# New (to me) Tanfoglio 9mm Compact is here!!!!



## scpankow (Jul 6, 2010)

My gun came in a the local police supply yesterday and I left work to go pick it up.:smt038 Wow! Is it ever a beauty! :heart:These pics don't do it justice. 

I will take some tonight and post them. Hubs was really excited over how good the condition was. It is not a small gun, and I DID expect that, but it is very well made. It fits my hand well, I can reach all the controls without effort and the safety/dec**ker is ambi so my leftie hubs can operate it easily too. I could not quite remember how to disassemble it, so had to find a Youtube vid, but it disassembles pretty easily once you know how. The magazines are 12rd double stack and I have two so that should be enough. We gave her a good cleaning last night in anticipation of a range trip. Question: How do I find her manufacture date using the SN? :smt017I looked at the EAA and Tanfoglio sites to no avail....


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## recoilguy (Apr 30, 2009)

I don't know how to find the mfg date but I do know a nice weapon when I see one and that is a nice weapon! Congrats!!!!


RCG


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## scpankow (Jul 6, 2010)

I found this online...looks like mine was manufactured in 1976!! Must not have been used much, because it looks almost new!

This is for Italian made firearms made from 1954 to 2005. Before that date they used Roman numerals indicating the month and year. Hope this is helpful.

X=1954
XI=1955
XII=1956
XIII=1957
XIV=1958
XV=1959
XVI=1960
XVII=1961
XVIII=1962
XIX=1963
XX=1964
XXI=1965
XXII=1966
XXIII=1967
XXIV=1968
XXV=1969
XXVI=1970
XXVII=1971
XXVIII=1972
XXIX=1973
XXX=1974
AA=1975
AB=1976
AC=1977
AD=1978
AE=1979
AF=1980
AH=1981
AI=1982
AL=1983
AM=1984
AN=1985
AP=1986
AS=1987
AT=1988
AW=1989
AZ=1990
BA=1991
BB=1992
BC=1993
BD=1994
BF=1995
BH=1996
BI=1997
BL=1998
BM=1999
BN=2000
BP=2001
BS=2002
BT=2003
BW=2004
BZ=2005


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## cougartex (Jan 2, 2010)

Very nice, congratulations. Safe shooting.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

scpankow said:


> I found this online...looks like mine was manufactured in 1976!! Must not have been used much, because it looks almost new!
> 
> This is for Italian made firearms made from 1954 to 2005. Before that date they used Roman numerals indicating the month and year. Hope this is helpful.
> 
> ...


This chart doesn't seem to apply to the gun pictured.

Hi, I have an almost identical gun, bought from the same seller (My pics look almost identical to yours) and I don't have a link to the site I found the info at now, but I found mine was built in 1990, I know that Tanfoglio wasn't making any CZ75 clones anywhere near as early as 1976. If you look on one of the auction sites at the fullsized versions, it's easy enough to figure out from the squared off triggerguard that our guns are rebranded TZ90/Witness compacts of 89-9? vintage. The Tanfoglio company name changed in the early nineties and the name on our guns shows when it's made also, as the name wasn't used all that long. It had something to do with the sons taking over the business, and making guns under their name, and then changing it again. The "made for" (Can't remember the name of the company now, I'm at work) changed to IWI (Israel Weapons Industries) later on, and that again shows the approx age of these guns.

Doesn't really matter, it's still a unique and great not so little gun!


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## scpankow (Jul 6, 2010)

nrd515525 said:


> This chart doesn't seem to apply to the gun pictured.
> 
> Hi, I have an almost identical gun, bought from the same seller (My pics look almost identical to yours) and I don't have a link to the site I found the info at now, but I found mine was built in 1990, I know that Tanfoglio wasn't making any CZ75 clones anywhere near as early as 1976. If you look on one of the auction sites at the fullsized versions, it's easy enough to figure out from the squared off triggerguard that our guns are rebranded TZ90/Witness compacts of 89-9? vintage. The Tanfoglio company name changed in the early nineties and the name on our guns shows when it's made also, as the name wasn't used all that long. It had something to do with the sons taking over the business, and making guns under their name, and then changing it again. The "made for" (Can't remember the name of the company now, I'm at work) changed to IWI (Israel Weapons Industries) later on, and that again shows the approx age of these guns.
> 
> Doesn't really matter, it's still a unique and great not so little gun!


I _*thought*_ it seemed in too good of a condition to be that old! But still, 1990 means 20 years old...I LOVE this gun! cannot wait to get it to the range. There are only two things I am still trying to work out...Working the slide is different because of the decocker and I have not quite figured out exactly the best way to do it. Also, finding a holster is proving difficult, I may have to go with a custom job. I would be very interested in knowing where you found that info. I thought this was a BTA 90, not a TZ90 clone...Anyway, I am so happy with it and glad to have met another person with a gun like mine.


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## scpankow (Jul 6, 2010)

Here is a copy of an email I got from the owner of Empire Arms:

******************************************************

Thanks for the quick reply! Trying to figure out when it was made, etc.

Early to mid 1990's (the model is a TA90, and was introduced in 1990).

It has unique star of david and "Mossad" stamping on it.

Israeli contract indeed issued to the Mossad (Israeli security forces). This model was repaced in service by the CZ100 in 2007.

also, we could only get 14 rounds into the magazine...no more than that...

Actually the compact model only holds 13 rounds. It is the full-size Mossad pistol that holds 15 rounds. The 15-round magazines will fit in your pistol, but there is a gap at the bottom.

Any idea what kind of finish is on it?

Electroless nickel.

I really appreciate your help.

No probem.

Dennis Kroh, owner, Empire Arms
e-mail: [email protected]
95 Seminole Ave, Ormond Beach FL 32176
(386) 677-7314 FAX only (386) 677-7324

Thanks,
Shannon


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

scpankow said:


> I _*thought*_ it seemed in too good of a condition to be that old! But still, 1990 means 20 years old...I LOVE this gun! cannot wait to get it to the range. There are only two things I am still trying to work out...Working the slide is different because of the decocker and I have not quite figured out exactly the best way to do it. Also, finding a holster is proving difficult, I may have to go with a custom job. I would be very interested in knowing where you found that info. I thought this was a BTA 90, not a TZ90 clone...Anyway, I am so happy with it and glad to have met another person with a gun like mine.


I didn't look all that closely at your pics, but there is one difference I hadn't seen. Mine doesn't have a decocker, it's got the usual safety on the frame, like most Tanfoglio guns do.

I got a holster with a gun years ago that I tossed into a drawer, I don't remember what it was for. It's really tight, but my gun does fit. I may take and trim the bottom about an eighth inch or so back, to let the gun go in all the way. It's not in all that great shape anyway, so I guess I can't mess it up too badly. I have another one, a nylon mesh type, that came with my Astra A-75, that will hold the "Mossad" gun, but it sticks out to the point it looks bad. The strap just is able to close up. I'm sure that if you take the gun to a gunshop, you can find one that fits.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

scpankow said:


> Here is a copy of an email I got from the owner of Empire Arms:
> 
> ******************************************************
> 
> ...


That appears to pretty well line up with the info I found on the net. I showed my gun to a friend of mine yesterday and he thought he might get one, as a collector's item. Gary Cole has a good number of them.


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## scpankow (Jul 6, 2010)

nrd515525 said:


> That appears to pretty well line up with the info I found on the net. I showed my gun to a friend of mine yesterday and he thought he might get one, as a collector's item. Gary Cole has a good number of them.


Yeah, that is pretty much why we got this one. I really like it, and cannot wait to get it out to the range. Gary is really good to deal with.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

I shot mine Sunday morning, and it was great. For some reason though, I didn't shoot it all that well, but my friend did and he's looking at Cole's auctions trying to find one equal to yours or mine, with the older squared off triggerguard like ours has. My gun went through about 200 rounds without a hitch, shooting a mix of WWB and some bulk reloaded stuff.

He has a Witness compact, and the mags for it went in and worked fine, so I have ordered a couple new ones from CDNN. I like to have 3 mags for each of my guns, and I mark them 1-2-3 and test them for function and if one doesn't work right, I tweak it until it does, or I get rid of it. The only one I never could tweak was one of the ones for my old Beretta 84, it just didn't work in my gun, so I traded it to a friend with a Browning BDA who had a mag that didn't work in his gun, and it solved the problem.

Everyone who has seen my Mossad gun has been amused by it, and I bet they all wind up with one.


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## SWC45 (Aug 24, 2010)

Can you tell us where you purchased your Mossad Tanfoglio 9mm Compact ?

Thank you.


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## tekarra (May 16, 2007)

You have one fine pistol! Being a Mossad adds to its interest, if not its value. Having seen a similar pistol on another forum, I did some digging and found it quite inetersting. Hope you do the same as it will give you some stories when other people it.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

SWC45 said:


> Can you tell us where you purchased your Mossad Tanfoglio 9mm Compact ?
> 
> Thank you.


Mossad/Tanfoglio 9mm Compact : Semi-auto at GunBroker.com

He adds auctions every so often. If you want one, I wouldn't wait, he's sold quite a few of them so far, so I would imagine there can't be that many of them left.


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## Packard (Aug 24, 2010)

I Googled Tanfoglio and got this video:

YouTube - Shooting my Tanfoglio BTA90 compact 9mm

Aside from the fact that the shooter was not wearing eye or ear protection, and it took about 15 minutes for him to fish out his 2nd clip, please note that he had two jams in the 2nd clip that needed clearing.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

Well, it's hard to tell why exactly it had problems. Mine went through all kinds of ammo without a hitch with the mag that came with it. The only thing I'm doubtful about is the new mag I bought fits VERY tightly, and that's always a bad sign from past experience. But who knows, maybe it will be ok when I finally test it. 

Not wearing protection is just dumb. From the audio on the youtube clip, he's in a spot where the echoes will make it worse than an open spot. I don't know what he's trying to accomplish.

But then again, who am I to talk, I went to about 50 drag races without hearing protection. Back then, it was considered a "sissy" move to wear any. That changed in the early 80's.


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## bbbones (Jan 12, 2016)

Bought mine back in the early '90s from a neighbor, near mint condition w/3 12 rd. mags, box of ammo, case & cleaning brushes.
Has 'AU' stamped on it just above trigger guard on the right side. Found no 'AU' as to determining manuf. date but assume between 1988-89? 
GREAT pistol.


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## nrd515525 (Feb 12, 2007)

I don't know how to tell exactly when they are made, the changes made are mostly to the trigger guard, and then later the Witnesses went to the large frame for all the guns, at least the FS ones. Both my guns serial numbers have the same first letters, so I'm guessing that they were made about the same time, but my FS gun has a rounded trigger guard, the compact has the squared off one. I like the squared one better, but it's not a big deal.


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