Decisions, decisions

[gnappi]

As a long time owner of 10's, recently I've gotten a hankering for a new 10.

I am looking for owners of the Witness Hunter model to chime in and let me know of their experiences with it.

So aside from the 6" Hunter looking badass :-) what if any performance does the 6" barrel gain (with powder / bullet experimentation) over the stubby 4 3/4" to 5" "standard" barrel length Witness or 1911?

[sqlbullet]

I don't have a Hunter, but I do have a Match and a Stock III in addition to a standard full size Witness.

Every gun I have purchased that is above their "standard" line is well fit and finished.  My Match and Stock both cycle like glass plates with oil between them.

As far as velocity, ballisticsbytheinch.com shows that for most premium ammo/full power loads, you can expect a 25-40 fps bump from 5" to 6"

[gnappi]

Thanks SQL,

Agreed 110% of your Tanfo comments. Your Match and Stock III certainly are above their "standard" line.

I too have a small number of Tanfo pistols, but only one in 10mm bought in the early 90's which is a compact and was my EDC for many years. My others are a Match 9mm, Limited pro (.38 super with a "Stock" .40 conversion kit now my EDC), and a .40 Limited Custom, all are superior firearms.

No insult meant to CZ owners (I have and SP-01) I'm amazed CZ did so well in the market when the options in finish, calibers and frame sizes, railed / not railed, track record of extreme reliability durability and in general lower cost versions on Tanfos is and has been so much more buyer friendly. Despite the crappenzola support from EAA which I've never needed, as good as the CZ's are I don't get the CZ being the top dog over Tanfoglio.

Anyway, the BBTI apparently shows a mish mash of real world, polygonal and cutoff barrels. Also their 1096 fps for the 200 gr. Delta is loaded down from original Norma specs by over 100 fps. That's (IMO) attorney mandated data.

At any rate, part of the issue is I can get a coned 4 3/4" barrel for my Limited Custom for a bit over $325 and I'm thinking I may not get much more than the badass factor with a Hunter or over my Gold Cup Delta. 

What I'd ideally like to see is if anyone has done real world testing with a 5" cut and or polygonal rifled barrel versus 6" polygonal rifled barrel. I'd "guess" that with slower burning powder a 6" poly bbl versus a 5" cut rifled bbl could be closer to a 100+ fps advantage? Just imagine a 200 grain barn burner out of the muzzle at 1300+ fps?

Gads, my toes curl at the prospect :-)

Well, if I ever do get a Hunter, I'll have to dust off the Chrony, do that and settle the issue!

[8strings8rounds]

I can't say anything about velocity where I've never choreographed anything, but I can at least share my personal experience with the Hunter.
I've had mine for about 3-4 years, now. Got it when they were still under a $K. Out of the box, the slide to frame fit and finish feels hand lapped. The overall finish is superb and looks beautiful. The bluing is extremely thin, and easily scratched, unfortunately..
Stock SAO trigger was really good, but far from the best I've experienced- I have since upgraded.
The stock spring was way too light for anything even remotely stout, this is a known detail with these guns. I think I have a 20# long slide spring in there, now. It handles well, but is a pain to rack. (Not a lot of purchase on the slide.)
Despite the extra length of the slide, this gun feels a little more flippy than my Stock III. That extra mass moving backward is felt more, and does not help keep the muzzle down as I thought it would. Not terrible, but noticeable.
Accuracy is stupid on this- I mean that in a good way. I can hold a couple inches at 20yards off hand with this pistol. The tight lockup and extra sight length really help.
The ejection is very erratic, shells go everywhere. However, it hardly matters as this gun runs so flawlessly otherwise.

So far, I've upgraded the trigger to a Henning flat trigger kit, upgraded the springs, polished the guide rod shoulders, and I think that's about it. I did put a rail and scope on it this year for fun. Have taken it out to 100yards, successfully, even with a cheap scope.
Anything else you want to know?

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