Witness Elite Limited 9mm! Ordered, now questions.

[jamesb]

Hi guys I just found out about this forum. My friend recently picked up a used Witness Elite .45 with a 9mm topend as well. I really liked the trigger on his so I went ahead and used Gallery of Guns to order a 9mm Witness Elite Limited and two spare 17rd mags. After reading that the baseplates would need to be changed I found Henning's site and ordered;

Henning XL Firing Pin, Large Frame SA Only

2x Henning H-500 Base Pads

Wolff Hammer Spring 13lb (Tanfoglio / EAA)

From what I read so far, with these parts and possibly a bit of polishing of the trigger bar I should have a pretty sweet gun for plate shooting right?

Anything else I should check out or change? I already know to field strip it and make sure it is clean and relube before my first outing. Currently i'm shooting a CZ SP01 Shadow Target Custom out of Angus Hobdell's shop. Sweet, sweet gun, but I just wanted to have a good single action competition gun as well.

Any info is appreciated as there isn't a whole lot of info online like there are for more well known firearms.

My current CZ

Edited December 21, 2011 by jamesb

[Nealio]

Polish the plunger that holds the trigger bar up, and you can either cut 1 coil off that spring, or order a softer one from Henning.

I have the "roller" plunger, but honestly I can't really tell the difference between that and my old polished (and cut spring) plunger.

These guns don't take much to make them really good, and it sounds like you got most of the stuff covered.

Is your sear gold colored, or is it black? My dad's newer Witness has this gold colored sear in it and I'm wondering if they fixed the issue with the sears being too soft.

If you start getting the hammer following the slide when it cycles, you'll need to get a new sear.

[Nealio]

Also I would go with the H-141 model of basepads. For $5 more you get 23 rounds in your mag (even with a stock follower). Also they are easier to seat with the magwell since they stick out.

The H-141O is the one for the new Mec-Gar designed mags.

They make your mags 141mm which is approved for USPSA Limited and any steel competitions I can think of.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Nealio

[acekc]

I ordered an Elite Limited in .40 last month and when I took it apart to polish the sides of the trigger bar and the plunger I was surprised to find that this had been done already. Of course, the only way to know if they're polished is to tear the gun down, so you'll be doing most of the work regardless.

I haven't gotten to shoot mine as much as I'd like (I've been busy developing a load for it) but I'm really enjoying it so far. They're not cheap (relative to what I'm used to paying for guns anyway) but I think they're a great value.

[jamesb]

Polish the plunger that holds the trigger bar up, and you can either cut 1 coil off that spring, or order a softer one from Henning.

I have the "roller" plunger, but honestly I can't really tell the difference between that and my old polished (and cut spring) plunger.

These guns don't take much to make them really good, and it sounds like you got most of the stuff covered.

Is your sear gold colored, or is it black? My dad's newer Witness has this gold colored sear in it and I'm wondering if they fixed the issue with the sears being too soft.

If you start getting the hammer following the slide when it cycles, you'll need to get a new sear.

Not sure of the color. I just placed the order this morning. Hope to have it in a couple of days.

Also I would go with the H-141 model of basepads. For $5 more you get 23 rounds in your mag (even with a stock follower). Also they are easier to seat with the magwell since they stick out.

The H-141O is the one for the new Mec-Gar designed mags.

They make your mags 141mm which is approved for USPSA Limited and any steel competitions I can think of.

I already placed the order for the H-500 basepads. Are mine going to be shorter than the 141 pads? They should still work with the magwell right. I don't mind if they are flush.

[J-Ho]

Polish the plunger that holds the trigger bar up, and you can either cut 1 coil off that spring, or order a softer one from Henning.

I have the "roller" plunger, but honestly I can't really tell the difference between that and my old polished (and cut spring) plunger.

These guns don't take much to make them really good, and it sounds like you got most of the stuff covered.

Is your sear gold colored, or is it black? My dad's newer Witness has this gold colored sear in it and I'm wondering if they fixed the issue with the sears being too soft.

If you start getting the hammer following the slide when it cycles, you'll need to get a new sear.

Not sure of the color. I just placed the order this morning. Hope to have it in a couple of days.

Also I would go with the H-141 model of basepads. For $5 more you get 23 rounds in your mag (even with a stock follower). Also they are easier to seat with the magwell since they stick out.

The H-141O is the one for the new Mec-Gar designed mags.

They make your mags 141mm which is approved for USPSA Limited and any steel competitions I can think of.

I already placed the order for the H-500 basepads. Are mine going to be shorter than the 141 pads? They should still work with the magwell right. I don't mind if they are flush.

They will fit. If you aren't worried about stuffing as many rounds as possible into the mags, the length is fine. Since you mentioned shooting steel I wouldn't worry. Besides you can always order more basepads in the future. Just make sure you have the K9 mags. They run whereas some of the older 9mm mags had some problems.

[Mo Hepworth]

base pads from Henning are great...they do not sit as flush as the OEM...which is good. You want some meat on the end to get a positive seating of the mag at the mag change during a COF.

The Rolling plunger has to be trimmed on the sides...so that only the wheel contacts the underside of the trigger bar. The trigger bar should also be polished at the contact points. I find it helps not only with trigger press in SA....but also assists in a clean reset. I just changed out my .38 super build regular plunger with the Henning rolling plunger as I found the OEM had a sketchy reset; I could feel more positive reset right away. I highly recommend it.

Firing pin is also a must. I just ordered another firing pin so both of my large frame tanfoglios have them (instead of one)...and also ordered the IFibre front sight for my production gun. I have the front sight for my limited and Stock2, and needed to outfit my backup stock2 (which will then likely be my primary) for production division.

[jamesb]

So I just picked up the gun today! It does have the Gold color sear so i'm going to assume it's the updated version. Everything looks good. I was even able to pull it apart quickly at the shop and internals actually were very clean. Nice coating of oil on the gun too. Trigger felt good too. I like that it comes with a stock black front sight as well as a fiber optic front too. It also included two spare recoil springs....I'm thinking they are lighter than what is in there currently.

Now I just need to clean and test fire it in it's stock configuration. After a bit of range time I will install the XL firing pin/13lb hammer spring and polish the trigger bar.

The wood checkered grips feel great too. The other Witness Limited my buddy has is fitted with thin aluminum grips. If the hammer spring and polishing actually make a difference this trigger is going to be sweet! I'll have to look into the rolling plunger as well as lighter plunger springs. Any idea where to start with the lightened plunger spring weight?

Edited December 22, 2011 by jamesb

[littletoe]

So I just picked up the gun today! It does have the Gold color sear so i'm going to assume it's the updated version. Everything looks good. I was even able to pull it apart quickly at the shop and internals actually were very clean. Nice coating of oil on the gun too. Trigger felt good too. I like that it comes with a stock black front sight as well as a fiber optic front too. It also included two spare recoil springs....I'm thinking they are lighter than what is in there currently.

Now I just need to clean and test fire it in it's stock configuration. After a bit of range time I will install the XL firing pin/13lb hammer spring and polish the trigger bar.

The wood checkered grips feel great too. The other Witness Limited my buddy has is fitted with thin aluminum grips. If the hammer spring and polishing actually make a difference this trigger is going to be sweet! I'll have to look into the rolling plunger. I'm not sure where that part is in the pistol.

its under where the trigger and trigger bar meet....you can take the trigger out to get to it