EAA Witness

[Bazooka Joe71]

Does anyone own Witness Elite Match? I saw one in 9mm at one of my local gun shops around my area, but unfortunately i have to drive a good little distance to rent guns to try. If anyone has one, could you give me some pro's and con's on it?

 

[Thefabulousfink]

I have never owned or fired one so I can't comment on that, I DO own a Baby Eagle which is soo mechanically similar that I used an EAA Witness manual to detail strip it. The gun is a near idnetical clone of the CZ-75. Both the CZ and The BE are VERY reliable so I would assume the Witness is the same. I don't know about EAA's quality, but I can't remember anything bad about them.

I know that helps about as much as a poke in the eye, hopefully some one more knowledgeable will be along soon.

 

[CTD99]

Experimental
Aircraft
Association

EAA Witness? I thought someone saw a plane go down.

 

[cdsdss]

Heh...I used to go to their fly-in every August.

 

[RooK]

Maybe someone will pop along that owns a Match, but the buyer seem happy. I'm glad I purchased my standard Witness in 10mm. It's been a good gun so far.

The main complaint you'll see with EAA is their customer service, or lack of. Most of their products are top notch and work out of the box, excepting being the compact Witness. If you get a lemon however, expect to possibly have Paul, their resident gunsmith yell at you and tell a story of how you're at fault and not EAA. :banghead:

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

I have the Elite Match in 10mm.

I had a problem with the magazine; it would fall out when shooting. I elected to take it to a local gunsmith instead of sending it to EAA because of all the stories of their (alleged) crappy customer service. A little adjustment to the catch solved the problem.

It is exceptionally accurate, has shot 100%-no FTF's or FTE's- and is very comfortable to shoot as well.

I highly recommend it.

Sam

 

[laurafan]

I have a witness elite match in .40 S&W. I added it to my growing witness collection in June ( I also have a 9, 45 and 10mm ). I have not had much range time, maybe 300 rounds in 4 trips. I like it, and my buddy with a highly tuned Kimber was also impressed. It is more accurate than my other witnesses. I have had 3 warranty issues ( including a cracked slide and cracked frame on my 45 ), and EAA was slow, but I did not have to deal with Paul ( who has a reputation of being unfriendly ). You can probably find out more in the clone club on czforum.com

Pros - good single action trigger, good ergonomics if you like the CZ 75, EAA stocks some aftermarket stuff, if you are in a state that allows full capacity magazines it has more capacity that other CZ 75 type pistols.

Cons - Its a larger frame than a CZ 75, so CZ 75 mags won't work, EAA customer service could be better, holsters are hard to find ( although some SIG 229 and HK USP holsters can be made to work ), the slide is fitted, so you might not be able to swap top ends for caliber conversions ( which is possible with the regular witness )

I don't know if it is IDPA legal.

The buddy that was with me when I bought it plans on getting the 10mm version when he gets back from Bagdad, and he only handled it for 10 minutes.

 

[armoredman]

Had 6 Witness pistols, only finances forced the sale of any of them. All were excellent, high quality guns that worked perfectly every time.

 

[browningguy]

I picked this one up a few weeks ago in .40 S&W, I've had a Witness PS for several years which has been a reliable, accurate gun. But trust me, the Match model is worth the few dollars extra, one of the dealers had them at the last Houston gun show for $399, so I had to bring one home.



An incredible bargain in my mind, excellent trigger, decent sights, try some of the holsters for the CZ 40 B, this one fits the Match like a glove.



Forgot to mention, their customer service seems much better. I called to order three spare mags and the lady that answered was very courteous, checked to make sure they were in stock, and they arrived in about 5-6 days.

 

[Dave P]

I have the Elite Match in 10mm.

Me too. Great gun for the price - had a couple of warts when new, but is perfect now. Maybe 2000 rounds thru it?

Dave

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Wow, thanks for everyones responses! I appreciate them all.

Well, all of these customer service issues are scaring me a little bit, but as far as reliability it sounds pretty good. Anyone have a match and a CZ75? If so, which one do you like better?

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Lucky 7]

All the CZ-75 types I own (CZ-75B, BE 9900 and EAA Witness Carry-Comp in .45) are all top-notch. I can only assume that the Match is just as good as mine.

Regards,
-L7

 

[bakjr]

Another Witness Match in 10mm here!

I was a little skeptical when I bought it, but it's been a great gun for the money. After fixing the problem with the follower on one of my mags, I've put several hundred rounds down range without a single failure.

It's one of my favorite 10's.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

So i guess when its comes down to it, the main different between the Witness Match and CZ75 is the customer service?

 

[Big Gay Al]

I don't know. I have heard horror stories about EAA customer service, so when I had to call because of a faulty magazine, I was worried. But you know what, when I told them what the problem was, they told me to ship the mag to them, and they'd fix it. They sent me a brand new magzine instead. Took less than 3 weeks.

 

[Witness9x19]

9mm?......

I recently purchased an EAA Witness 9x19 Compact and was wondering if anyone else has used one also, and what their opinion of it was. I have practiced with EAA Witnesses in .45 ACP and found them to be reliable and fun to train with. I was hoping that an EAA Witness in a 9mm would be a comfortable off-duty gun and wanted to see what others had thought about it.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Well hopefully, if i have time this weekend, ill be able to tell you. Im gonna try to make it out to the place where they do rent and try and shoot it a little bit.

All of these customer service complaints is scaring me still, but maybe they've gotten better?

 

[Big Gay Al]

If my experience is any example, I'd say their customer service has improved.

And while it doesn't look as good as the fancier version, below is my .45 Witness.



Hopefully, when I get one of the conversion units I want, it will look better. I intend to get the conversion unit in blue steel, for contrast.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Well, i think thats 3 people that said the C/S has improved.....Maybe Im gonna have to give them a chance

 

[Seismic Sam]

Negatory on the C/S, BGA!

Sounds like you got the nice lady out front, rather than Pissy Paul in the back, and with magazine problems EAA generally has been OK to deal with. 10 rounder broke at the welds? We'll send you a new one...

If, however, you ever call up with something actually WRONG with the GUN and they transfer you to Paul, get ready for the customer experience from hell. WhatEVER is wrong with your gun was caused by you shooting handloads in it, you stupid nincompoop, and go get the gun fixed by a professional gunsmith with your own money!! :banghead:

P.S. The guns are great, and I love my 10mm and 45 Witnesses, and am looking at a 10mm Stock. A 10mm Match would be a good looker too, and an ass-kicker to boot!

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

So basically if my gun breaks, peckerhead Paul is going to tell me to go "F" myself? And im gonna have to pay to get it fixed? I don't think i feel like taking that risk. Also, i do not own a 10 mm, how cheap/expensive is the ammo? Is it about the same price as a .40S&W, or is it closer to 9mm price.

 

[LiquidTension]

10mm is quite a bit more expensive than .40S&W. For the price of a case of 10mm ammo you could get an entire reloading setup, but if you're going to shoot a lot you may want to do that anyway.

I just checked Ammoman, I'm sure there are cheaper places out there.

 

[Reed1911]

Well, I just have to give my two cents. As a disclaimer I sell a lot of EAA pistols and accessories so..

When you call with a problem, if you are beligerent, asinine, angry, or pissy, yup Paul is going to bite right back at you. He is like a lot of older gunsmiths that really do not have the time to have a customer tell him what is wrong and how he should fix it. If you tell him the problem and ask for his solution he'll give it to you. Don't argue, just take it or leave it. He is the most proficent Tanfoglio gunsmith in the U.S.A. and one of the few that know all of the pistols inside and out. If you think you know what is wrong, and how it should be fixed, and that your 'smith is better by all means take it to them. If not, call them tell them the problem and his answer will be either a quick fix (if available) or to send it to him.
I agree his temperment is not the best but he does know what he's talking about and that is why you called him.

 

['Card]

I agree his temperment is not the best but he does know what he's talking about and that is why you called him.

I don't care how knowledgeable the guy is - if he can't keep a civil tongue in his head when he's talking to customers, then no company that's actually interested in customer service would ever allow him to come into contact with people who have paid money for their products.

Have the questions relayed through a third party if that's what it takes, but the idea of letting your company get a bad customer service reputation because of some crusty (but oh-so knowledgeable) fart in the back is ludicrous.

 

[Reed1911]

if he can't keep a civil tongue in his head when he's talking to customers, then no company that's actually interested in customer service would ever allow him to come into contact with people who have paid money for their products.

The same can be said for customers.

As I said, if you bark at him he'll bark right back. If a customer cannot keep his temper and calls to yell and scream can you really blame him?

I'm not tyring to make excuses for him, just giving you all an idea of what I see. I'm pretty laid back and if someone calls to scream at me I let them rant until they have had their say and then work on correcting any problems, most of the time the customer just thinks that it is going to take them being pissed off to get anything done. Which with certain large companies is in fact the case, here we just need a call or e-mail. Then again, that's me not him.