Colt delta or EAA witness Tanfoglio steel?

[Arctic_fox]

So i have been wanting to get my hands on a 10mm for a while ever since a friend got me hooked with his dan wesson, Sadly i can not afford $3300 to get the same one i was introduced to but i have narrowed it down to either a Colt delta or the EAA steel Tanfoglio, Im leaning towards the EAA for the higher compacity mag and lower price, But im also torn because the delta would make a better carry gun then my battered old taurus pt99 that i currently use and seems an all around better pistol even if its right on the edge of what i can afford.

My big concern with the EAA is the few reviews i have found have been mixed with a few saying even in steel they tend to crack under normal pressure loads god forbid +p and as I've already had a glock explode in my hands and half remove a few fingers im a bit leery of any gun with a reputaion to explode to be entirely honest but figure i will ask people here who actully own one and know about them.

I've also seen an Armscor in 10mm but know nothing of them if anyone has an opinion?

Anyway any advice is appreacted greatly!

[Intercooler]

  I have no idea where you read those reviews (can you share?). Most of us that have been around the 10mm for a while know which has the better chance of blowing up on you... hint hint below



   Unless you get some bad ammo the EAA piece will mow through it all. The Delta will work too if you keep tabs on it looking at your spent shell casings.

    Which EAA piece are you looking at? Many people here carry them it seems.

[blaster]

I went with the Witness steel and love it! it is actually about the same size as my full size 1911 .45 acp but a tad thicker. the stuff you heard about Witness cracking is about some long ago discontinued model. the newer ones are able to handle the hottest ammo.

[Arctic_fox]

  I have no idea where you read those reviews (can you share?). Most of us that have been around the 10mm for a while know which has the better chance of blowing up on you... hint hint below



   Unless you get some bad ammo the EAA piece will mow through it all. The Delta will work too if you keep tabs on it looking at your spent shell casings.

    Which EAA piece are you looking at? Many people here carry them it seems.

Sure

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=484517

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_5_4/130199_Anybody_have_a_E_A_A___10mm_Witness_Tanfoglio_.html

And a few others i cant find right now, As for the colt im kinda suprised to be honest ive always heard colt 1911s were some of the best you could get, Well that solved which gun im getting.

I went with the Witness steel and love it! it is actually about the same size as my full size 1911 .45 acp but a tad thicker. the stuff you heard about Witness cracking is about some long ago discontinued model. the newer ones are able to handle the hottest ammo.

Ok sounds good, The 2 i am looking at are the witness steel full size or the witness elite match, Though im unsure if the extra $250 is worth it for the match, This is actully going to be a replacement for my tarurs pt99af for CC, As much as i love my 99 its pretty worn out at this point and while im sure it has many more years of life i would rather have something new and with a bigger punch especally with crime going through the roof in my area.

[kcsmith88]

I have both the Delta Elite and the Witness Elite Match. I enjoy both. I choose the Elite Match because I wanted the SA trigger and I was doing some friendly IDPA shooting at the time, so the longer slide/barrel was also a benefit. I've only open carried this gun as it is pretty large both in length and weight, and I'm a relatively slim guy.

You mentioned wanting to CC. You might consider that the Witness Steel Full Size is 75% the weight of the Elite Match and almost 3/4" shorter. Maybe someone who owns both can comment on other differences.

When I bought by 10mm Witness I was a bit overwhelmed by all the choices. I'm still not sure I picked the right one. I guess that probably means I just need to buy more and do some firsthand comparisons. [emoji3]

Welcome to the world of 10mm!  Warning: 10mm shooting can be addictive.

[14 GT-500]

I said it time and time again on this forum, no problems with my Colt Delta and I shoot most 10mm @ 1200 fps and more and I shoot alot!!

[01deuce]

I said it time and time again on this forum, no problems with my Colt Delta and I shoot most 10mm @ 1200 fps and more and I shoot alot!!

Same here.

Underwood also does not have that warning on their 10mm boxes any more.

Wasn't the Delta originally made when the  Norma spec ammo was what was available as the only standard?

[Sneed]

Even if the Colt was just as good as the Witness the price difference is substantial. As a small dealer I would never want to deal with Colt on any issue. You ought to consider the polymer Witness as well. You can also carry a Witness cocked and locked or in da mode locked or not.

[14 GT-500]

I was thinking the same thing, How old is that box of Underwood ? The 155gr and my 180 gr loads don't seem to have that warning on the ammo box Also I bet you I have went through my Colt Delt Elite owners manual a half dozen times and no where can I find were it say's do not Use Underwood, Double Tap, Corbon ammo because the gun will crack or blow up fall apart etc etc. Lets face it if the gun was as bad as most of you think, wouldn't Colt stop making it or there would be some law suites ?? Really.

[Intercooler]

  It's not that the DE is bad. The thing you just can't ignore or call par for the course is the unramped barrel. Over the years Colt addressed the frame cracking issue and I have no idea why they never changed the barrel. Until they do that, it will never be up to par with the other 1911's that have it for = or less money.
   I can't speak about lawsuits early on when the frames were cracking (anyone know?). It seems I recall Colt saying the DE is good for any Norma spec ammo and some of our new offerings exceed that.

[Arctic_fox]

Even if the Colt was just as good as the Witness the price difference is substantial. As a small dealer I would never want to deal with Colt on any issue. You ought to consider the polymer Witness as well. You can also carry a Witness cocked and locked or in da mode locked or not.

Ill pass on the polymer frame, haveing my hand turned into hamburger by a polymer glock that exploded tends to give me a very very low opinion of polymer in general, Call me a coward but every time i see a polymer frame gun all i see is my hand after the last polymer gun i tried, Besides im used to carrying around 50 pounds plus of gear for 12+ hours thanks to my last job so a 2 pound metal gun is not a big issue especally because i use a small of the back carry belt that even when pressing looks like a back brace.

As for the rest of you thanks for your opinions! I have it narrowed doen to the witness elite match steel for $728 or witness full size steel for $506 at the local gun shop, As far as i can find these are good prices but i cant decide if the match is worth the extra $200 or not.

What do you folks think?

[Intercooler]

I'm with you! I have grown to really dislike plastic guns.

[48conkli]

I wouldnt rule out Rock Island, If your leaning the 1911, good price and can have a lot of nice features over the colt.

[sqlbullet]

A steel witness will serve you well.

There were no catastrophic failures of any witness guns due to cracking.

There was a limited run of guns that had issues with the slides cracking near the ejection port.  This was traced to a batch of slides that did not get annealed properly after heat treatment and were brittle.  EAA/Tanfoglio made them right, though for some of the early customers it was painful thanks to EAA's horrible customer service.

Some of the frames will develop a stress crack between the mag release and the grip panel relief cuts.  This crack in no way effects safety and function of the gun. My Elite Match has such a crack and I could not care less.  In fact, I had no idea it was there until I read about them and then looked for one on mine.  Further, this seems only effect the chromed frame of the Elite Match.  Chroming can make steel brittle by hydrogen exposure, and I think that is what happened here.

In any event, the EAA guns are tanks.  I have run very hot loads through mine, and compared to many of the reloaders here I am very conservative.  The Delta is a nice piece of history, and I regret selling mine.  But or a solid, all steel 10mm handgun that won't let you down in the $500 price range, the Witness is a great option.

[macc283]

What Glock did you own that blew up?