Is this the best value on the pistol market?

EAA's Witness is a version of the famed CZ-75 auto. It is available in all the standard chamberings (9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP). It lists for less than $500 and my local dealer has the steel version in .40 S&W for just $400.

The price is only half the value equation. What really sets the Witness apart is their caliber conversion kits. Switch your .40 to 10mm for a couple of hundred dollars. Have a.45 ACP, 10mm, and .38 Super for the price of a single Sig or Kimber.

I like the conversion idea for a couple of reasons. First, it is the only inexpensive way to shoot .38 Super. Second, it is a solution to the problem of practice versus gun life with the 10mm. The 10mm is loaded to such high pressures that it is hard on guns. (It also beats you up at the range.) With the Witness you can practice with 9mm or .40 S&W using exactly the same gun you carry in 10mm. That's neat and efficient.

Never expected to read this

In the August Handloader Gil Sengal traces the history of the .357 magnum. He writes about Elmer Keith's experiments with hotrodding the 38 Spl. and the problems he encountered. One of Keith's loads tested at 42,000 psi when normal loads for that powder usually ran 14-18,000 psi. He quotes Elmer as writing " I knew of several Officer Models Colts that [this load] had wrecked."

So far, just your typical gun rag article and the obligatory nod to old EK's irascibility. But it was Sengal's comment that stopped me in my tracks.

"Publishing such loads is just plain criminal"

That is what i like about Handloader and Rifle. They protect no sacred cows.