ATT EAA Witness Owners!!! Safety issue.

Nero45 · January 2, 2010, 02:05 AM

I saw this on another forum but had to check it out for myself. This is from the EAA website. http://www.eaacorp.com/news.html

1) SAFETY UPGRADE NOTICE

If you own an EAA Witness style semi-automatic pistol bearing a serial number between AE00000 to AE70000, please read this Notice.

Owners of the above designated Witness pistols should immediately field strip the pistol and send the slide assembly to European American Armory Corp., 411 Hawk Street, Rockledge, Florida 32955. Upon receipt, European American Armory Corp. will replace the original firing pin with an upgraded firing pin for your pistol.

Please follow the instructions and warnings in the Owners’ Manual and do not disassemble your pistol beyond a field strip. Any disassembly beyond a field strip should only be performed by a qualified gunsmith. In particular, the firing pin should never be removed by you. If the firing pin is removed, it must be re-installed correctly by a qualified gunsmith or the EAA Corp. service center. If the firing pin is installed incorrectly in an upside down position, it may adversely affect the operation of your pistol and its safeties. If your pistol is not operating properly, discontinue using it and take it to a qualified gunsmith or send it to the European American Armory Corp. service center immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this Notice. Please call European American Armory Corp. at (800) 536-4442 if you have any questions regarding this Notice.

tomwalshco · January 6, 2010, 08:19 PM

Thanks for the headsup, Nero. I'm calling them tomorrow to see if they'll send me the parts. Sending the slide to FL and have them jack with it for 6 weeks - not happenin'. If I have to, I'll lie and tell them my gunsmith will be doing the work.....

Skans · January 7, 2010, 08:51 AM

I wonder what the problem is? Firing pins breaking don't usually generate recalls. But, if the firing pin gets stuck in the firing pin hole or something like that, maybe the gun goes full auto or fires out of battery. Just guessing. I've got an EAA Stock, I'll have to see if it's included in the recall.

tomwalshco · January 7, 2010, 09:39 AM

I'll bet you are exactly right. A guy didn't clean his gun in 10 years, a piece of brass got stuck in the channel and now he's got a machine gun.

And you know how recalls are - 1 moron gets his accelerator pedal stuck under a Toyota floormat, and $100/hr mechanics are changing mats in a million cars...

The issue will be Tanfoglio will be paying EAA smiths (2 maybe) to change the pins in a thousand guns. 4th of July maybe.

I'll take mine apart and give it a look. Curious if Henning has anything to say about this.

tomwalshco · January 7, 2010, 11:08 AM

I'm the moron now. My serial # starts with EA not AE, but the FL gal was courteous to me anyway.

hardluk1 · January 7, 2010, 12:03 PM

This recall is for OLDER guns and most all should have been updated by now but you never know. Most all guns over the last several years are EA# guns and have NO recalls.

**JohnKSa** · January 7, 2010, 10:05 PM

I'll go ahead and sticky it for awhile anyway.

Ghost Host · January 10, 2010, 08:54 PM

Hot Damn! - I win!

Guess who has Sn: AE62725

Nero /John, Thanks for the post and the sticky

Roland H.

gyvel · January 11, 2010, 11:31 PM

Well, after doing exactly what EAA said not to do, I removed the firing pins in both my AE 680xx and AE 894xx and found them to be identical. The only difference is in the little plunger which has a slightly different configuration and probably gives a slightly more positive lock.

What you have to remember is to put the firing pin back in the same way it came out with the slot and flat oriented correctly.

If you had the part in hand, the whole job would take you about 2 minutes.

Willie D · January 23, 2010, 11:37 PM

Could it maybe just be that the firing pin will work in the upside down position in these guns and therefore negate the firing pin stop safety?

nhm90 · February 19, 2010, 08:55 AM

Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to check mine when I get home!

BMelton · February 26, 2010, 12:09 AM

Lucky me, I have a 9mm and 40S&W that are part of the recall. On the up side, it was only 16 days from dropping them in the mail to getting them back. Much faster than I expected.

CRUE CAB · March 1, 2010, 03:25 PM

Thats good to know, I was eyeballing one of their 9mms recently. But didnt know much about the company.
Even thought they are like not even 15 miles from me.
I always like companies that stand behind their product.

UrsusRme · May 20, 2010, 09:13 PM

Why would anyone want to lie and avoid acting reference a safety recall? Seems to me that were the recall not made as requested by the importer, your warranty would be affected were it proven that a non-approved repair was made on your pistol. The turn around time for my two Witness slides (both 9mm) was less than two weeks...what's to complain about?

Nero45 · June 22, 2010, 10:57 PM

Got my Witness back and no problems found from what they did. Really can't find any difference in the gun, other than maybe it shoots better but that could be me.

LDBennett · September 15, 2010, 09:30 AM

I have an AE gun but am reluctant to send it back to EAA. While people seem to have been getting quick service with my luck they would loose my slide and blame it on the shipping company.

I do all my own gunsmithing as I don't trust anyone else to work on my guns. I am thinking that this is a lawyer recall because one guy had trouble. I will tear mine apart and make an engineering judgement (I am qualified) as to whether anything is wrong. If I like what I see my gun will continue to get used as is.

LDBennett

glassguy · September 22, 2010, 06:02 PM

I AM the glassguy locally and I got a call from a woman with a broken window. Both the glass and screen had a hole through them. I asked if it was done with a weed whacker (I do a lot of repair from these things).She paused, asked if I really want to know and then told me that the safety had malfunctioned on her EAA Witness 9mm and she had tapped off a round inside her house that went through her new $3000 65" 3D tv, through the glass and screen and out into the neighborhood. She had a mark on her forehead from the spent casing. Dang! I don't know if it was operator error or a for real safety problem but she is sending it back to the mfg. to have it checked out. Personally, if I were the shooter, I would have told the glass guy that it was a weed whacker and thanked my lucky stars that no one was hurt!

January 2, 2010, 02:05 AM	#1
Nero45 Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 265	ATT EAA Witness Owners!!! Safety issue. I saw this on another forum but had to check it out for myself. This is from the EAA website. http://www.eaacorp.com/news.html 1) SAFETY UPGRADE NOTICE If you own an EAA Witness style semi-automatic pistol bearing a serial number between AE00000 to AE70000, please read this Notice. Owners of the above designated Witness pistols should immediately field strip the pistol and send the slide assembly to European American Armory Corp., 411 Hawk Street, Rockledge, Florida 32955. Upon receipt, European American Armory Corp. will replace the original firing pin with an upgraded firing pin for your pistol. Please follow the instructions and warnings in the Owners’ Manual and do not disassemble your pistol beyond a field strip. Any disassembly beyond a field strip should only be performed by a qualified gunsmith. In particular, the firing pin should never be removed by you. If the firing pin is removed, it must be re-installed correctly by a qualified gunsmith or the EAA Corp. service center. If the firing pin is installed incorrectly in an upside down position, it may adversely affect the operation of your pistol and its safeties. If your pistol is not operating properly, discontinue using it and take it to a qualified gunsmith or send it to the European American Armory Corp. service center immediately. Thank you for your attention to this Notice. Please call European American Armory Corp. at (800) 536-4442 if you have any questions regarding this Notice. __________________ Nero45 Revolvers are a disease. Once you buy one your doomed for life! Within temptation are our lives on this earth until we leave -me

January 7, 2010, 10:05 PM	#7
JohnKSa Staff Join Date: February 12, 2001 Location: DFW Area Posts: 24,462	I'll go ahead and sticky it for awhile anyway. __________________ Do you know about the TEXAS State Rifle Association?

January 10, 2010, 08:54 PM	#8
Ghost Host Junior Member Join Date: December 31, 2009 Location: North Central Florida Posts: 1	Hot Damn! - I win! Guess who has Sn: AE62725 Nero /John, Thanks for the post and the sticky Roland H. __________________ May you be in heaven 30 minutes, before the devil knows your dead! NRA member

February 26, 2010, 12:09 AM	#12
BMelton Junior Member Join Date: February 26, 2010 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 1	I've got two! Lucky me, I have a 9mm and 40S&W that are part of the recall. On the up side, it was only 16 days from dropping them in the mail to getting them back. Much faster than I expected.

May 20, 2010, 09:13 PM	#14
UrsusRme Junior Member Join Date: May 20, 2010 Posts: 1	EAA Witness Recall Why would anyone want to lie and avoid acting reference a safety recall? Seems to me that were the recall not made as requested by the importer, your warranty would be affected were it proven that a non-approved repair was made on your pistol. The turn around time for my two Witness slides (both 9mm) was less than two weeks...what's to complain about? Last edited by UrsusRme; May 20, 2010 at 09:20 PM. Reason: Wanted to add caliber to gun description

January 6, 2010, 08:19 PM	#2
tomwalshco Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Kansas City Posts: 196	Thanks for the headsup, Nero. I'm calling them tomorrow to see if they'll send me the parts. Sending the slide to FL and have them jack with it for 6 weeks - not happenin'. If I have to, I'll lie and tell them my gunsmith will be doing the work.....

January 7, 2010, 08:51 AM	#3
Skans Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2008 Posts: 11,073	I wonder what the problem is? Firing pins breaking don't usually generate recalls. But, if the firing pin gets stuck in the firing pin hole or something like that, maybe the gun goes full auto or fires out of battery. Just guessing. I've got an EAA Stock, I'll have to see if it's included in the recall.

January 7, 2010, 09:39 AM	#4
tomwalshco Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Kansas City Posts: 196	I'll bet you are exactly right. A guy didn't clean his gun in 10 years, a piece of brass got stuck in the channel and now he's got a machine gun. And you know how recalls are - 1 moron gets his accelerator pedal stuck under a Toyota floormat, and $100/hr mechanics are changing mats in a million cars... The issue will be Tanfoglio will be paying EAA smiths (2 maybe) to change the pins in a thousand guns. 4th of July maybe. I'll take mine apart and give it a look. Curious if Henning has anything to say about this.

January 7, 2010, 11:08 AM	#5
tomwalshco Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Kansas City Posts: 196	I'm the moron now. My serial # starts with EA not AE, but the FL gal was courteous to me anyway.

January 7, 2010, 12:03 PM	#6
hardluk1 Junior member Join Date: March 27, 2009 Posts: 600	This recall is for OLDER guns and most all should have been updated by now but you never know. Most all guns over the last several years are EA# guns and have NO recalls.

January 11, 2010, 11:31 PM	#9
gyvel Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Northern AZ Posts: 7,172	Well, after doing exactly what EAA said not to do, I removed the firing pins in both my AE 680xx and AE 894xx and found them to be identical. The only difference is in the little plunger which has a slightly different configuration and probably gives a slightly more positive lock. What you have to remember is to put the firing pin back in the same way it came out with the slot and flat oriented correctly. If you had the part in hand, the whole job would take you about 2 minutes.

January 23, 2010, 11:37 PM	#10
Willie D Senior Member Join Date: June 24, 2007 Posts: 1,149	Could it maybe just be that the firing pin will work in the upside down position in these guns and therefore negate the firing pin stop safety?

February 19, 2010, 08:55 AM	#11
nhm90 Member Join Date: November 30, 2008 Posts: 27	Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to check mine when I get home!

March 1, 2010, 03:25 PM	#13
CRUE CAB Senior Member Join Date: January 18, 2010 Location: Florida Posts: 200	Thats good to know, I was eyeballing one of their 9mms recently. But didnt know much about the company. Even thought they are like not even 15 miles from me. I always like companies that stand behind their product.

June 22, 2010, 10:57 PM	#15
Nero45 Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 265	Update Got my Witness back and no problems found from what they did. Really can't find any difference in the gun, other than maybe it shoots better but that could be me. __________________ Nero45 Revolvers are a disease. Once you buy one your doomed for life! Within temptation are our lives on this earth until we leave -me

September 15, 2010, 09:30 AM	#16
LDBennett Member Join Date: September 2, 2010 Location: Hesperia CA Posts: 65	I have an AE gun but am reluctant to send it back to EAA. While people seem to have been getting quick service with my luck they would loose my slide and blame it on the shipping company. I do all my own gunsmithing as I don't trust anyone else to work on my guns. I am thinking that this is a lawyer recall because one guy had trouble. I will tear mine apart and make an engineering judgement (I am qualified) as to whether anything is wrong. If I like what I see my gun will continue to get used as is. LDBennett

September 22, 2010, 06:02 PM	#17
glassguy Member Join Date: August 11, 2009 Location: Living on the edge of Florida Posts: 81	I AM the glassguy locally and I got a call from a woman with a broken window. Both the glass and screen had a hole through them. I asked if it was done with a weed whacker (I do a lot of repair from these things).She paused, asked if I really want to know and then told me that the safety had malfunctioned on her EAA Witness 9mm and she had tapped off a round inside her house that went through her new $3000 65" 3D tv, through the glass and screen and out into the neighborhood. She had a mark on her forehead from the spent casing. Dang! I don't know if it was operator error or a for real safety problem but she is sending it back to the mfg. to have it checked out. Personally, if I were the shooter, I would have told the glass guy that it was a weed whacker and thanked my lucky stars that no one was hurt!

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