canbuster Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) Newbie here. I stumbled onto this site searching for information on Tanfoglio/EAA Witness. Really appreciate the wealth of information here and impressed by how knowledgable, friendly and helpful this community is. I joined USPSA a while back but never really got started shooting competitively, and now I'm too busy with family and work to even go to the range regularly. What led me here is that after shooting other pistols for years, I finally decided to give the CZ 75 style a try. I don't know why I waited for so long. I have medium to small size hands and 1911 fits nicely. I also enjoy the ergonomics of my Sig P229. After researching a lot online, including reading the EAA/Tanfoglio forum here, I decided on a small frame 9mm and bought a cheap Mossad with finish wear from Cole Distributing on Gunbroker back in April. I have bought other surplus pistols from Gary over the years and it has always been a pleasure. Didn't get to shoot it till a few weeks ago. I was so impressed that I decided to get another one, this time a lot nicer for a mere $50 more. Just picked it up from my FFL a few hours ago and here's a quick comparison (see photo attached): On the Right: It's well used with a lot of wear, the wonder finish is flaking off the slide at a few places inside and out. Large orange dot on the front sight, smaller white dots on the rear sight. The rear sight has a large dent on right side. The trigger is really smooth DA and SA. The 4.45" barrel has wonder finish on it, it's in really good shape with the traditional lands and grooves rifling. The grips were so ugly from all the wear and scratches, I stripped off the varnish and sanded them down, nice figured wood, matching patterns on both grips. It's really dirty so I field stripped it and cleaned it, then polished the feeding ramp with Flitz. It came with a new in box Mec-Gar 17-round mag, but I also bought a EEA 16-rounder and a few Mec-Gar 19-rounders. It weighs 33.9 oz without mag. After dry firing with a snap cap a few hundred times, I took it to the range. Keep in mind this is the first time I shoot any CZ 75 type. I was really surprised that I was able to put 8 rounds in a 5/8" group from 25 yards (see 2nd photo), the other 2 flyers widened the 10-round group to 3.5", mostly because I was out of practice. I was in sitting position with the bottom of the grip resting on top of my shooting bag. Zero malfunction with the 200 rounds (Walmart Remington green box FMJ) on that day. Ejection is a little weak, a few spent shells hit me. On the Left: The new one I just picked up today, can't wait to shoot it. It's in excellent condition and probably has not been shot a lot. There's not much wear on the 15-round mag with matching wonder finish. Really clean inside and out. Came with extended safety and mag release. The barrel is 4.8" (guess this is the L model) and I'm really surprised it came with polygonal rifling. The sights has no dots, there are fine grooves on the rear sight. The rear sight is 0.04" taller than the other Mossad's, which was hitting 3-4" low from 25-yard. The trigger and hammer are different than the other one, noticing the trigger is shorter and less curved, and it has a shorter trigger reach. DA feels the same as the other, SA is slightly lighter. Checkered grips are like new and seem thicker than the other one's, probably because I had to sand those down so much due to the deep scratches. It weighs 35.3 oz without mag. I haven't decided whether I want to trick one of them out, with SA flat trigger, aluminum grips, etc. Anyways, if any of you are looking for a small frame 9mm, I would highly recommend getting a Mossad from Gary on Gunbroker. Edited July 12, 2013 by canbuster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Hepworth Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 thanks for sharing....any particular reason their have that name designation? Were they built for military under contract? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-mishka Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I think they were issued to "Mossad" agents at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Hepworth Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-mishka Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I don't even know why mossad agents needed guns when they can do this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbuster Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) Very funny. I can't imagine any Mossad agents would carry anything says Mossad on it. From what I've read, it's just a model name for these Tanfoglios exported to Israel. This was before Israel got the license to produce Jericho 941/Baby Eagle. They were also importing a lot of FN Hi-Powers and Berettas. I haven't found anything indicating these Mossads being part of IDF military contract, I know the Hi-Powers were. My two Mossads have stampings on the left side of the frame saying: MADE BY FRATELLI TANFOGLIO S.P.A. FOR "WEAPONS HOUSE LTD" - ISRAEL. Some also have a round seal stamped on the right side of the frame with ISRAEL SHOOTING ASSOCIATION in Hebrew and English. Those usually get snatched up pretty quickly on Gunbroker. So more likely they were used by civilian shooting clubs. Well, serving in the military is mandatory pretty much for everyone there (both young men and women), and between the career soldiers, officers and the reserves, are there really any civilians left? I work in the software industry and I've been to Israel for business. Those have served in the military intelligence sectors are highly sought after as software engineers. They brag about which top level of military selection exams they passed far more than their college and grad school degrees. During the March 2012 Gaza rocket attacks and Israeli retaliations, several of our engineers were mobilized as officers in the reserve. Edited July 12, 2013 by canbuster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyvet02 Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) Canbuster. I just bought one tonight from Gb. I will try to post pics when I get it. I found one with an extended beavertail. The information on these is a little sketchy on the Internet. For the price I don't think I can go wrong. Where did you find the 19 rd magazines? Does the other have the extended mag release also? Edited July 14, 2013 by harleyvet02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 The 19 round MecGars for the CZ 75 will work in the Mossad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbuster Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 Harley, looks like this is the one you got (I was watching it), good find. It seems that extended beavertail only comes with frame with round trigger guard. The extended mag release on my newer Mossad is the only one I've ever seen. I wonder if it's for the long slide "L" model only. As atlas pointed out, CZ 75B mags work in small frame Tanfoglio. I got mine from Greg Cote here. I was able to load 20 rounds into each and they were reliable in my Mossad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyvet02 Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Can buster that's the one. We'll see how it runs. I'll be getting some mecgar mags too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbuster Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 Just tried the MecGar 19-rounder in my new Mossad, guess what, it won't lock. So the extended mag release may not be such a good idea after all. EAA EA9M 16-rounder works fine. I'll have to take the mag releases out of both guns and compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glk21C Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 sometimes the cz 75 mecgar mags need to have the magazine release hole made a little higher to seat correctly in a Tanfoglio. especially with the newer style mag releases. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now