New to me Witness P

[flareside_ford]

It?s been a really good week, I got a job and my daughter turned six months old. Earlier this week I found the Witness P I have been trying to find for so long. The pistol I found is in .40 S&W. It has a full size slide on the compact frame. I think this gun has a 10mm mag; there is a lot of space between the end of the bullet and the mag body. I bought it for a fall and winter carry gun. I like this configuration because the compact grip is easier to conceal, but you get the better shootability of the full size gun. I had the Witness P and my full size steel Witness .45 out today and made a few comparisons and tests. The serial numbers of both pistols starts AE. Both pistols have the fine cocking serrations on the front and back of the slide. The poly feels much lighter than the steel pistol. I have no way to actually weigh them. The steel pistols frame is thinner than the poly. The poly feels as thick as my steel gun with the stock rubber grips. I think it feels great because of this but people with smaller hands will probably find it too thick. It seems like the distance to the slide release is farther on the poly also. The mags from the .45 lock into the pistol and lock the slide back. I plan to get a couple of full size mags to carry with the gun. The slides will fit on the frames, but the lengths are not right.

The Witness P



The steel Witness and the Witness P



The Witness P with a full size .45 mag


The Witness P and steel Witness showing thickness


A comparison of the two slide stops the Witness P is on the left. This shows the thickness of the frames better.


The pistols with the slides swapped


The length difference of the two slides



My carry guns. The Witness P and my Keltec P11. I will carry the P11 even when I?m carrying the Witness.


I really like the Wonder finished slide on the poly frame. This a big gun just to be a .40. I will probably try to find a conversion with a slide like I have now in .45 with Wonder finish or a 10mm barrel and get my slide refinished.

[Veyec]

Did your new gun fall under the recall?  Has it already been fixed?

[gostecop]

Hi flareside.  Nice pistol, does it have a date code stamped on the slide anywhere?  I have a compact poly I've been trying to date, and it has the same grip pattern as yours.  IIRC I've seen 3 diff. grip patterns on the polys.... 
  Thanks...Caspar

[detroiter]

Excellent post flareside, great comparisons. I have just one question, does the slide stop cut out on both uppers have the same shape. If not what is the difference?

[flareside_ford]

Did your new gun fall under the recall?  Has it already been fixed?

The P did not fall under the recall and I have already had the steel fixed.

Nice pistol, does it have a date code stamped on the slide anywhere?

I don't recall seeing one, but I will check again and let you know.

Excellent post flareside, great comparisons. I have just one question, does the slide stop cut out on both uppers have the same shape. If not what is the difference?

Thank you. The cut outs are the same in fact you can switch the slide stops, but the poly one is longer and will not seat in the steel pistol all the way. The steel will seat in the poly just fine, but I wouldn't use it that way becase it is so much shorter.

[flareside_ford]

I got to take the gun to the range a little earlier this week. The accuracy is definitely there, about 3" at 25 yards. I actually think the acuracy will improve when I can just shoot and not try to diagnose problems. About every other round was a failure to feed. I believe this problem is mainly because of the magazine. The .40 rounds have about .1 travel in the magazine before they hit the feed ramp. I need to get an actual .40 mag. My only real complaint with the pistol is the trigger. It is curved a little too much and the corner jabs into my trigger finger. I'll work on it some. I really like it and think it will definitely be a keeper.