A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my editor at Combat Handguns that was one line: “Do you want to review a Tanfoglio Stock II for the magazine?” I immediately looked around, because I had just been browsing Tanfoglio’s Italian website, caught up with my foolish and unrequited love of .38 Super race guns. So of course I said yes. Yesterday, the EAA Witness Elite Stock II (as it’s known stateside) showed up in all it’s glory, and while I had been expecting a 9mm…the gun that arrived in that grey hardcase was a beautiful .38 Super. Which is awesome. And terrible.
It’s awesome because EAA guns have a reputation for working better in the long calibers such as .38 Super, .45 ACP, and 10mm. Anecdotal evidence from friends that shoot Tanfoglio guns in .40 S&W indicates that it needs to be loaded pretty long to work right; further evidence indicates that .38 Super runs through their guns like a stud. .38 Super is even more awesome because I have the aforementioned love affair with the cartridge, and have for the longest time harbored dirty, secret thoughts about running a .38 Super in USPSA Production division. I’ve also longed for someone to make a conversion barrel and magazine for the Glock 21 frame for .38 Super, but it’s never happened.
Unfortunately, it’s terrible because I’m going to shoot this gun at Bianchi Cup. That means I’m going to need a lot of .38 Super ammo, which is unfortunately for me both harder to find and more expensive than 9mm ammo. Why am I willing to live with that? Because race gun, that’s why. Back on track, this gun will be appearing in a two-part series of articles from the 2012 Bianchi Cup in Combat Handguns. This is why we’re waiting until June 1st to start the Red Dot Rundown officially, because it’s going to take at least a month to truly test this gun and wring it out. In addition to what we’ll have in Combat Handguns, I’ll have updates on the EAA Witness Elite Stock II right here on Gun Nuts.
For those that don’t know, the gun itself is technically a Tanfoglio Stock II; Tanfoglio is imported in the US by EAA, which then brands the pistols as “Witness”. Under the Witness line, EAA differentiates Tanfoglio’s purpose built competition pistols by adding the tag “Elite” before the official name. Hence the “EAA Witness Elite Stock II” mouthful of a name. I’ll close this article with a moment of brutal honesty: I have never received a pistol for an article that I want to be awesome more than this gun. I love .38 Super. I love DA/SA guns. I love ridiculous competition guns set up for a specific purpose. I’ve always wanted to like the Witness guns. I really am rooting for this gun to be awesome. For the rest of the photos, check out my Facebook page.
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