Witness p Again....

[gostecop]

 
  Okay, after the third try, finally got some mags from Eaa, that will almost work....
  part #101938.  Slips in the well, fits sorta sloppy, will not hold slide back on last round.

  Will feed about 90% of the time.   When I insert a full mag, it goes in and locks. Release slide, and when slide starts to strip round out of mag. round takes a nosedive, and hits lower edge of feedramp, and locks up.
 
  If top round feeds, mag will empty fine.  Pistol is WAAAAY more accurate than I am. What would cause a malfunction like this?  Happens with FMJ, Cast reload, Golden Sabre, Gold dots, Russian 145 hp...

  I can't help but think it might be still Mag related, but I'm not sure what else to try.

  Thanks in advance....Any and All suggestion Very appreciated.........

[Veyec]

Does your Witness look like this gun?



I have this gun and have three 13 round mags for it.  Have shot about 500 rounds through it without any problems.

[HFlier]

If you load one less round in and it feeds fine, then your mag spring may be too strong/tight.

[gostecop]

Veyec...Yea, It looks like the one in the pic, however, it has a diff. grip pattern.  Do your mags fit the well pretty tight?

Hflier. It does it with 13-12-11-10....You may be on to something tho, cause when I load just 6 or 5, works fine.

 The pistol was stolen 5 years ago, and I just got it back without the Mag.  I also have a .45 wonder finish full size, and the .45 mag goes in and locks in tight.  I wonder if a large frame steel compact mag would work?.  I've had nothing but bad karma out of this pistol.....

  Thanks...caspar

[jwc007]

I would check the Extractor operation.  Check that the bottom of the Extractor Blade allows the new cartridge to start into the Slide Boltface.  At the very least, remove the Extractor and clean out the Slide Extractor Channel.  Could also be a bad Extractor Spring.

[Veyec]

The gun pictured is a ALFA Defender.  Built in the Czech Republic from the same exact Tanfoglio parts as the Witness Poly.  I confirmed this by contacting ALFA and got a reply email saying that if I ever needed parts for my gun, to ask for Tanfoglio/Witness parts.

I bought it from CDNN several months ago.  It came with a 13 round mag and I purchased two additional mags at the same time.  They were only about $17.00 each.  I have had zero problems with my mags.  All three feed without any sort of problem and also don't seem to mind what type of ammo I put in them.  Reloads, JHP, Blazer, you name it, it took it.

You may want to give CDNN a call and see if you have better luck with one of their mags.  From what you have described, I wonder if they somehow sent you the wrong mag. 

According to EAA's catalog, that part number for your mag is for 2005 and newer guns:

ONE EA9LM2005 Polymer Frame model 2005 Magz #101938-1

[Veyec]

Veyec...Yea, It looks like the one in the pic, however, it has a diff. grip pattern.  Do your mags fit the well pretty tight?

Oh yeah, I forgot to answer your question.  My mags fit very well.  There is no question or doubt to whether or not they are the correct mag for the gun.  The lines match up perfectly and it is not too tight or too loose.  When loading the mag into the gun, it engages with a definite click and there is very little play in the fit.

Hope that helps!

[ghostcop2]

Well, I may try a mag from CDNN.  The first time Eaa sent mags, it was a 101924.  I don't remember what I got the 2nd time, and the 101938 will almost work.  I think I may need a mag for a large frame 9 mm conversion, as my steel fullsize mag goes right in and fits good......

 jwc007.... I checked the extractor, and the round nosedives and locks up before it even comes close to the extractor...

 As soon as the bottom of the slide touches the rim of the round, the bullet pitches downward, and smacks the lower end of the ramp....

 Veyec, I like the looks of your pistol, I know you said you bought it a couple months ago, but I thought all the new poly clones had the rail, and the real blocky slide.  I don't care for the looks of the new one's, but yours looks like mine.  I have noticed 3 diff grip texture patterns on the polys, and mine is diff from yours....

  Eaa has told me Three diff. build dates for mine, so I really don't know when it was made..I may try to Email Tanfoglio and see what they say...Anyhow, thanks for the responses....Caspar

[Veyec]

The ALFA Defender and it's full size brother (Combat) were built in 2004 in the Chech Republic.  My guess is that there was a design change (the rail, magazine, etc) and Tanfoglio had a bunch of old components it wanted to get rid of.  So they offloaded some of the old parts to ALFA.

It is interesting to note that on the Tanfoglio website, they still show the guns without the rails as the Force Compact and Force 99.  But they also show the new gun with the rail as the Force Pro.  Maybe since the frame size is the same with all of the guns, EAA gets to mix and match whatever components they choose and call it a Witness P of some sort.

Tanfoglio Site: http://www.tanfoglio.it/tanfoglio.php?lingua=uk

ALFA Site: http://www.alfa-proj.cz/en/products/firearms/licensed-arms/pistols/pistols-combat-defender/

Both sites list the magazine capacity as 13.

[ghostcop2]

Thanks for the links....

JMHO, but I think they messed up when they went to the rail, and the blocky slide..I also don't care much for the rounded slide on the steel frame,altho I've only saw pics. of them, and not in the flesh.  They may look better in person.....Caspar

[hardluk1]

 I don't have a P model but the match some owners have had these same problems. Not mine, but i still do the same thing to any mag type handgun before i ever shoot it. Take the mag apart, file all the egdes of the follower and clean and lightly the inside of the mag inside with breakfree. I then check to see if the pistol will cycle both slowly and free release of slide both loaded and with one round. Typicaly set the ammo's nose a bit high loaded. Mic. the opening at the top of the mag and set all mags the same. Should be a couple thousanths wider at the front. I have a converstion kit for my witness and 9 mags between them and have not had a single feed problem in several thousand rounds through both the  9mm and 40s&w. Find someone that shoots 1911's over the years and they can fix any feed problems you have. All those old 1911's would jamb up with most any hp and some newer trunticated bullets..