By: Cary Kieffer
I’ve always been a fan of Witness pistols, the CZ style pistols for me have excellent point ability. They just seem to naturally line up for me fast and shoot very good groups. I also am a die hard fan of the 38 Super, so the two together made it impossible for me to turn down when the Sportsman’s Guide had the hard to find Elite Stock III on sale. I always wanted one of these and when I got her home the advertisement just didn’t do her justice. Let’s take a closer look at this beauty.
If there is one thing in the world of guns I love it’s a monolithic light rail, I think the rail ending where the slide ends is just plain ‘tough’ looking. This thing has one all the way to the end of the 4.75 inch polygonal rifled barrel and for that reason I have always been in love with it. I was surprised just how nice the bluing is. The flat sides are polished and shiny and the rest is matte. It makes for a nice look and there is no glare from the top of the slide. The walnut grips are very nice looking too, I kind of expected them to be ugly, I don’t care for wood usually but these just have a nice grain to them and are flat, not glossy. I had initially planned to rip it apart and do a 2 tone OD green/flat black cerakote job with different grips but she turned out to be so good looking as is I haven’t been able to bring myself to change it.
The controls are easy to reach and user friendly. The ambi-safety, slide release and mag release are all the extended versions. The grip has nice knurling front and backstrap and the ergonomics of the grip are awesome. I like the square trigger guard and beveled mag well and the target style sights are fully adjustable. Now the slides on a Witness are kind of “low profile” if you will. They sit down in the frame kind of far, this can make charging the pistol a bit difficult for some people who may lack hand strength. The slide has front and back serrations to aid in racking it.
Trigger: Well it’s better than a lot of DA/SA triggers I have pulled, like most triggers though there is room for improvement. The trigger itself does have an over travel adjustment screw. It’s coming up a bit short though in my opinion and I will eventually get around to finding a longer one, not a huge deal. Next I intend to polish the trigger bar and trigger plunger, that along with a slightly lighter hammer spring tends to smooth them right out. I did it on one years back with good results. As long as that works out again I won’t mess with the sear or anything else. This home trigger job I’m talking about is cheap and easy to do, just a hammer spring, a dremel tool and a bit of fine polishing compound. Easy as that. Right now it’s about 8lbs on the double pull and 3 on the single action pull with just a tad bit of grit in the initial takeup. I feel like I can smooth that grit out and lighten the double pull with my plan. Still though, it’s a great trigger right out of the box.
Light Rail: As much as I said I loved the thing it does have one shortcoming, there is only 2 notches in it. In my opinion it should have been done like a usual rail. I have yet to find the right light and key to get it exactly where I want it. Worse comes to worse I will have another notch milled in it, again not that big of a deal.
Safety: This Witness has no decocker and can be carried 1911 style. Personally I wouldn’t do that, as I feel the spring and detent for the safety is a bit on the sloppy side. I plan to have a stronger spring just as soon as I find one. I really would like to see a bit more “oompf” needed to manipulate the safety. I don’t think it’s unsafe at all just not quite where I’m comfortable with it “cocked and locked” I don’t carry it anyways so again I say “not a big deal”. It actually is hidden next to my spot on the couch.
Ammo: I have shot a bunch of 9×23 Winchester (125 grain @ 1460 fps) through this girl with excellent results and zero mods to the extractor. When you can find the stuff it tends to be a bit hotter than 38 Super ammo is. I like hot…the faster the better for me. I did replace the recoil spring and firing pin spring with increased weight springs from Wolff. If I remember right it came with a 14 or 16lb recoil spring and I upped it to a 18 pounder. EAA Witness springs are notoriously weak, heavy loads or not replace them with a heavier than factory spring. It will pay off when you see the improvement it makes in cycling. Seriously, the factory springs suck. Also while your at it get the plus 10% magazine springs from Wolff as well, they are worth every penny in a Witness mag.
A bit more on ammo, I’m loving the Underwood Ammunition companies 38 Super load. All Underwood ammo I have used is very accurate in all the loads I have fired. They have a well deserved rep for making hot loads. I buy all my 460 Rowland, 10mm, 500 mag, 458 Socom and 454 Casull from them, it is all just superb. The particular load I use is the 124 grain XTP hollowpoint moving out at 1350 fps and generating 502 lbs at the muzzle. All the punch you need there and everybody who shoots it remarks about how smooth and more or less “recoil free” it is. She just doesn’t jump on you even with hot loads. I think a combination of ergonomics being so good and it’s a heavy all steel pistol.
The Price Tag: All my stars were aligned when I got her home for like 849$ and some change. A free ship coupon, a 9% off sale and a Sportsmansguide Visa that gets you an additional 2.5% off, still a chunk of change though. Most of the time you see this model for $1000ish when you can find one. On one hand, you could say you shouldn’t have to replace springs right off the bat at that price or you could buy plenty of other great hi-cap pistols for less….and you’d be right. I think you have to really want this thing but not everybody will feel the same way. Was it worth the cost? It was too me. Incidentally, you get a nice case with dual combination locks if that helps anyone justify the money spent.
Summary: Obviously I love the thing. It’s gorgeous, it’s 100% reliable, it is probably the most accurate pistol I own and I have nearly 40 handguns. It has a few spring issues but nothing that isn’t easily corrected. It’s a bit big at 8.86 OAL and 5 inches tall/1.4 inches wide and heavy for CC at 3lbs 5.6 ounces fully loaded with 18 rounds but makes a superb target or HD pistol, like I said it’s hidden next to me on the couch. I have absolutely no reservations about this weapon if I needed it for a home invasion or whatever bad reason I can come up with. I love mine….it’s a keeper and shoots as good as it looks..
Thanks for reading and train often.
Cary Kieffer
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i am excediangly unhappy the grips were cracked cant find replacement grips. the sites are terrible. for a target gun iron sites without red or white sites very accurate but for price very unhappy have to spend 500$ to upgrade sites and buy new grips
I have it in 10mm, awesome caliber and my girlfriend loves shooting it. Make sure and change the spring to the 22 lb. It is heavy, but shooting the 10mm is nothing worse than my S&W 40 shield. I’ve put 500 rounds of various weight bullets and power, no issues what so ever. I’ve since added a TLR 2 light laser, it’s my night stand, hog/bear in the woods gun… Not a CCW by any means, but it is my favorite do anything else gun. The action is silky smooth, the looks are the sexiest in handguns, the caliber is the most versatile in a semi auto handgun. In further research, Tanfaglio sends the major components of this gun to Israel for IDF Jericho. Nuff said, if it’s good enough for the IDF, it’s good enough for me.
Jim, I have no doubt your 10mm is awesome! My 38 super is incredible and Kelly’s fav just like your lady’s. It is Def on my list of must haves, right after the stainless 50ae desert eagle with light rail and I’m holding out for Ruger to turn out the RPR in 300 win mag. I suspect it will happen because they turned out the American rifle in 300 and it’s the same action. Once I land those 2 guns it will be 10mm elite 3 Witness time. Thanks for stopping by TGR. Cary
Nice review on an interesting gun. I don’t have any personal experience with the 38 Super. Might need to see about changing that shortcoming.
Thank you Mike, the 38 Super has been my pet cartridge for years. It is a handloaders cartridge though I’d say. While there are decent loads from Underwood, Corbon and I think BB, every once in awhile some 9×23 surfaces also…but for the most part to realize the potential of the 38 Super you need to load your own, or in my case have a buddy do it for me. Most factory ammo just isn’t as hot as it safely could be.