TSE's EAA Witness vs. Freedom Ventures' Tanfoglio Combat Sport

capp325

capp325

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350 Mag said:
IF your referring to the "L" model Tangfolio I believe the only other difference is that the barrel is longer on the Tangfolio?

Best thing to do is email Tangfolio directly....they will respond in a few days.

info@tanfoglio.it
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No, I'm talking about the Combat Sport model like the one shown above. It has a regular size (4.5") barrel.
 
I would email Tangfolio directly...lots of models and variations best to ask them to be sure....


If it is for competition I would go for the Tangfolio.

Just for range and punching paper I would get the Witness.

The opinion of most people on the Witness is you either get a good/great one or you sometimes have to do some tweaking....

I bought a 10mm Witness and as expected there was some FTF issues with certain ammo. Most of the problems are usually the magazines.

I have it now so it will usually fire 95% of the time...but I still get the odd FTF and once in a awhile I will get a FTE.

Here are some good websites with info on Witness pistols.

http://savvysurvivor.com/gearrevewtangfoglio_witness_series_pistol.htm

http://savvysurvivor.com/tanfoglio_witness_gunsmithing.htm

http://www.10mmtalk.com/
 
350 Mag said:
The opinion of most people on the Witness is you either get a good/great one or you sometimes have to do some tweaking....

I bought a 10mm Witness and as expected there was some FTF issues with certain ammo. Most of the problems are usually the magazines.

I have it now so it will usually fire 95% of the time...but I still get the odd FTF and once in a awhile I will get a FTE.
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Yeah, but Witness and Tanfolgio are the same basic gun, made at the same factory, on the same assembly line, by the same, to the same specs, using the same materials, etc. All of the reliability-related downsides of the Witness would also apply to the Tanfoglio.

By the way, do you have old-style mags (with black followers) or the newer ones (red followers)? I heard that most feeding/FTF issues with the Witness related to crappy older 10 round mags.
 
capp325 said:
Yeah, but Witness and Tanfolgio are the same basic gun, made at the same factory, on the same assembly line, by the same, to the same specs, using the same materials, etc. All of the reliability-related downsides of the Witness would also apply to the Tanfoglio.

By the way, do you have old-style mags (with black followers) or the newer ones (red followers)? I heard that most feeding/FTF issues with the Witness related to crappy older 10 round mags.
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I have the red followers.

The issues I have had with the mags...

Weak springs.(Wolf aftermarkets fixed this)

Had to bend the front lips in slightly to prevent the "next up" round from being drug to far forward.

Also this is no fault of magazine but I think the mag catch allows magazine to drop a few mills ...some owners(not me) have experienced magazines dropping right out of the gun while firing..but apparently a new mag catch is supposed to fix this.

Here is one link I missed with TONNES of info on the Witness with detailed mods...

http://p201.ezboard.com/fczechpistols82792frm35
 
I don't know anything about Tanfoglio's or EAA Witness, but if they are made at the same factory yet one costs more than the other, I would expect that the more expensive model is held to tighter specifications regarding final fit. If the beaver tail of a Tanfoglio has too much play side-to-side then maybe a worker swaps it out with another one whereas on the EAA assembly line it's considered close enough - that kind of thing. Even though all of the parts are made to the same specification, quality control on the assembly of those parts could be done to two different standards.
 
Anyone know if sights are interchangeable from the Witness to the Tanfo and viceversa? I have a Springfield P9 that I am trying to get sights for...Since it was made by Tanfoglio, I have high hopes...Anyone know for sure? TSE?
 
The Sport and the Witness are the same style of gun, however the EAA Witness is the base model not the Combat Sport. Check on Tanfoglio website. The guns are not the same, with just different roll marks.

Take Care

Bob
 
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capp325 said:
Is there anything about the Tanfoglio that does not meet the eye and justifies the 50% price premium?
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You found me out - I'm trying to finance my villa on the French Riveria with Tanfoglio sales. :D (Yeah, right...)

It's simple economics - EAA pays less to Tanfoglio for their guns than we do and EAA pays less to the US government on duty than we have to pay to the Canadian Government.

Canadian Market (We buy 100) VS. US Market size (They buy 1000) + Canadian Duties on Italian guns (which cost more to begin with) and Toss in our-less-than-US dollar = It's more expensive here.

FYI - many dealers sell Tanfoglios below SRP.

Strangely enough, A CZ 75 is priced to a dealer the same as the Combat (and they're practically identical option-wise) so it's not like anyone's price gouging.

This answer may not satisfy the entire tin hat crowd, but it's the simple truth.
Want Tanfoglios cheaper in Canada? Convince Mr. Tanfoglio to charge us less...(I keep trying anyway :) )

Edit: forgot to mention that when we're only ordering 100 guns at a time, shipping per gun is an increased cost too.. vs ordering 1000 at a time. AKA OVERHEAD.
 
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There you go and now we know the rest of the story. Makes sense to me. Volumes count and I am not sure Mr. Tanfoglio cares much one way or another.

All that said I have a CZ 85 and a Tanfoglio and the finish on the Tanfoglio is much better than that of the CZ. Both guns are great shooters. The Tanfoglio has the edge though on sights, sight radius and the fact you can get conversion units in different calibers. That feature alone makes the gun a great deal. I have on order a .40cal kit and will post a range report when received.

Had I to do all over again I would have gone for the .45acp version and spent my remaining days collecting all the conversion kits that you can get for the gun.

Take Care

Bob
 
TSE has none of these guns and doesn't bring them in anymore. They are, as I found out recently, the base model of Tanfoglios and not the Combat Sport. TSE has just not updated their website. I called to confirm. I think Sean will be bringing in the base model and it will likely sell for less than the Combat Sport.

Take Care

Bob
 
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