Are ftf a common problem in an EAA Witness?

[Pops1085]

Just took my gun out to the range today and ran 100 rounds of wolf ammo through it and had a failure to feed way to many times. Enough that I'd catch myself double checking the slide. No serious malfunctions just having to either tap the magazine or even lightly tap the slide and it would feed. Either way I'm now worried if I'd trust this gun. Is there a solution for this.

Btw: the perticular gun is a tangfoglio witness 9mm polymer full sized model.

[Pops1085]

I'd also like to add that I thought I might be limp writing it. But I've never had that problem with any of my other guns and I even tried consciously bearing down on the gun and still had the problem.

[Plumbnut]

Is the gun new out of the box? May just need to be broke in.

[Pops1085]

Yes I believe so, but I didn't buy it from a dealer so you never know. I thought break in periods were a thing of the past with modern handguns.

[2ndsojourn]

Weak ammo may be the cause of the gun not cycling properly, like cheap import stuff. What were you using?

[Pops1085]

WPA "military classic" 115 gr fmj.

[Plumbnut]

Yes I believe so, but I didn't buy it from a dealer so you never know. I thought break in periods were a thing of the past with modern handguns.

My kimber 45 acp had a 500 round break in period. But according to some I really dont know that because I'm no gunsmith and I didn't make the gun.:D

[JohnKSa]

Limp-wristing is a possibility.

Take your grip so that the gun lines up with your forearm when your arm is relaxed. The backstrap of the grip should fit into the spot between your index finger and thumb and you should be able to point the thumb forward so it's parallel to the barrel.

Make sure that the gun is seated as low in your hand as the grip will allow. You want to be as high up the back of the grip as you can get.

Hold the gun firmly and resist the recoil, but don't try to squeeze the gun to death or try to completely eliminate the recoil. You don't need a deathgrip on the gun, and no matter what you do the muzzle will rise to some extent when the gun fires. You can't stop it, you just don't want it to rise an excessive amount because that steals energy from the slide.

You should probably try some different ammunition to see if the gun works better with something else. The EAA Witness is based on the CZ-75 design. I've seen it said more than once that the CZ-75 design doesn't care for ammunition without brass cases. My own CZ-75 is picky about aluminum-cased ammunition although none of my other 9mm pistols care what kind of cases the ammunition I feed them has.

A couple of other things to think about.

When you cycle the slide to load the first round from a full magazine, be sure not to ease the slide forward. It needs to go forward with full force and that means that you should let it go abruptly at the fully rearward position. I tell new shooters to grasp the slide and pull it backwards like they want to rip it off the gun. Their grip on the slide will break when the slide hits the end of rearward travel and that will insure that the slide gets the maximum amount of travel and energy it needs to feed that first round.

Number your magazines and see if the malfunctions are specific to one of your magazines.

Finally, as already mentioned, if the gun is new, it may smooth out and "break-in" after a box or two more of ammunition. Not all guns need a break-in, but some do show a clear improvement in function after a couple of hundred rounds downrange.

[mmb713]

My 9mm Witness P did this a few times when I first got it too, I think just with handloads though. Try US ammo, if you can find it. It runs great after break in though, even with handloads. Look at the bottom left of the grip frame. Is it marked P-S or P-F? The P-F is the large 45 frame and the orange follower 9mm mags are known to cause problems. They've recently been replaced with black follower Mec Gar built mags but some pistols are still shipped with the older ones. The P-S is the original CZ sized frame and its mags should be good to go. Field strip and clean and lube the pistol, try it with American ammo and see how it does.

[Palmetto-Pride]

I had a Witness and it wouldn't feed HP ammo reliably at all, I took it back to the dealer I bought it from and his only response was "what do you want to shoot hollow point ammo in it for anyway" Needless to say, but that was the last time I bought a gun from them.

[Flashover2011]

I have a witness in .45 and it shoots FMJ flawlessly. But 7 out of 10 JHP FTF. They just don't chase up the feed ramp. Don't know what to do to fix it , I don't trust my lgs. But here in Illinois we will be able to conceal carry soon, so I don't want to carry FMJ for possible collateral damage. Just wish it shot flat nose (obviously it only shoots round nose/ball)

[6.8]

Yes

[grizz223]

hey guys I used to have that same gun and the same problem. I changed out the mag spirings to Wolff springs with the 10% stronger springs problem went away.So you might try that it doesn't cost very much could fix your problem.

[wstein]

I have a 9mm full size (P-S) and a 10mm compact (P), both have shoot flawlessly. Granted I have low round counts through them both, but still no FTF/FTE or anything. I have only used WWB in my 9mm and Bitter Valley in my 10mm.

It can be the Wolf ammo, and like others have asked, did you do a detail cleaning on it when you got the gun. I know both of mine where dripping with shipping grease when I got them. I broke both of them down and gave them a cleaning with degreaser and then very light coat of CLP to protect the metal and some grease on the contact points.