czechoslovak People's Army, because 9x19 has never been a Warsaw Pact cartridge.

**communist regimes needed hard currency.

[shep854]

From Wiki's CZ-75 article:
"Although the model was developed for export purposes (Czechoslovak armed forces were using 7.62x25mm Tokarev as were some of the Warsaw pact countries, and would chamber later domestic pistols in 9mm Makarov like the rest of the Warsaw Pact nations), Koucký's domestic patents regarding the design were put into category of "secret patents". This meant, that nobody could learn about their existence, but also nobody could register the same design in Czechoslovakia. At the same time neither Koucký nor the company could file for patent protection abroad. Consequently, large number of other manufacturers began offering pistols based on CZ 75 design (see Clones, copies, and variants by other manufacturers)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CZ-75

[pmeisel]

"secret patents" -- what a dumb idea.

[Lanius]

Yeah. Someone was being real stupid. I can imagine why someone would secretly patent some sort of high tech gizmo, but a handgun is militarily useless weapon..

It's the big guns and bombs that matter.

[pmeisel]

militarily useless

Well, it ain't a cruise missile, but they have been kinda useful for certain military purposes.

[shep854]

Sgt. York would most likely agree to disagree...