COSMETICS/FIT/WEAR

Of the brands of high end 1911s I personally think each has a particular style and overall "design language" that while subtle in practice give all of them a visual separation that defines them from each other. Ed Brown has attention to small details, Wilson has many optional flourishes while maintaining standard parts, Nighthawks "thing" is that their guns have a tendency to be very unique gun to gun. All of the guns I have seen from Nighthawk are slightly different from each other even if they are the same model, there are small variations that are present as a result of one person making each gun start to finish. Generally speaking I don't view this as a good thing as I am one who prefers extreme consistency gun to gun but my opinion has matured as a result from carrying this gun for a while. Since mechanically the gun is sound I instead am beginning to view this inconsistency as endearing little quirks of each gun, call it almost a true custom gun sort of feel if you will.

Of all the brands Nighthawk by far has the most interesting finish options, chrome, ion-bond, black nitride, cerakote, bluing what have you.....the visual impact is stunning and even basc guns tend to be much more appealing in a "not Ed Brown subtle" way that requires a true 1911 junkee to see. A Nighthawk is the kind of gun Glock guys go "wow! Is that custom?" instead of paying no attention to (true story......at the Gen5 reveal no one paid my Wilson any attention until we had the "friendly" competition with some pins) people will be taken in by the very loud styling. If that is a plus for you this is great, I am a nerd who likes precision so I tend to geek out over mechanical specs hence instead of looks and is why I will take an ACR over a 911 any day. The main drawback to this is that the guns are very expensive for a given set of features and finishes, in general it cost a solid $500 more than a Wilson or Brown for the same options on a gun. With that in mind be aware you are also NOT getting the same level of gun to gun consistency and precision but if you get a good one.......it's damn nice.

The thing that stands out the most to me is the smoothness of the gun when manipulating it by hand, this is a result of the finish and lube I use (Chrome and Wilson grease) but the fact still stands the barrel glides in and out of lockup and the disconnector ramp, while weakening the slide, does a fantastic job of making everything feel frictionless. This is the gun you hand someone to wow them with smoothness. In terms of the other aspects......well I will go over each thing and what I have observed, it is interesting and you should see what I mean when I call this brand as a whole more of a true custom gun sort of outfit.

Chrome is nice isn't it? Like I said above this gun is a stunner and positively gleams under any light, actually made pictures hard to take since it kept reflecting too much.

More glamour, notice the very interesting stylistic choice of NOT checkering the main spring housing, this is actually one of my favorite things as the lines across it match the hammer, rear of slide, AND rear slight and create a horizontal "theme" that is unified across all the parts on the back AND flows into the grips.

This is the horizontal line motif I was referring to, all these cuts including the one on the hammer are the same spacing and from one consistent flourish that exists on multiple parts. The thumb safety also shares this spacing even though it runs perpendicular in another plane. Unfortunately you can also see the hilariously bad blend of the frame horn into the beavertail, in this picture I am pressing it down but it's just misaligned so badly that other areas come out of alignment if it's not depressed. The thumb safety is also not quite square, you can't see it all that well here but you can definitely hear it in use, it also lacks the rock like feeling of an Ed Brown.

Again note the the thumb safety not flowing into the contour of the frame and the beavertail in sequence, the bottom of the paddle area of the thumb stafy is noticeably closer to the frame radius and is also lower in terms of distance from the frame than the area with the pin. Also note the gap at the frame horn and grip safety and the ledge on the left side of the upper beavertail just past the thumb safety pin. Doesn't flow at all, however on a positive note you can NOT feel any of this when shooting.

The sharp end, ironically enough there are no uncomfortable edges except the rear of the front sight blade is a just a little snag prone. Everything is well chamfered but there is not the "art" like finish that an Ed Brown gun has around the bushing. Barrel is crowned a little unevenly and cleary done by hand, reverse plug is also just barely not even and projects slights above the bushing and is just slightly off center. Checkering is also not 100% consistent on it.

Slide underside chamfer is very nicely and evenly done, I love the way the cocking serrations are cut and feature symmetrical bevels on both ends. I wish this was the standard since some brands (*cough* WILSON *cough*) have a smaller bevel on the underside of the slide serrations and a longer one near the top of the slide, I prefer the symmetrical way it's done here. All the components on the rear of the slide line up perfectly flush with the top of the horizontal serrations, again I prefer a smooth rear of slide but in this case the execution is perfect and the OVERALL visual impact is stunning. Extremely nice decoration on the rear of slide and on the slide overall, even the chamfer on the rear side of the slide where the horizontal cuts are is done in a fashion that borders the extra embellishments and presents them in a way that is hard for me to put in words. It's literally boxing and defining the edges of the rear of slide work in a way that says "Look at this, care was taken here" opposed to some other rear of slide work that just comes to the edges and STOPS with no "picture frame" around it.

The frame contours on Nighthawks are unique, almost all other guns have an initial scallop then a slope leading down from the flats of the slide to the trigger blade. On this and other Nighthawk guns the frame simply gently slopes directly down into the trigger with no transition lines or cuts, this in my opinion is absolutely gorgeous and flows SO well and lends an elegant simplicity to the entire look of the gun that belies the fact that only a few extra lines were omitted. Additionally the flats of the frame are very defined with almost no "melt" present anywhere until you some to the dust cover where it suddenly melts into the front of the trigger guard area and flows into the rounded sections of the gun. Seriously. The way this is done is killer and the contrast of extremely defined flats yet organic flowing rounded areas with total lack of any additional cuts or contours that remains EVEN dimensionally is a thing of wonder. This directly contributes to my earlier statement of this gun being the most comfortable compact I have ever held.

This "organic" contour also extends to the slide stop, it looks soft and overly slippery in a weird way buy in use grabs your thumb to release the slide. It doesn't have the "cut by a laser" definition of an Ed Brown or the chamfered and smoothed look of a Wilson unit, it has a look all it's own that perfectly matches the vibe and style the frame has. Extremely well done cosmetically and tactilely.

Note, the gun came to me with these imperfections, the bushing makes sense but I have no clue why there is scratching on the slide. Also take this time to note the very gentile "swoop" cut the slide has, this follows the "organic" look described earlier.

Nice logo am I right? The logo is actually deeply engraved on the slide and I feel it is very tastefully done. Note the not so great slide stop geometry, the slide is beginning to show the very first stages of rounding as a result of this but I am not concerned as I predict it will take about 60000 rounds for it to become an actual issue. I don't plan on shooting this gun that much so it's a non-factor for me. Trigger is bare stainless but everything else down to the screws is hard chromed.

That rear of slide work I was ranting about, there is an even hammer strike but the extractor has some rotational play. Again note the massive step at the frame horns leading to beavertail, total lack of blending.

 

COSMETICS CONTINUED

Again note the scratches in the chrome, this angle shows what I mean that the bushing end is nicely done but not artful like the Ed Brown. Again note the plug projecting past the bushing slightly and the lower step not sitting flush with the end of the slide......it's stuff like this that are the reasons why that Ed Brown impressed me so much.

This picture very nicely displays that organic look I was talking about via the light reflections. The mag release is nicely done but only on par with Wilson, Eb Brown still has the nicest ones IMO.

Slide off.

Slide stop wear is fairly good, however this thing has the TIGHTEST slide stop I have ever encountered. It is extremely hard to get it in or out and I eventually had to slightly file it so that I would not scratch the frame and slide and worse than I already have, it still requires extremely precise alignment to fit but at least now it can be done without a hammer. This is again an example of that inconsistency I mentioned, my other NHC doesn't have this issue and slides in and out as easy as my other 1911s.

Rail wear is mostly at the very front and very rear, this gun as well as any Nighthawk pistol doesn't have the left rail cutout at the slide stop so it will likely crack there over time. Yes that is an idiot scratch, it is also on the slide due to aforementioned issues. I included a bunch since the chrome and lighting makes it hard to see wear.

Recoil abutment is centered and even with only a very very slight bias to the right hand side of the frame, I would prefer to see the impact points a little higher on the rails fronts where there is the most material.

There is a lot of slide underside contact with the frame, also note the disconnector ramp cut that lends so well to smoothness increases the likelihood of slide failure in that area. This is far more contact than I would like to see in a gun of this tier.

Slide lug wear is also semi random, I again would like to see this more centered and even.

 

Interesting...A light trigger is one of the key-determinate of accuracy at the highest levels. Usually if shooting light all the time, going to a heavier one, creates the problem (and the reason I will not shoot my Infinity "all the time" it just shoots so darn well with little effort)...I was surprised to read you had the opposite problem (going from heavy to light). One thing that can help you next time you do a test with a light trigger you are not use to: do about 20 Dry-fires a day or two before you take it to the range, that will get your finger/sub-conscious more in-tune to using the lighter trigger.

Another great review.

 

Well now that you mentioned it I came off the 1.4 lb trigger on my CZ to this one, it's a 3.2 on the NHC and I have a hard time going from light to sorta light instead of just heavy. I think you nailed it though.

 

Breachface is good, barrel is set squarely in the center and the gun uses a 9mm firing pin hole as all 1911s should. The only gripe I have with the breech face area is that the extractor does not always control the round during the feed process, if you move the slide slowly then the round rim will jump out of ANY mag in front of the extractor and you will have to push feed it. I don't like this, I prefer the gun to work as fully controlled round feed no matter what mag is used even if it's not quite as smooth when hand feeding. It is not a matter of not enough or wrong tension in this gun though, it's purely a reach/geometry problem though to be fair like I said it makes it feel very very smooth.

Barrel feet wear is good, also visible is the serial number that is engraved on all parts right down to the sear spring. That is a nice touch IMO.

Barrel side of the VIS looks good, barrel throating is cut without the small mini-ramp after the main profile and I find this odd considering Wilson and Ed Brown both have that type of profile to increase tolerance with a wider variety of ammo I assume. This gun doesn't seem to have it but also has no issues.

Hood wear is good, looks nice.

Mag release is under flush, disappointing but not BADLY off. The mag release spring detent/lock also happens to use a freaking hex bit head that while looks very nice and matches the grip screws is minorly annoying since all my other guns use a flat head. This not something that I can change out due to it also being hard chromed like every other small part. The front strap checkering is not only wonderfully defined and sharp but also has a nice border that separates the trigger guard undercut from the checkering, this is something I think that all manufacturers should start doing as it very nicely defines the checkers.

Again the checkering is excellent, it's 25 LPI and my 2nd favorite in terms of feel and function after my Supergrade. Very sharp visually and in use, again notice how nicely the border cut ties separates the "hard" lines of the front strap from the soft contours of the frame.

Closeup of the rear strap and beavertail, again note how the beavertail is not really blended. If you shake the gun the thing literally rattles about but when it's engaged it is totally solid. Ironic if you ask me, second and third pictures shows more of what I keep complaining about.

The following displays the theme that the rear horizontal cuts brings out, looks great in my opinion.

 

Magwell is not blended at all. It's just kinda bolted on the end of the gun, the blocky profile at the rear also makes the gun more print prone than a normal compact without a magwell but does engage my hand more so it feels better in the hand.

The gun allows a very very comfortable and high grip that naturally forms when you draw, the contour of the thumb safety with its midway swell is the best feeling I have used that also maintains a very low profile. Very high marks for comfort on this setup!

Lastly the gun comes apart easily and without fuss for simple cleaning. EVERYTHING is chromed very nicely and all parts are marked with the serial number.

As you can see Nighthawk guns vary in fit and finish quite dramatically, this is a direct result of having one person do everything instead of having people focus on one area they do really well. The wear patterns are okay but the randomness shows that the gun is not the most precisely built thing out there. Visually though these guns are absolutely stunning and have styling ques that set them apart in a good way from all the other semi-custom brands. The very very unique "organic" frame contour is unlike any other 1911s I have ever seen and is downright special to hold in hand, by far this is the most comfortable brand of 1911 overall to actually fire and use.

That parts that are fit/done well on this gun and other Nighthawks in general are done GREAT while the other parts are fit honestly sub-par. It's a strange contrast that on the same gun you can have an exquisitely well done trigger job and checkering yet a literally non-existent magwell and beavertail blend job. Normally there exists a "standard" on a given tier of 1911 that all sub sections of the gun are done at least up to a certain level, on this brand some parts are true custom level nice and other areas are beaten by a Colt. Odd but this fact is in it's own way endearing over time, I personally wish they were more consistent but on the same token I would be sad if this individual character each gun has goes completely away. My final statement is fix up the actual fir of the parts and leave the "individuality" of the guns alone since I fell that's where a lot of the appeal comes from.

Rating, 8/10. The guns are stunning and the exterior visual appeal is excellent, the chome job is silky smooth and the actual feel of the gun in hand is outstanding due to the organic frame contours. The only letdown is a non-perfect fit of functional parts and lack of blending on the beavertail.

 

Striker,
You mention a concern for the slide cracking due to the disconnector cut. Do you know of any guns breaking because of this, or is this supposition on your part? I don’t know of this mod causing a problem, but there’s lots I don’t know.
Jeff

 

Wilson themselves told me it weakens the slide and can lead to a crack in the disconnector rail as well as increases breechface stress when I asked why they don't have that cut to increase hand cycle smoothness. As of now I am simply going to believe them that it can lead to problems for no real operational benefits since it does follow from what I know about engines. More complicated shapes with many right angles tend to stress fracture more easily so it makes sense to me, plus you end up with two little nubs always being hit when you pickup a new round.......

 

Now thats a Major League review, nice job Striker!

 

FUNCTIONALITY

Carry use

This gun is odd, the magwell is so square that is practically becomes a commander size guns in actual use but without the handling benefits. In my experience this gun DOES print when a true compact would not and almost without fail the area that prints is the magwell, thankfully you can easily remove said well if you don't like it. The gun is very smooth and is comfortable in any holster and the safety will not dig into you if you are one who carries at 3 o'clock, mexican carry is very comfortable and there are no edges that annoy. I DO NOT CONDONE that style of carry nor do I practice it, I just simply wore it that way for a little for this review to share thoughts on the abrasiveness of lack thereof, I will also be adding that test to future reviews from here on. The gun is not a bull barrel gun or FLGR system but handles quite nicely despite this due to good stock spring tuning, the very aggressive grips and checking also help keep the gun in check when moving fast. There are no snag points during a draw and overall the gun is fast out of the holster and when in use on targets, overall firepower is good at a standard load of 7+1 of HSTs and is acceptable for the guns size class. The only drawbacks are the lack of a bull barrel and FLGR to facilitate faster speeds and of course it's a full stainless gun so wight will be a concern for some. The gun has no "speed limit" at self defense ranges and IDPA A-zone size acceptable hit zone, if it had better sights the ease of this speed would be greater and require less concentration. Word of warning, it doesn't use a titanium firing pin and it seems to have a normal FP spring so it may fire sooner if dropped than guns that do.

Rating 8/10, only drawback is the fact that even though it is a compact it actually conceals like a pro/commander size gun without the handling benefits.

Range of use

This gun honestly doesn't have much use outside of carry and IDPA competition since it is lacking a rail and MOS system and has no muzzle device to help increase it's capability range. It is very good at what it does but is not ideal for much else, I would not be remiss at having it as a "normal" sidearm though but I would greatly prefer the advantages conferred by having optics, threads, a rail, and or a comp for an open carry gun or one that is carried in conjunction with a rifle as well as a 2011 mag well for more rounds since concealment is a non-issue. Also again the weight becomes an issue with this gun not being your primary arm since it cuts into your other gear load out.

Rating, 3/10, massive point deduction due to the simple fact this is a specialized item.

Weight/convenience/maintenance

Well here is the verdict once again, it's an all steel 1911. It will be heavy for some but can seem weightless with a good belt and holster, the weight helps with speed during use though so it's not without gain. The gun is quite convenient due to being all hard chrome so cleaning is extremely simple (detail strip and off into the ultrasonic) and corrosion resistance is very good even if you don't lube the exterior/wipe it down in CLP. The springs are normal short interval ones but you can always switch these to Wilson flatwire ones or the Nighthawk "everlast" system that is similar, just remember to replace every 2000 and you will never have any issues. As usual keep adding lube and I feel the gun will not give you any problems and I have not experienced any in 1000 rounds on one set of lube.

Rating 8/10, this gun is not very sensitive, keep springs changed and rails lubed and it will work.

Effectiveness in intended roll

This gun is mostly effective in it's intended roll, it kinda puts itself in a hard spot with the magwell though since it loses the main benefits of a compact size gun (year rounds all clothes carry) but doesn't gain the extra shot and better hand contact of a professional/comancer size. I would say it would be far better if ordered without a magwell, had a round butt treatment, better sights for carry use, and a bull barrel and carry cuts up front.

Rating, 7.8/10, the gun has some size class confusion going on but is generally quite good at being a compact carry. Enough options exist to mold it into a more optimized gun.

Final thoughts

Well there you go, this particular NHC pistol is a nice example of the type and worth of being regarded as a top tier offering. There are some quirks inherent to the way these are produced but that is honestly part of the appeal, the brand is practically a collection of a bunch of custom smiths who make each gun to order and just unique enough that all have individuality. It is entirely up to the customer if that is a good thing or a bad one.

 

Here, since I went out today with the Sig P210A I had a chance to reshoot cold. That's 7 HSTs at the usual distance to show that the gun is indeed accurate and that I just suck.