Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns CZ 75 vs EEA Witness

I see guys often give advice toward the CZ 75 as a carry weapon, but seldom see the Witness mentioned.

I have never laid hands on a CZ, but I am pretty familiar with the Witness in the full size steel model. A good buddy had a 38 Super which I loaded for and shot frequently, and I swear my next purchase will be an Elite Match in 10 mm.

Is there any disrnable difference between the two brands?

Why no love for Tanfoglio?

I have a witness in 10mm and love it. Basic same design as the 75.

You boys are exactly correct. The EAA Witness Tanfoglio copy of the CZ 75 is the best copy out there and it, like the pistol it copies, is a dang good pistol. I only know about the all steel guns, and tell you they shoot as well as any CZ 75 original. The guns are accurate and dependable, but they are heavy.

Why no one mentions them is probably the same reason people don't mention anything other than the big name brands. Pay no attention to that and be happy with your Tanfoglio copy confident that you have a big, accurate, battle ready pistol that will serve you well and peer pressure be dam!!!

I think the CZ 75 and 85 have a better finish and fitting than the EEA but have no problem with either. I had a couple of FTL on the EEA, but a quick polish of the feed ramp and extractor fixed that problem. The guy I sold it to has over 5000 rounds through it now and claims its never failed on him. Thats pretty good as far as I am concerned.

You are probably right about the finish Allen, but as I understand it, the OP wanted a pistol to carry for self defense that he could depend on when he needed it and the EAA Witness Tanfoglio copy of the CZ 75 will do that very well indeed.

I agree with you, Bob. I've also got a 45 Witness around here some place that seems to be a very good shooter. Got to admit that I've only shot it enough to be sure it goes bang. Got it for trading material, but wouldn't hesitate to grab it if a situation arose that I needed it.

I'm a fan of the Witness, but for daily CC I would carry the CZ. The Witness these days is made on one frame, the .45 frame, where the CZ is made on the 9mm frame, and then has a separate frame for the .45. So the Witness is a little larger/heavier than the CZ in full size. In the compacts is where the CZ starts to really take the lead with aluminum frame compacts such as the 75-PCR and the P01.

I've heard rather mixed reviews on the polymer frame Witness pistols. In 9mm I've yet to hear a complaint, but it seems 10mm and .45 polymer Witnesses have caused some owners some issues. I hope they get those worked out, because a polymer frame Witness in 10mm would just be DA-BOMB!

The real advantage of the singe frame of the Witness is super easy (but not necessarily cheaply) caliber change...9mm, .38 Super, .40, 10mm, .45, .22.

And it's a double-stack. Verrrrry wide. Think CZ-97.

Tanfoglio started making CZ copies back when Czechoslovakia was still in existance, and communist. It was virtually impossible to get anything made by CZ.
Some Italians started building their own copies of the CZ design.

There are some differences in the Tanfoglio design also, parts are not interchangable between Tanfoglio and CZ. CZ can swap parts with the various Canik incarnations. And I believe Tanfoglio can swap a number of parts with the Jericho line of pistols.

I have an old Tanfaglio from the 1990s, the Witness. It's reliable, but far from an ideal carry gun. All steel, heavy, and very big. Trigger is creepy, too.

I recently purchased a nice carry gun from CZ, the CZ 75 P01. Compact, with an alloy frame. Several hundred rounds through it without a hitch, both HP and FMJ. My opinion is that it's a good bit superior on all points. Nicer trigger, too. Of course that's apples and oranges, because my Tanfaglio is an older one, and a different type of model. I would go with CZ, though, just because I like my current model so much. It's become my daily carry ... for the meantime anyway.

Witness Stock 2 in 9mm.
After an extensive polish and trigger job it's one of my favorite pistols. It'd very accurate and reliable. Fits my hand perfectly and the grip angle is about perfect. All that said, I have never carried it and probably never will. It's large and it's heavy. Great range gun though.

For those who like 75 style , check out tristar , copies cheap and mine has been perfect. they are alloy not steel though.

The CZ75 clones coming out of Turkey are excellent, and parts are interchangeable with the real deal.

What brand name are they imported to America under?

Never mind, Kevin, it's Canik. Here's their compact version.

Availability is spotty, but they're nice guns. They make a dead on copy of the CZ75 and CZ75 Compact, but with an aluminum frame...NICE!!!

I've been going to get a Kadet kit for mine , but getting spotty info if they fit or not. Possibly some slightly differ in frame width. They make T and C models in 100 and 120 sizes , hence baby eagle and cz copies in compact and full sized versions.