New Tanfoglio Stock III Witness Elite Ordered

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I've been looking at this pistol for some time in 9 MM. They're a bit hard to come by in these parts. No dealers near me have had any in stock. Davidson's got 2 in, so I quickly grabbed one. It should ship out first thing in the morning, and I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I also picked up a standard CZ-75B to go with it.

I think the Tanfoglio Witness pistols are some of the most underrated pistols in today's market. And represent a fantastic buy for the money. This thing is beautiful! 43 ounces of all blued steel and Walnut. No Aluminum or plastic anywhere. Nicely checkered on both the front and back straps, with beautiful adjustable sights. The only downside is it ships with only 1 magazine. So as soon as I get it home I'm going to order a half dozen or so magazines for it from Greg Cote. He has OEM Mec-Gar 17 rounders in stock, ready to go. I'm looking forward to getting this one to the range!

https://eaacorp.com/guns/handguns/witness-elite-stock-iii-tanfoglio-46

 
I have a CZ 75 B SA in .40 cal. It's a great gun. I bought it when most everyone said .40 cal is the way to go. I'd buy it in 9MM if I could do it all over again.
Anyways, the CZ 75 and it's clones are great guns and feel great in the hand. The design lends to very good accuracy. My CZ is my most accurate centerfire pistol I own. You wont be disappointed!
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
I've been looking at this pistol for some time in 9 MM. They're a bit hard to come by in these parts. No dealers near me have had any in stock. Davidson's got 2 in, so I quickly grabbed one. It should ship out first thing in the morning, and I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I also picked up a standard CZ-75B to go with it.

I think the Tanfoglio Witness pistols are some of the most underrated pistols in today's market. And represent a fantastic buy for the money. This thing is beautiful! 43 ounces of all blued steel and Walnut. No Aluminum or plastic anywhere. Nicely checkered on both the front and back straps, with beautiful adjustable sights. The only downside is it ships with only 1 magazine. So as soon as I get it home I'm going to order a half dozen or so magazines for it from Greg Cote. He has OEM Mec-Gar 17 rounders in stock, ready to go. I'm looking forward to getting this one to the range!

https://eaacorp.com/guns/handguns/witness-elite-stock-iii-tanfoglio-46






That's a nice firearm- blued steel, wood grips, adjustable sights and a hammer. Checks all of the boxes for me!
 
Originally Posted By: ammolab
Really nice pistol! Too big for my hand though as all their calibers are built on the large 45/10mm frame.


True. That's one of the main things that attracted me to the Witness. They've done pretty much the opposite of everyone else when it comes to frame size vs. caliber. When the .40 S&W hit the scene, most manufacturers were building them on existing 9 MM frames. But Tanfoglio did the opposite, and kept everything on a larger size gun. They're all but impossible to wear out as a result.

I saw one of these pistols some time back, and the fit and finish was impeccable. Deep, rich bluing, and the slide to frame fit was like it was on needle bearings. The only thing that kept me from buying it on the spot, was that it was in .40, and not 9 MM. But I have to admit that was the closest I ever came to buying a .40 S&W handgun.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
I also picked up a standard CZ-75B to go with it.


Oh...... I envy you!

Originally Posted By: billt460
I think the Tanfoglio Witness pistols are some of the most underrated pistols in today's market.


Yes, they absolutely are.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: billt460
I also picked up a standard CZ-75B to go with it.


Oh...... I envy you!

Originally Posted By: billt460
I think the Tanfoglio Witness pistols are some of the most underrated pistols in today's market.


Yes, they absolutely are.


And I find it really surprising they aren't more popular. I know they're a bit heavy, especially in 9 MM. And everyone today is Polymer crazy. Especially for the run and gun games like IDPA. But they really have so much to offer in terms over overall build quality and accuracy. I've always liked Italian guns. I've always felt for the most part they put a lot of pride into their weapons. I have several Beretta shotguns. And a few pistols as well. A 92 FS among them. In fact for a long time I was interested in getting a Beretta 92 Stainless Inox Brigadier. But after I started researching them, I found they were having a lot of problems with the anodized finish on the Aluminum frames. So much so they started spraying them over with a silver type of paint to get a consistent color. (It's why the Italian Inox Beretta's seem to have an almost white metallic color to the frame).

Many Italian built Beretta Inox pistol owners are having problems with the painted finish flaking off. I find it really disappointing that a 400 year old gun manufacturer like Beretta, would resort to such shoddy workmanship on the finish of a pistol with a $900.00 MSRP. Needless to say I walked away from that purchase.... Quickly.

I'm glad I did because it allowed me the opportunity to grab this Tanfoglio Witness. A gun that in comparison just oozes quality in it's deeply blued finish. While every manufacturer has a bad gun get out once and a while. You don't hear much bad in regards to complaints from owners of any of the Witness line of pistols. They seem to have a tight grip on quality control. Something we don't see enough of in today's firearms market. With recalls happening what seems like every 15 minutes.

And the CZ-75 coming with it isn't my first one. I have 2 others in both polished and matte Stainless. I really like all steel handguns. And both of them have never had a hiccup in several thousand round between them over the last several years. And both are among the most accurate semi auto handguns I own. I think the full length slide in frame rail design has a lot to do with that. Especially on the Witness with the full length dust cover.
 
Sweet piece! Looks like it will make a great choice as an over built competition or home defense gun.

The only bad thing I have heard about the EAA / Tanfoglio guns is that the springs were/are low quality. The good news is Wolff and CZ springs almost always fit and work and are available inexpensively. It was mostly the larger calibers, especially 10MM; that were wearing out springs quickly. With 9MM, I don't think you will have as much of an issue. I am not knocking the brand, just a head's up and something to look out for. Also, from the basic picture shown here, that finish does not look like any sort of bluing. Please take some real pictures of the finish when you get it in.

Cool gun.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: AMC
Also, from the basic picture shown here, that finish does not look like any sort of bluing. Please take some real pictures of the finish when you get it in. Cool gun.


That's a file photo of the gun I got off Tanfoglio's website. If you click on the video at the bottom of my first post, it shows the blued finish much better.
 
Just a couple of quick phone pics. I ditched the black plastic grips on the CZ-75 as soon as the CZ Cocobolo Grips came in from Midway Saturday. They installed without a hitch, and fit perfectly. I'm glad they're a bit on the darker side. They match well with the black Polycoat finish, and aren't too red.

The EAA Witness Elite Stock III is beautiful. I'm really impressed with it. I had 4 extra magazines for it delivered Saturday from Greg Cote. Then I found CDNN had the exact same Mec-Gar 17 round OEM magazines for only $14.99 each. So I ordered 5 more. They should be here today. I've got a few projects going on around the house this week. So I most likely won't be able to get to the range with them until later this week, or next. 2 nice all steel and wood 9 MM's.



 
I had a witness in the "wonder finish". It was back when there were two frame sizes instead of the one larger size now. That 9mm was great....sold it though and plan on replacing it eventually with a stainless CZ75.
 
I just picked up this CZ-75 SP-01 Shadow from the CZ Custom Shop out in Mesa this morning. I added the Cocobolo Grips and the Stainless Steel Hex Screws just as soon as I got it home. It's got the refined trigger, along with the Novak target sights. And it ships with 3, 18 round magazines. Can't wait to fire it up! I'm on a CZ kick lately!

 
I was looking at Cabela's website yesterday and found this CZ-75 SP-01 Tactical Model with night sights and decock. It's more of a carry / combat piece than my much similar CZ-75 SP-01 Shadow I picked up this past week. They showed "Limited Stock" at the Glendale Az. store, so I drove over to take a look. They had none in the case, and after almost a half hour of them looking in the back, they finally found it. The price was good, so I grabbed it.

The Tactical Model ships with 2, 18 round magazine, where as the Shadow ships with 3. The night sights are True Dot, but are actually much brighter than any of my Trijicon's, which surprised me. The trigger isn't quite as good, but better than most other 9 MM double / single actions.

The first thing I did after getting it home was to head out to the CZ Custom Shop in Mesa for a pair of nice half checkered Cocobolo grips, along with a nice set of Stainless Steel hex screws. I can't stand those ugly black rubber grips, along with those Phillips Head grip screws they ship most of the CZ-75's with. It just ruins the looks of these beautiful pistols. So my CZ adventure continues. Perhaps after Christmas, when all the cattle are done shopping, I'll pick up another one...... Or 2! You cannot have too many CZ's.



 
I snagged another one yesterday. A CZ-75 Single Action. I immediately swapped out the plastic grips for the usual half checkered Cocobolo treatment, and stuck a 19 round mag in her. This one is going to the range first thing Monday morning. The CZ adventure continues.

 
Originally Posted By: billt460
I snagged another one yesterday. A CZ-75 Single Action. I immediately swapped out the plastic grips for the usual half checkered Cocobolo treatment, and stuck a 19 round mag in her. This one is going to the range first thing Monday morning. The CZ adventure continues.




How's that SA trigger?

My BIL has a CZ-75B and the trigger's not what I'd call fantastic, even in SA mode. Definitely doesn't compare to my Hi Power.
 
This one is pretty good. Not fantastic, but overall quite decent. Not "creepy" at all. I won't be able to give it a good assessment until I get out and crank it up. That's why I'm going Monday for certain. I'm really anxious to see how it shoots. I wish it had the standard shape CZ-75 trigger, and not the flat trigger. The rounded style has a more natural feel to it.
 
I finally got to the range Wednesday with the CZ-75 Single Action. The gun ran flawlessly on 3 different types of ammo. 115 Gr. Blazer Brass. 115 Gr. Fiocchi. And 124 Gr. Federal American Eagle. All total I ran a little over 250 rounds through it without a single issue. Both the Mec-Gar 19 round magazines I brought with it fed perfectly, and both held the slide back after the last round.

The gun printed dead on with a slight 6 O'clock hold at 25 yards off a supported rest. The single action trigger was very crisp, with almost non existent creep. I don't have a trigger gauge, but I would guess the let off to be around 5 pounds. So overall I couldn't have asked more of it. I did run 2 magazines full of Federal 9 BPLE +P+ through it. And it digested all 38 rounds without issue. Recoil was barely noticeable with the all steel CZ.

After I got home and got it cleaned up, I checked my E-Mail and found that Davidson's has got some steel framed CZ-75 Compact's in. So I immediately ordered one. The CZ Compacts are hard to come by. Especially in the steel framed models. I picked it up yesterday morning, and before I got it home I headed out to the CZ Custom Shop in Mesa for a set of Cocobolo grips, along with some Stainless Hex grip screws. I can't stand the cheap plastic / rubber grips they ship these guns with. Anyway it looks a lot better as you can see.

I'm going to order some Mec-Gar 16 round magazines from Greg Cote to go with the 2, 14 rounders they ship with the gun. They have a thicker base plate that really looks good when they are installed. And it's nice to have a full 16 rounds in a compact model. So now I'm hoping to get it to the range this coming Monday. The CZ adventure continues.

 
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