today shooting my Witness steel, it jammed. >:( when I went to clear the jam I noticed the safety lever had backed almost all the way out! :o so much so that I had to pull it all the way out to move the slide. a couple of range sessions ago I saw it starting to back out but pushed it in and went on shooting with no problems. today it went home as a basket case. :( when I field stripped it at the range I saw that it needed more serious attention. when I got home I was able to figure out how it went back together fairly easy 8). I haven't shot it yet but the pistol seems to be working normal. have any other Witness shooters had this problem before? I couldn't see any kind of ball detent or other method to hold it in place so I hope it stays in place. ::)
The safety lever pin is retained by the arm of one of the springs in the sear assembly. To remove the safety you lift that spring arm and set it on a shelf on the sear housing.
It sounds to me like you have inadvertently moved that spring arm on the shelf. This would allow the safety to work it's way out.
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VPkS5RCM6YE/hqdefault.jpg)
In this image and video you can see the spring arm resting in the notch on that shelf in the "remove" position. To lock the safety in place it would be pushed back into the groove.
thanks sqbullet.
today I found time for an in depth look at the sear & safety lever. out of the frame, the lever pin goes in an I can clearly see how the spring is supposed to lock it in place. but the spring leg is not long enough to engage the notch!? ??? so then I started to re assemble everything again to see what everything looks like in place when I notice on the pistol's frame, a line running from the safety lever hole to the rear end of the slide. it is a crack!! :o it runs along the left rear slide rail to the safety lever hole! >:( :( needless to say, this pistol is going back to EAA.
Well, that sucks. Let us know how it goes with EAA. I don't have high expectations, but from time to time they surprise me.
after an e-mail exchange with EAA, they want me to send them the pistol. I dropped it off at our local Fed ex this afternoon. I am hoping for the best but expecting the worse. ::)
I just got an e-mail from EAA. they are going to replace my pistol! :P :P when a new one comes it they will contact me. hopfully that won't be too long.
Glad that they are taking care of your situation! 8)
Good to hear!
this morning I got a phone call from EAA. they wanted to know which FFL to send my new pistol to! ;D
so now I am wondering which I will get first. the Witness or the XDM 10mm that I ordered the other day. my head might explode with the joy of having 2 new 10mm pistols to shoot!
;D I finally got my replacement Witness! 8) I'm not sure what the hang up was but my local FFL called EAA a couple days ago again and they shipped the pistol. it came in this afternoon. it looks real nice and I can't wait to shoot it tomorrow. the only thing I can see that's not quite right is the loaded magazines are a tight fit going in and don't really drop free. empty mags go in out with no problem. I loaded up the mag that came with the pistol and the 2 spare mags I bought for the old Witness. all the mags were tight but the new mag is a little tighter. as I remember, my old Witness had a slightly loose mag well. I'm going to shoot it as it came for a while then I may or may not put in the "up grade" parts I bought for the other one. (cone fit guide rod, light weight firing pin, flat bottom firing pin stop heavier recoil spring and battle hook sights.
holding the Witness next to my new XDM I can see that they are about the same overall dimensions but the XDM is defiantly a lot lighter. tomorrow I will shoot both side by side.
yesterday I t ;D 8)ook my new Witness and the new XDM to my range. I put 373 rounds through them. (mostly the Witness) the new Witness is a keeper!! right out of the box it was almost hitting point of aim, 0 malfunctions and a lot less recoil than the XDM.( a lot heavier than the XDM) my other Witness seemed to shoot way low and left no matter what I did. it also would jam just enough that I would never carry it as a self defense weapon. since I got the XDM, I was actually considering not even shooting the new Witness and letting my FFL put it in his case for sale. now I am really glad I took a chance and shot it. it not only feels better in my hand but I seem to be able to shoot it better than the XDM. don't get me wrong, I still really like the XDM but now I will always have the problem of deciding which 10mm I want to use before every hunting trip. I guess I will have to do a coin toss. :))
Glad it all worked out for you.