Grayrider
June 15, 2005, 05:36 PM
Gang (in particular the CZ & clone fans),
I know many of you are fans of CZs and the various Tanfoglio produced clones. I personally have had perhaps a dozen or more Tanfoglio produced guns, and always felt they had potential to be one of the finer firearms on the market. However, I will not rehash the many issues that have kept this from being the case. Several importers, the AWB, quality control problems, etc., have all kept the market share of Tanfoglio guns limited. No need to beat a dead horse. This stuff has been discussed here and elsewhere at length.
Recently EAA made a shift in their product line. The Witness steel pistols are moving to a large frame platform, allowing for greater ammo capacity. They also posted on their web site and published in their catalog (as well as at SHOT) that they were making an attempt to re-enter the market of competition guns, offering the Stock, Limited, and Gold Team models based on the large frame platform. These can be seen at the EAA web site. The Stock and Limited look quite appealing to me, so I made contact with EAA to inquire as to their availability. I was directed by their very nice operator (Sharon I believe), to the voice mail of Mark Galli, director of sales and marketing. Not knowing Mark, I expected he would likely be too busy to return my call quickly as I stated I was not an FFL or wholesaler. I could not have been more wrong.
Mark called back within an hour, and as we chatted the conversation quickly evolved from my inquiry as to the availability of various models to a lengthy discussion of the entire Tanfoglio product line, import history, and the rebirth of EAA that appears to be underway. It was a very interesting conversation, and it left me quite impressed both with Mark and EAA’s new direction as a firearms importer/seller. I want to pass on the finer points of the conversation, as well as Mark’s contact info at his request. I think the Tanfoglio fans here will find this quite informative.
Mark Galli came to EAA several months ago as part of an effort to redo the company’s image, to capture new market share, and to make EAA competitive as a seller of quality handguns. From his background in finance and working for Beretta, he hopes to help EAA make some aggressive changes to their approach to the pistol market. He indicated that the severing of ties with Izhmash had led EAA to rethink their role in the firearms industry. The Tanfoglio produced Witness line had not been that successful for various reasons, related both to the product and the way in which it was marketed. To remedy this EAA is going to move in some new directions that sounded quite promising.
Some of us have already discussed that the pistol offerings are changing. EAAs web site notes there will be polymer and steel basic guns in various calibers, but using the large frame magazines allowing for greater capacities in some calibers (18 in 9/38Super, 15 in 40/10mm, 10 in 45). The shift to a large frame should simplify the product line by making the guns more interchangeable, and my experience is that the large frame guns run the softer calibers (9 and 40) comfortably well. However, of more interest to me are the “Elite” series pistols. Mark explained that while the basic guns are mass produced, the Elite series guns will come from the custom shop side of the Tanfoglio manufacturing facility. These “semi-custom” pistols will feature much tighter tolerances, enhanced features (better sights, triggers, grips, etc.), and will be targeted at a different market. EAA will seek to make these guns competitive with Sig, HK, Kimber, Springfield, CZ, Beretta, and the other much trusted names in the industry (no offense to any brands omitted). Mark wants to do this by offering guns that are an exceptional value, with great attention to assembly as well as features that make the guns more appealing than the base Witness line. As he plainly put it, the market has many quality guns at the price range EAA is targeting with the Stock and Limited models. The guns will have to be good, or the customers will buy something else.
Mark said the he was quite aware EAA has had quality issues and customer relations problems in the past. He wants to change this, and asked me to pass on his contact info. Should anyone need assistance regarding an EAA pistol and do not feel that they are getting good customer service, call EAA and punch in his extension at 210. He said his phone might ring off the hook, but he wanted to be directly in touch with the customer. Along those lines, EAA is switching to a direct-to-FFL sales approach. If you want an EAA gun, have your FFL get directly in touch with EAA. He wants to keep the lines of communication between potential customers and EAA as short as possible.
After this discussion, I reserved one of the incoming EAA Stock models in 40 caliber. Mark indicated I would get one of the first few in the country. He said the 9mm and 10mm will be in-country 60-90 days out. I plan to lay in one of the 9mm models as well, although he made me aware of some other interesting options that might affect my choice. A review will be forthcoming of the 40 once it is here and I can run it through its paces. If all goes well that should be within two weeks. I have owned many Witnesses over the years, and have been brutally honest as to my experiences with them. One only has to review my past posts on the subject to see this. Expect a thorough and honest review of the Stock model. I am optimistic, as Mark and EAA seem to have a new vision for the company’s role in the market. He said that first and foremost he is an avid shooter, and wants to produce guns that will appeal to the most hard-core gun buffs amongst us. I hope this works out, as I have long thought the Tanfoglio guns were very well conceived, just poorly marketed (and at times assembled). I will soon report whether this has changed.
GR
I know many of you are fans of CZs and the various Tanfoglio produced clones. I personally have had perhaps a dozen or more Tanfoglio produced guns, and always felt they had potential to be one of the finer firearms on the market. However, I will not rehash the many issues that have kept this from being the case. Several importers, the AWB, quality control problems, etc., have all kept the market share of Tanfoglio guns limited. No need to beat a dead horse. This stuff has been discussed here and elsewhere at length.
Recently EAA made a shift in their product line. The Witness steel pistols are moving to a large frame platform, allowing for greater ammo capacity. They also posted on their web site and published in their catalog (as well as at SHOT) that they were making an attempt to re-enter the market of competition guns, offering the Stock, Limited, and Gold Team models based on the large frame platform. These can be seen at the EAA web site. The Stock and Limited look quite appealing to me, so I made contact with EAA to inquire as to their availability. I was directed by their very nice operator (Sharon I believe), to the voice mail of Mark Galli, director of sales and marketing. Not knowing Mark, I expected he would likely be too busy to return my call quickly as I stated I was not an FFL or wholesaler. I could not have been more wrong.
Mark called back within an hour, and as we chatted the conversation quickly evolved from my inquiry as to the availability of various models to a lengthy discussion of the entire Tanfoglio product line, import history, and the rebirth of EAA that appears to be underway. It was a very interesting conversation, and it left me quite impressed both with Mark and EAA’s new direction as a firearms importer/seller. I want to pass on the finer points of the conversation, as well as Mark’s contact info at his request. I think the Tanfoglio fans here will find this quite informative.
Mark Galli came to EAA several months ago as part of an effort to redo the company’s image, to capture new market share, and to make EAA competitive as a seller of quality handguns. From his background in finance and working for Beretta, he hopes to help EAA make some aggressive changes to their approach to the pistol market. He indicated that the severing of ties with Izhmash had led EAA to rethink their role in the firearms industry. The Tanfoglio produced Witness line had not been that successful for various reasons, related both to the product and the way in which it was marketed. To remedy this EAA is going to move in some new directions that sounded quite promising.
Some of us have already discussed that the pistol offerings are changing. EAAs web site notes there will be polymer and steel basic guns in various calibers, but using the large frame magazines allowing for greater capacities in some calibers (18 in 9/38Super, 15 in 40/10mm, 10 in 45). The shift to a large frame should simplify the product line by making the guns more interchangeable, and my experience is that the large frame guns run the softer calibers (9 and 40) comfortably well. However, of more interest to me are the “Elite” series pistols. Mark explained that while the basic guns are mass produced, the Elite series guns will come from the custom shop side of the Tanfoglio manufacturing facility. These “semi-custom” pistols will feature much tighter tolerances, enhanced features (better sights, triggers, grips, etc.), and will be targeted at a different market. EAA will seek to make these guns competitive with Sig, HK, Kimber, Springfield, CZ, Beretta, and the other much trusted names in the industry (no offense to any brands omitted). Mark wants to do this by offering guns that are an exceptional value, with great attention to assembly as well as features that make the guns more appealing than the base Witness line. As he plainly put it, the market has many quality guns at the price range EAA is targeting with the Stock and Limited models. The guns will have to be good, or the customers will buy something else.
Mark said the he was quite aware EAA has had quality issues and customer relations problems in the past. He wants to change this, and asked me to pass on his contact info. Should anyone need assistance regarding an EAA pistol and do not feel that they are getting good customer service, call EAA and punch in his extension at 210. He said his phone might ring off the hook, but he wanted to be directly in touch with the customer. Along those lines, EAA is switching to a direct-to-FFL sales approach. If you want an EAA gun, have your FFL get directly in touch with EAA. He wants to keep the lines of communication between potential customers and EAA as short as possible.
After this discussion, I reserved one of the incoming EAA Stock models in 40 caliber. Mark indicated I would get one of the first few in the country. He said the 9mm and 10mm will be in-country 60-90 days out. I plan to lay in one of the 9mm models as well, although he made me aware of some other interesting options that might affect my choice. A review will be forthcoming of the 40 once it is here and I can run it through its paces. If all goes well that should be within two weeks. I have owned many Witnesses over the years, and have been brutally honest as to my experiences with them. One only has to review my past posts on the subject to see this. Expect a thorough and honest review of the Stock model. I am optimistic, as Mark and EAA seem to have a new vision for the company’s role in the market. He said that first and foremost he is an avid shooter, and wants to produce guns that will appeal to the most hard-core gun buffs amongst us. I hope this works out, as I have long thought the Tanfoglio guns were very well conceived, just poorly marketed (and at times assembled). I will soon report whether this has changed.
GR