Today I want to review the EAA Witness in 38 Super. I bought this gun back in about ’04 if I remember right. I’ve fired it countless times and have found it to be an excellent pistol both in the way she’s built and the accuracy has been excellent too. So if a high capacity, heavily built all steel 38 super is on your list take a look at this Witness.

Some people are not familiar with EAA – European American Armory is what it stands for and they are just the importers. The pistol is made in Italy by a company called Tanfoglio. It’s very much like a CZ-75 and also IMI’s line of “Baby” Desert eagles. EAA offer the Witness line of pistols. There are compact, full-size, long slide, polymer frame, all steel guns like this one and pretty much any combination of the above. You’ve got the basic calibers covered; they can be had in 9mm, 40, 45, 38 super and 10mm. One of the neat things about this pistol is that for a reasonable price they sell caliber conversions. So I can go to 10mm or whatever I want with this frame. They interchange easily.

Some people will say these guns are not of the highest quality, while others swear by them. I do neither. I swear by the XD line. I will say though that after 8 years of regular use the gun has never once malfunctioned. I would trust it as a duty or self-defense pistol. I had at one time bought a batch of five polymer framed 10mm’s. One for me and the other four went to military buddies. We got a break for buying five. Their four are fine today; my polymer frame cracked where the trigger spring is inside. It took them  a year to address the issue and then they finally gave in and sent me a new gun which I didn’t want. My dealer kindly refunded my purchase price and put the new one on the shelf. So I do NOT recommend the polymer framed guns. This all steel one is a tank though.

EEA Witness

Ok, one last thing and we’ll go over the gun itself. I bought this because I wanted a hi-cap 38 super. I love that cartridge, properly loaded it gets right into 357 mag territory . It is no problem and safe around 500 lbs of muzzle energy out of a 38 super. There are some smokin’ hot loads available for this cartridge. I just love the cartridge. It’s an accurate shooting thumper when loaded right. I’ve always been of the opinion that it was the only bridge between the 9mm and 45 that was ever needed. Why it died out I don’t know but I recently talked to some “old guys” at a range and they had some insight on that. They used to shoot 38 Supers back in the 1950’s in competitions. They said all the ammo available was loaded way down for faster competition shooting. So it got a bad and unfair wrap as “weak” and a “dismal manstopper”. That’s why they said it didn’t take off as a duty round.

So finally let’s discuss the gun. It’s all steel. It’s good looking. The finish is called “Wonderfinish.” I honestly have no idea what that is but it is certainly tough. Eight years and there’s not so much as a scratch or a worn spot. It’s a flat gray or silver depending how you look at it. I like the finish a lot. The buttons are all in black and set it off nicely.

The pistol comes with comfortable soft rubber grips. The back strap and front strap are grooved for a better grip. The pistol can be carried cocked and locked like a 1911 but with a double action trigger on the first shot I don’t really see a need to do that. The mag catch and buttons are all easily reached and everything fits my hand nicely. I really like the pistol. Topped off with some 3 dot sights it is a user friendly accurate weapon.

I’ll run through a few factory specs. The barrel is 4.5 inches long, weighs 33 ounces and has a 17 plus 1 capacity. Its 8.1 inches long, 1.4 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall. It’s not small but when your firing those high powered loads the size and weight are nice. I could see this as a decent hiker/hunter back up gun with the proper loads. If you can kill it with a hot 357, then you can kill it with a 38 super too. The advantage being instead of 6 in a cylinder you have 18 in an auto.

Now what is wrong with it? Well nothing really. They don’t have a high resale value and are not really highly sought after. Why? I don’t know. It’s not a bad gun at all. I will say that I felt it came with a recoil spring that was too weak. I replaced mine right away with a higher powered spring from Wolf Gunsprings. That’s $9 well spent. After about five  years of being constantly loaded the mag spring weakened enough that it was not always tripping the slide lock on an empty mag. Another easy fix from Wolf, $7.49 gets you a plus 10% powered mag spring, problem solved. The mag spring, while weakened, never failed to feed properly. Flawless performance to this day. Lastly it doesn’t have a decock in it. It’s like a 1911 in that you need to carefully lower your hammer and/or unload.

EEA Witness

I have had a really good time and experience with this pistol. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one if you are in the market for a hi capacity 38 Super or 10mm. Based on the proven CZ-75 style of pistol this is a pretty good piece of gear for the money. It has handled all the hot loads I have fed it and asks for more. You can probably find a nice used one in the $300 – $350 range. I’ve seen several in that price range for sale here and there. While it will never be my 1st choice in handguns it is far from my last choice.

As always thanks for reading and train often.

By: Cary Kieffer

Link to my newest 38 Super Witness:

EAA Witness Elite Stock III Review

 

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Cary Kieffer

USMC Infantry/Combat Veteran/MUESOC/Sniper School - Med Retired LEO w/ 8yrs on job before Iraq wounds caught up with me.

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