Review: EAA/Girsan Witness2311 Brat

When the double-stack 1911, sometimes referred to as the 2011, hit the consumer market two decades ago, many of the initial offerings were essentially custom-made pistols. And they carried custom price tags. Expensive 2011 pistols live on today, of course, but the last several years have seen a greater selection of 2011-style guns than ever before, and prices keep coming down.

Among those gunmakers offering quality double-stack 1911 pistols at reasonable prices is the Turkish gun manufacturer Girsan. The new Girsan Witness2311 Brat, imported exclusively by European American Armory, is a concealed-carry model priced under $700. I have to admit, that low price for a double stack 1911 made me wonder if corners were cut in the pistol’s manufacturing. Spoiler alert: They were not. The Brat I tested functioned fine, drilled rounds accurately, felt great in hand and is one of the few 1911s I’d actually use for concealed carry.

Features

Some people use traditional 1911s for concealed carry. Some don’t, simply based on the pistol’s size, weight and capacity. But, many of us (including myself) still prefer the 1911 trigger, grip angle and the ease of shooting the platform.

Enter EAA’s Brat, which combines a full-sized 1911-style grip with an aluminum frame and an Officer-size 3.4-inch barrel housed in a steel slide. The Brat is available in 9mm for a 17-round, double-stack magazine capacity or in a .45 ACP version that carries 11 rounds. Included with the pistols are two stainless steel Check-Mate magazines.

The Novak style three-dot sights came right to my eye and kept me on target, and the generous rear notch let me center the front post easily. The extended beavertail grip safety had a nice memory bump and the web of my shooting hand fit right into the grip. The Brat also sported an ambidextrous thumb safety, a skeletonized hammer, a removable magazine well and a full-length accessory rail.

The poly grips and front strap on my evaluation 9mm Brat really anchored my hands, aided by the deep checkering on the aluminum mainspring housing. The skeletonized trigger on my Brat broke at a clean 2 pounds, 7 ounces on average with just a slight bit of uptake. The grooved front face of the trigger created a very tactile connection to my finger pad. All that for an MSRP of just $679.

Range Time

To test out my Brat at my outdoor range, I used several brands of 9mm range ammunition, namely First Breach Precision Series loaded with a 124-grain full-metal jacket (FMJ) bullet and Winchester USA Ready and its 115-grain flat nose FMJ load.  For a self-defense option, I shot the Nosler Assured Stopping Power (ASP) round with a 147-grain jacketed hollow point.

Shooting offhand at 5 to 7 yards, I quickly got to the point where five shots at 1.25-inches was a relative no brainer. Best five-shot groups at the seven-yard mark were made with the Nosler 9mm ASP at .65 and .90 inch.

At 20 yards and shooting from a bag rest, groups ranged from the very best at 1.6-inches with the First Breach to a 3.3-inch group with the Nosler. Averaging out groups for all three ammo brands, the Brat was essentially a 2.5-inch shooter at this distance.

I put 200 rounds through the pistol and had one jam up when the First Breach brass failed to clear the ejection port about midway through my shooting. At that point, I noticed the feed ramp was black, so I cleaned it off and had no additional feed/eject issues. The Check-Mate 17-round magazine were easy to load by hand, no mag loader required.

Trade Offs

A pistol with a 3.4-inch barrel does present a couple of obvious trade offs and they were apparent with the Brat. When unloading a magazine quickly, as I did twice, the shorter barrel translated into a somewhat snappy muzzle rise. The full-sized 1911 grip was a help, but I still had to consciously adjust for the muzzle rise or my shots were wide and high.

The relatively short sight radius gave me no problems at my 5 to 7 yards shooting. But at 20 yards, that front sight got blurry. Part of that I credit to my 65-year-old eyes and that I likely need a new prescription on my glasses. Younger shooters may find no issue here. 

Of course, there are pricing tradeoffs, too, when the Brat is compared to much-pricier double-stacks. The Brat’s slide, for example, is not cut for optics. Serrations are scored into the rear of the slide but not the front. The frame of my pistol sported two pinhole-sized blemishes, which would not be acceptable with a $2K pistol. A more expensive 2011 would likely have an undercut trigger guard. And, while the slide racked back fine, it didn’t have the hand-fitted smoothness of a custom pistol.

But the lack of these features in no way makes the EAA/Girsan Witness 2311 Brat a less effective carry option. And for 1911 fans who’d like to carry a version of the platform and want a major boost in ammunition capacity, but can’t drop $1,500 or more on a pistol, the Witness2311 Brat is an obvious choice. The Brat is also available with a black grip and frame and Gold Titanium Nitride finish on the barrel, slide and small parts for $889.

Specifications: Witness2311 Brat

• Manufacturer: Girsan
• Importer: European American Armory, Corp.
• Action: Single action, semi-automatic
• Caliber: 9mm
• Capacity: 17 rounds 
• Barrel Length: 3.4 inches
• Slide: Steel, black/blue Cerakote finish
• Frame: Aluminum, black/blue Cerakote finish
• Height: 5.5 inches
• Width: 1.5 inches
• Length: 7 inches
• Weight:  29.4 ounces
• Safeties: Ambidextrous thumb and grip
• Sights: Three-dot low profile
• Magazines: Two 17-round, stainless steel
• Accessories: Accessory rail, brass barrel brush, cable lock, hard case, owner’s manual
• MSRP: $679