[Gojubrian]

It's a .45, owned by a co-worker who wants to sell it. It's new,but old. He's had it a 'few years' but he said he has only fired it 20times. He's asking $350 for it. It looks practically brand new, has two magazines, and he's throwing in 100rds of hollowpoints.

Next, he has a smith and wesson 3inch .357 magnum. He says it was a police gun. It looks pretty worn,but still in good shape. It is blued and the muzzle has wear on it. He wants an offer on this one (also comes with 100rds of hollowpoints). I've looked around for these and have come across a large gap pricewise.

What would you value these at based on this information?

[Mark F]

Originally Posted by Gojubrian

It's a .45, owned by a co-worker who wants to sell it. It's new,but old. He's had it a 'few years' but he said he has only fired it 20times. He's asking $350 for it. It looks practically brand new, has two magazines, and he's throwing in 100rds of hollowpoints.

Next, he has a smith and wesson 3inch .357 magnum. He says it was a police gun. It looks pretty worn,but still in good shape. It is blued and the muzzle has wear on it. He wants an offer on this one (also comes with 100rds of hollowpoints). I've looked around for these and have come across a large gap pricewise.

What would you value these at based on this information?

That's a reasonable price for the EAA Witness. I'd get it. The S&W depending which model and its condition, is worth about 300 to 500.

[oldandslow]

GB, 4/21/09

I bought two new Witness .45's about three years ago, both in the metal Wonder finish. One was the compact, one the full size. Between the two they developed seven cracks in the frames and slides at round counts in the high 2000 to low 3000 range with standard velocity ammo. There were also corrosion issues with both pistols necessitating hard-chroming (which worked well to stop the rusting in the tropical climate where I live). EAA refused to honor their lifetime warranty to replace the cracked frames and slides stating the hard-chroming voided the warranty. If you take a look at the CZ forum (czforumsite.info) and use the search feature you will see similar problems with the .45's and 10mm's, but not so much with other calibers and not with the Elite models.

So in summary- they were fun to shoot until they broke at low round counts and EAA customer service was poor. Hope this helps.

best wishes- oldandslow

[Gojubrian]

Thank you for your replies.

The witness is a black finish and has no scratches on it.

I took them both to the range yeaterday to give them a test run. I was very disappointed with the results.

The witness fed five rounds and the next round would not feed. It seemed to just stick at the bottom of the feedramp. I noticed that the magazines were very different. One was very stiff. It was a chore loading rounds into it. The other magazine was very loose and forgiving. I loaded 8 rds in each magazine. The bullets keep sticking without feeding. I had to clear it after every single shot! I saw that the ammo was sitting very flat in the magazines. They had almost no tilt upwards at all. Aren't they supposed to angle upwards a little? The one magazine also would not lock in place when I put it in. I tried to smack it up in there pretty hard. I put the stupid thing down and decided not to buy this junk. I do think it is just a magazine problem though.

On to the revolver. I shot 38 specials and .357 magnum out of it. After 12rds the cylinder became very hard to let go. I had to force it out so I could empty it after the first 12rds. It also extracted the shells very dirty. I think the problem was just gunk. Sheesh, does this guy take carwe of all his guns this way?

On to the good part! Truth has a way of revealing itself. A pawn shop ticket from feb 07 fell out of one of the manuals!! It was from a different co-worker than the guy who lent the guns to me to try out!!
This did NOT match his story of where and when he got the pistols. I wouldn't buy a bucket of water from this jerk if I was in the desert!!

Where are the honest gun owners who take care of their guns!!!

[JiroZero713]

Smiths and revolvers in general can clean up real good so depends on what he wants for it.

[Mark F]

Originally Posted by Gojubrian

Thank you for your replies.

The witness is a black finish and has no scratches on it.

I took them both to the range yeaterday to give them a test run. I was very disappointed with the results.

The witness fed five rounds and the next round would not feed. It seemed to just stick at the bottom of the feedramp. I noticed that the magazines were very different. One was very stiff. It was a chore loading rounds into it. The other magazine was very loose and forgiving. I loaded 8 rds in each magazine. The bullets keep sticking without feeding. I had to clear it after every single shot! I saw that the ammo was sitting very flat in the magazines. They had almost no tilt upwards at all. Aren't they supposed to angle upwards a little? The one magazine also would not lock in place when I put it in. I tried to smack it up in there pretty hard. I put the stupid thing down and decided not to buy this junk. I do think it is just a magazine problem though.

On to the revolver. I shot 38 specials and .357 magnum out of it. After 12rds the cylinder became very hard to let go. I had to force it out so I could empty it after the first 12rds. It also extracted the shells very dirty. I think the problem was just gunk. Sheesh, does this guy take carwe of all his guns this way?

On to the good part! Truth has a way of revealing itself. A pawn shop ticket from feb 07 fell out of one of the manuals!! It was from a different co-worker than the guy who lent the guns to me to try out!!
This did NOT match his story of where and when he got the pistols. I wouldn't buy a bucket of water from this jerk if I was in the desert!!

Where are the honest gun owners who take care of their guns!!!

Well at least you know something about these pistols now. The S&W will be OK after a good cleaning and no more crappy ammo.

[Catfish]

I also would not be afraid of the Smith. As for the semi-auto I`ve only bought 1 semi-auto centerfire handgun in my life and I have 4 .44 mag. revolvers. I`m not the guy to ask about semi-autos.

[WDB]

Good for you to shoot them before you bought one of them, You learn a lot more about a used pistol when your able to shoot them first.

The S&W depending on the model and condition still might be worth considering. Borrow it again and take it to a shop to be checked out, The sticking cylinder may be gunk build up or a mechanical problem. Then with some pictures and model number we can give you a better idea what it's worth. $300 would be the lower end and can go as high as $900.

It is amazing that something that could save your life isn't properly cared for but some people simply don't know how and they should either learn or not own a firearm.

[Gojubrian]

Originally Posted by WDB

Good for you to shoot them before you bought one of them, You learn a lot more about a used pistol when your able to shoot them first.

The S&W depending on the model and condition still might be worth considering. Borrow it again and take it to a shop to be checked out, The sticking cylinder may be gunk build up or a mechanical problem. Then with some pictures and model number we can give you a better idea what it's worth. $300 would be the lower end and can go as high as $900.

It is amazing that something that could save your life isn't properly cared for but some people simply don't know how and they should either learn or not own a firearm.

I cleaned the revolver up real good. It was unbelievably dirty! Now it seems to function fine. I gave the witness back and made an offer on the revolver......thanks for the info guys!

[Mark F]

Originally Posted by Gojubrian

I cleaned the revolver up real good. It was unbelievably dirty! Now it seems to function fine. I gave the witness back and made an offer on the revolver......thanks for the info guys!

I hope you get the revolver! You can't go wrong with a .357.