Is there a cheap and ez way to convert witness limited to an open gun?

[drjr]

I have a Witness Limited in .40 and wanted to get either a comped .40 barrel or a slide and barrel from a Gold Team. Any ideas of where I can pick either up, or maybe I am over looking a cheaper way to do this.

[Mo Hepworth]

I have a tanfoglio limited Custom .40 standard gun (lImited). This is thelarge frame version (which is the norm in USA). I simply ordered a .40 comped barrel for my model of gun,..and had to slightly turn the comp to allow for free travel of the slide, barrel, comp, etc...

I then bought a STS sight, and mount. Pretty easy to set up as the holes are already in the frame for the mount. I had some issues with screws for the mount (they are cheap metal)...I remedied this and purchased some stainless screws from a hardware store. The screws are a little too long,...so you may need to dremel them about 1mm.

[Mustang684]

I have a tanfoglio limited Custom .40 standard gun (lImited). This is thelarge frame version (which is the norm in USA). I simply ordered a .40 comped barrel for my model of gun,..and had to slightly turn the comp to allow for free travel of the slide, barrel, comp, etc...

I then bought a STS sight, and mount. Pretty easy to set up as the holes are already in the frame for the mount. I had some issues with screws for the mount (they are cheap metal)...I remedied this and purchased some stainless screws from a hardware store. The screws are a little too long,...so you may need to dremel them about 1mm.

Was the comp barrel drop-in, or did it need to be fitted? Was that from the factory?

[BritinUSA]

Another option is to get a 6" straight barrel from Henning and then send it to Rich at Canyon Creek to add a compensator and fit it precisely to your existing frame and slide. This way you will get a perfect fit which you may not get with an off-the-shelf setup.

I upgraded the barrel/comp on my Tanfoglio (.38 Super) this way and its a nice tight fit.

[shooterbenedetto]

Already tried doing this and called EAA. There's no .40 with comp that they will sell you.

they will asks for the serial number of your frame and they say that they can only sell

you replacement parts for it PERIOD..if you want a comp, they wont sell it..they suck!

other countries from Eaa will sell you everything, but here in US they wont.

Edited September 7, 2010 by shooterbenedetto

[Mo Hepworth]

As I said,...no problem, and I was fortunate that it fit with no drilling, dremel, etc...just plopped it in,...found it would not cycle,....then saw that the comp was not allowing movement,...so I turned very slightly and has worked great for about 600rds. I am not found of the dot yet, but have also tried it with out the dot and at this point I think I would be faster using my iron sights.

Yes, this was a factory part.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Mo Hepworth

[Mo Hepworth]

Here is a pick of my Open .40.

[duct tape]

Mo,

Digging this up from the deep archives. Nice gun, what grips are those? I've not seen that color before. Thx.

[Mo Hepworth]

Sorry,..just saw this.I tried it for a short while..with the dot there is just too much movement. I sold off the barrel and put away the dot for my regular .40 barrel and iron sights. I just recently went with a .38 super complete top end. I have not even tested it out yet, but it all appears to be working well.

[Mo Hepworth]

update,...this is not as easy as I thought it would be. The new top end is VERY tight in the .40 Limited bottom end. SO tight that I had to stone the rails to get it to move freely after my not so happy test fire. Mags appear good, extraction /ejection is good., but it was falling short feeding...stopping about half way in. Could be extractor is too tight?, or just needs a good working in. It was even slowing down before the slide closed WITHOUT ammo or mag. Looks like the ejector could be causing some greivance, contacting the inside of the slide. THe gun was so tight I could not get ANY play side to side, up or down in the frame.

THere is a lot to be said about just getting a complete gun, but this also a learning experience.

Gonna do what my friends suggested, make sure nothing is rubbing or binding excessively.

[Mo Hepworth]

working well. i had some fitting issues, but dressing the extractor, polishing the breachface, extractor head, and rails has got it working well. All in all, I would say it saves money by about 60% to fit it on my .40 Limited custom bottom end.

[PHX]

Mo Hepworth - I did the same thing you did, but mine is a 9mm. I got the new 38 super top end all fitted, but im having feeding issues. its like 2 live rounds want to go in the barrel at once. Im running the new mecgar mags with factory spring and follower and a henning H-141 pad. Im almost sure its my mags causing the problem, but just wanted to see if you had a similar issue.

Thanks!

[Mo Hepworth]

Mo Hepworth - I did the same thing you did, but mine is a 9mm. I got the new 38 super top end all fitted, but im having feeding issues. its like 2 live rounds want to go in the barrel at once. Im running the new mecgar mags with factory spring and follower and a henning H-141 pad. Im almost sure its my mags causing the problem, but just wanted to see if you had a similar issue.

Thanks!

Nope,..never had that issue.. I know Eric had a picture that he used for reference on mag lip dimensions... Are you using large frame, or small frame? I assume large frame. Also check the breach face edge at the bottom, it should not be sharp, but slight bevel and smooth on the under side all the way back. I used a file to round it slightly,..and then polished it on a dremel. Sounds more like the lips are too wide somewhere....