CHA-LEE

shooterbenedetto> Good idea. I will look into that. I could at least put some grip tape on it, but that might come off easy.

Ok guys, what kind of epoxy are you using to build up the grip?

JoshF> What is the filler you used to build up the grip panel for the weak hand palm? Some kind of epoxy?

Alright, I got it all fine tuned now and it works great. No more accidential mag release issues and I can reach it and release the magazine without needing to shift my stong hand to get to it. I switched the screw out with a counter sink type with a matching aluminum washer to make it feel and look better. Let me know what you guys think.

I was able to give this bad boy a try today at the range. It was sticking out a little too far and I softened up the mag release spring a little too much so my weak hand would push the button in when I gripped the pistol really hard. I forgot to bring an allen wrench with me to remove a washer or two to lower it so I was basically done for the day. I headed back home and lowered the height of the mag release screw a little bit and also tightened back up the spring. I tested this out at home gripping it really hard and even using incorrect weak hand positions to try and push the mag release button on accident and couldn’t get it to fail like it was doing at the range. So I will head back out to the range tomorrow to give it some live fire testing to see how it does. Even if I have to use less washers its still WAY better than the stock setup so I am happy.

shooterbenedetto> If I had a TIG welder I would have welded on an extension and been done with it in less than an hour. But I don't have access to a TIG welder any more so another strategy was needed. I also liked using the screw method because I can easly change the height of it, screw head diamiters and things like that to tailor it to my needs.

Well I don't know about you guys but for me the stock mag release button is nearly impossible to get to AND keep your strong hand in its locked in position. You have to shift your strong hand to the left in order to get your thumb over the mag release button. Since there are currently no other aftermarket options for this I decided to tackle this myself. I used the stock mag release button and cut down the checkering. Then I drilled and tapped a 4mm hole in the back end of it so I could install a screw with washers under it to adjust the height of the screw head. This seems like a simple task right??? Well to my surprise the mag release button is case hardened steel and a complete pain to drill much less tap. I don't have a drill press so I tore into this thing with a mini vice, a cordless drill and a dremel. What can't be done with a dremel and some motivation right About 4 hours later and wasting at least 10 drill bits and other dremel bits I finally got the hole drilled through the mag release button. Then I started the task of tapping the hole, which was going well until I snapped the tap off in the mag release button. Needless to say frustration was starting to set in, but I wasn’t going to give up that easy. I got the dremel back in action and carefully dremeled out the broken tap then continued with the taping process. I took it a lot easier this time while tapping it so it took a while to get it done. But persistence paid off and I was able to get it drilled, tapped, and all polished up. I put it in the pistol and test fitted a couple of washer height settings until it felt right and wasn't in the way. Now I can easily push the mag release button AND keep my strong hand in its normal position Below are some pic's of my handy work. Let me know what you guys think. Maybe Henning can take this idea and run with it so everyone can have one? I can tell you this, I won't be doing this modification again any time soon due to the difficulty of working with the super hard steel of the mag release button.

Henning mentioned that the stock hammer and sear were not hardened all the way through and if I were to modify them I would have to reharden them or they would wear out quickly. That is why I just went with the EGW hammer and sear to start off with. Its the same hardness all the way through. Next on the list of things to do is to get a custom grip built up so I can get more of my weak hands palm against the frame. I will dive into that tonight. After that the only thing left is to build up the mag release a little so I can reach it without having to shift my strong hand to do it.

I got the EGW Sear and Hammer installed and fitted. It took about 8 hours of fiddling to get the trigger pull, reset and safety the way I wanted it but now the trigger feels a lot better than stock. The trigger travel is a lot shorter and further back in the pull than the stock setup. I took it to the local indoor range and ran about 200 rounds through it and it worked flawlessly which was really nice. Since this was my first trigger job I was somewhat expecting some kind of strange failure mode when I sent some rounds down the pipe. But I guess taking my time and extensively testing the action after making minor changes to sneak up on the trigger job paid off. At least now I could probably remove and replace the sear and hammer assemblies blindfolded given how many times I have taken it out and put it back in during the trigger job.

I am excited to get this pistol all tuned up and ready for competition. I did some minor fitting and polishing last night and it is already starting to feel better than it did initally. What is the recomended Slid Glide weight to be used on it? I have some Lite and Standard Slide Glide already. I was going to start with the Standard and see how that works first.

I have been researching pistols for Limited class for quite a while now and narrowed it down to getting an EAA Witness Limited. Even though 95% of the limited shooters here in Colorado use a 1911 based pistol (Mostly STI's and SVI's) I didn't want to jump on the band wagon just because everyone else is using them. In all of the research that I have done it was really hard for me to find any negative feedback on the EAA pistols. This to me meant a lot because there are usually a handful of angry owners that are more than willing to drag XYZ pistol through the mud for whatever reason. I also really liked the fact that Henning Wallgren is here in Colorado so help or parts is no more than a short drive away, verses having to ship the pistol out or wait for parts to get shipped. I got the EAA Witness Limited pistol earlier this week and gave it a shake down run at the local indoor range. Right out of the box it shoots really nice and makes my fully tuned up Springfield XDm-40 feel like a toy. I made it up to Henning’s place today after work for some more goodies to get it all tuned up for competition. If you guys have never met Henning in person you are missing out. He is a really great guy and helped me out answering all of my questions with a smile. I got a bunch of goodies from him for the pistol and am eager to get the pistol ready to rumble for competition. I still need a couple more items (holster and belt) to complete the package, but I have enough stuff to keep me busy for a while with fitting, polishing, tuning and testing. My goal is go get it up and running within the next couple of weeks so I can give it a go at a local match. I have been reading though this forum and have been taking note of all the suggestions so I should be good to go until I run into an undocumented challenge. Thanks in advance to all of the guys that have posted up the good information in the forum. It is a very nice resource of information. I am sure I will have some questions though as time goes along, but I am sure you guys will be more than willing to help out when needed. New EAA Witness Limited shooter coming to a match near you soon

I use Skateboard Tape and ProGrip on my XDm. It gives me an iron solid grip on the pistol. I can see how the skateboard tape would hurt some peoples hands, but it has never phased mine even after some 500 round practice sessions. But I do admit that my hands are more callus and tuff than most peoples. The way I see it, if the pistol is shifting around enough to rub you raw, you are not holding it tight enough anyway.