TANFOGLIO WITNESS HUNTER, 10mm
I was wanting to purchase a different type handgun, something unique. I had the cash for a sizable down payment so my Local Gun Shop (LGS) would order it, and then I pay it off when it came in. I wanted the Rock Island "2011" in 10mm, which is what RIA calls their "updated" 1911 for a new century. The 1911 is a TIMELESS Design, and forever tied to the Philippines in a historical sense. But that is another story for another time. RIA is a company headquartered in the Philippines, and is ISO-9001 certified to the HIGHEST Worldwide Standards. I have a pair of their regular 1911s and it is a Fantastic Firearm! I have one in 45 ACP and the other in 9mm, which some say is an abomination to have a 1911 in ANY CALIBER other than 45 ACP, but I believe the platform is PERFECT for anything that can be made to run in it. Which is darn near any caliber made :D .38 Super was very commonly used in a 1911, maybe the only platform it was available on, in the early days. It is kind of like a 9mm Magnum, similar caliber, longer case and higher pressure.
My Local Gun Shop was going to order the RIA 2011 Double Stack 10mm for me, but it was unavailable from any supplier. I could get the COLT Delta Elite, but it is a Single Stack design, (limited to 9 rounds) and is substantially more money, and I am a bit of an Ammo DIVA (lol) when it comes to CAPACITY. People say "If you can't hit it with 9 then 15 won't matter" and I say "I'm anticipating more than 9 Zombies at a time" :D SO! I asked if my LGS could get the Tanfoglio Witness Hunter. They checked, and it shows up! The down payment is made, I went over 1/2, I am assured of a full refund unless I cancel, then it's just a minimal re-stock fee. COOL! They had never seen one...
The features of this fine weapon are noted above, it is more than just a "Garden Variety" handgun. It is a heavy-frame version of the fine Czechoslovakian CZ family of weapons. Tanfoglio is an Italian version, licensed from CZ.
- 6" barrel, for extra velocity from any 10mm loadings.
- Accessory Mounting holes, this is for an optics mount. A powerful weapon such as a 10mm would likely batter a slide mounted optic much faster and harder than a 9mm, 40 S&W or 45 ACP caliber, so Tanfoglio supplied a frame mount.
- Trigger over-travel adjustment. Can be used to minimize trigger reset and/or over-travel. Found on higher quality handguns.
- Adjustable Target Sights: More accurate than the fixed variety, and used on many longer range handguns that are suitable for Hunting.
- Exposed Hammer, 1911 style Ring Hammer which has a hole in it for weight reduction! NOT MUCH was done for the weight, but extra weight helps tame the recoil of a 10mm which is a true Magnum Power Level in an auto-loading pistol! Some use the term "automatic" pistol, which is correct, but gets confused with Full Auto "select fire" like a Machine Gun. Auto-loader is the clearest term.
- Extended Beaver Tail, to keep the gripping hand low, and out of the way the slide! No one wants "slide bite", and it usually bites TWICE, coming and going! OUCH!
- Front and Rear Checkering, for a better grip. This gun is heavy, and has a very powerful round going off in the chamber. The checkering is a nice "option" on certain guns, but a gun of this power level and price... Well, let's just say it was almost Mandatory.
- 15 round magazine: Most online reviews say it holds 14, but I do know a bit about magazine construction and I think if it is capable of 15 I can modify the follower to make it work. Maybe ;) Anyway, 14 is a darn sight better than 9 rounds!
Other specs are less visible, but just as impressive... such as WEIGHT. This HOG LEG Weighs in at
THREE POUNDS (3#)
Without the rounds or magazine!
WTF!!! That is 3-1/2 pounds fully loaded!
Well, it is heavy, but a heavier gun has some advantages... One, it is a bit easier to hold steady, and another is that with a heavily loaded round like Full Power 10mm, the extra weight absorbs most of the "SNAP" and it does SNAP!
Another great thing is that this is an ALL METAL design, and with the proper care, will out last and outperform ANY Plastic Fantastic handgun ever made. I have my share of Glocks, which is not even the best Poly handgun you can buy. I've had a couple of S&W M&P's, and even the first version was a lot better all around than any Glock I have even fired. But Glock is the "standard" and now I have a few. Make that 4... I think, maybe 5? lol Anyway, I have 2 in 45 ACP, a G21 and a G30 which is the compact. That is my bedside gun. Plus I have a G34 and a conversion barrel for the G21 that fires 10mm, 6.6" which was in the G20C I bought off my son. He needed CA$H and the LGS is a real rip-off so I gave him $100 or $150 more than they would have given him, and he bought it at the same place! That is where I got my love for the 10mm caliber. He had bought 40 rounds of the Buffalo Bore 220gr, 1250 FPS "Buffalo Killers" and had fired 5 of those through it, and a 50 round box of some generic 10mm that was still expensive, but rather like a full power 40 S&W round. The "watered down" 10mm that most makers call Full Power :P Well, it is like nothing once you shoot REAL Full Power 10mm. More on how the FBI asked for a Full Power 10mm handgun/ammo combo, and it was TOO MUCH for most of their agents. So they ended up with the 40 S&W in the end.
Another thing about this weapon, some say a 10mm in a 1911 frame is too much, and the COLT Delta Elite had an "unsupported chamber". That means that the ramp for the nose of the bullet to ride into the chamber intrudes a little too far into the chamber, and the wall of the brass case can potentially "blow out" and damage the weapon, and maybe even injure the shooter! Glock has had a lot of that in the 40's, it is called the "Glock Smiley" and if it is bad enough the case cannot be resized and should NOT be reloaded. But the aftermarket Glock Barrels like I have are fully supported, as is the Witness Hunter, and they say now, the "improved" Delta Elite. But you never know until you get it and Check It Out! It would be my luck that I get the older ones and have to use the weaker ammo :P I'd just buy a threaded barrel if that were the case. ;)
I guess that is all I have to say about this Bad Boy, until I take a range trip and run it through the paces! I expect it will be quite a bit better than the G20, but that one was Very Accurate. I put all 15 rounds of Buffalo Killers in a paper plate size circle, rapid fire at 10 yards. I was impressed to say the least, I am not that experienced a shooter that I thought I could do that well with such a Hand Cannon and hyper-powered Ammo! I credit the Equipment, 100% :D
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