Reviewing the best Budget Staccato Clones

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European American Armory, in collaboration with Turkey’s Girsan, has been importing a new series of double-stack 1911s, dubbed the Witness 2311 line, for the past couple of years. Originally just offered in polymer-framed variants, which we’ve reviewed, EAA for 2025 shifted gears and began to market a pair of guns with alloy frames.

EAA Girsan Witness 2311 S Match and Match X
I give you, the EAA Girsan Witness 2311 Match Standard and Match X, both 9mm double-stack 1911s with metal frames and polymer grip modules that run from 2011-pattern magazines. Both run a Tungsten Cerakote on the frame. (All photos: Chris Eger)
EAA Girsan Witness 2311 S Match and Match X
Both are full-length single-action guns with skeletonized tuned triggers, extended beavertail, and commander-style hammers.
EAA Girsan Witness 2311 S Match and Match X
Further, they have oversized ambidextrous manual safety levers– needed on a single-action semi-auto– as well as a double-stack composite grip frame with a full-length accessory rail and dust cover under a Government-length slide. 
EAA Girsan Witness 2311 S Match and Match X
It’s in the slide/barrels format that these two guns are the most different, with the Match X showing off a big compensator “donut” while the Match S runs that big bull barrel. 

We had both of these interesting pistols on hand, so the obvious thing to do in a review was to bundle them together.

Quick Summary: The optics-ready Girsan-made EAA Witness 2311 Match series 9mm pistols are feature-rich and proved reliable and accurate in testing, offering a low-cost solution to anyone looking to get into the double-stack 1911/2011 game and wants a gun that will work as advertised.

Full 1,900-word review over in my column at Guns.com. 

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