Nighthawk firearms.......

[Bronze]

Does anyone have any personal experience with one of the Nighthawk .45's? the dept. I have apply'ed to has a very open policy about your duty piece and just about anything goes (with in reason, no .50's, nickel plating etc.) and I have been eyeballing one of these night hawks. The craftmanship is second to none and everything about them is very practical.

Can anyone give me any real world info on these? Its either one of these or my H&K USP .45 tactical.

[steve1568]

If you wanna go with a .45 for duty work go with a Glock 21SF, less mechanical issues and easier to maintain in my humble opinion.

[fdkay]

The 1911 is a fine platform. If they are going to pay you enough to carry a semi-custom firearm, knock yourself out.
I would probably look to a Springfield, Taurus or Kimber. But I'm frugal. (Kimber is not exactly cheap)
I don't understand the mechanical "issues". Draw the weapon, sweep the safety and shoot, it's been working for about 97 years.
There are far more top competition shooters in IPSC/USPSA using a variation of the 1911 then there are using Glocks.

[Bronze]

I would probably look to a Springfield

I have a Springfield 1911 I thought about putting some novak sights on and calling it a day but I have had issues with it in the past. Probably all revolving around bad range ammo, but it still makes me think.

[fdkay]

The key is, have you EVER had an issue with SAAMI spec commercial ammo?
Some of that range ammo is locally reloaded and may not be to spec. You can also have the ejection port enlarged for much less than the cost of a new firearm.

[Blackdog F4i]

If you are going to carry a 1911 for duty, then a Nighthawk Custom would be an excellent choice.

If you choose a 1911 you better put in the time on it.

If you are not a "gun guy" go with a G21 or G21SF.

I AM a gun guy and love carrying the G21.

[EricDel]

Just curious what makes the 1911 difficult to use compared to the G21?

[David Hineline]

Just curious what makes the 1911 difficult to use compared to the G21?

It has a manual safety to use not just pull the trigger go bang

It has a very light trigger pull, must not put finger on trigger unless you intend to shoot.


It has a safety on the grip housing, must remember to keep proper grip or gun will not go bang when needed.

It also needs be tested with ammo and often, and jam clearing drills should be practices as often they can have function issues that can be hard to solve.

Once deemed reliable the 1911 can make distance shots the Glock could never dream of but instant reliability would goto Glock.

[WHD90R]

Super light single actions can be a liability in police work since you are quite often covering a suspect without shooting. Having a trigger that needs a deliberate pull instead of a soft touch is more likely to keep you from going oops in a stressful situation.

[EricDel]

Thanks for the information, yeah that doesn't seem like it would be by choice as a on-duty gun or really my first choice off-duty.

[jwise]

Nighthawk enjoys a very good reputation for quality.

I carried an H&K USP45F SS for a while when I was a rookie. I switched to the Glock 21 when I decided to get a weaponlight, as I could not (at the time) find a holster for the USP + UTL (proprietary H&K weaponlight.)

The Tactical uses the same rail as the old USP, so it is going to give you the same hassle. Hopefully Safariland makes a holster for it now. Better make sure before you choose to use it.

I've got a couple 1911s, and am also a "gun guy"; but I choose to carry a Glock 21 on duty.

[pulicords]

I carried a Nighthawk Custom GRP II as my primary duty weapon for my last 18 months on the department before retiring. It was accurate, dependable and did everything I could expect of it. Like any service pistol, I kept it clean, used quality (issue) ammunition and used the best magazines I could find (Wilson 47Ds, then ETMs).

[Frank Sector]

I hear Nighthawk is a good product, put together by former Wilson Combat employees.
Save 2 grand and buy a S&W or a Springfield 1911.

[pulicords]

.....Disgruntled ex-Wilson employees! If you want the best, get it from someone with an ax to grind, something to prove and is working at establishing a better reputation for themselves than the guy(s) they used to work for! NHC puts out such a product and if you can appreciate the work put into it (upon inspection), it's worth every penny!

[Frank Sector]

.....Disgruntled ex-Wilson employees! If you want the best, get it from someone with an ax to grind, something to prove and is working at establishing a better reputation for themselves than the guy(s) they used to work for! NHC puts out such a product and if you can appreciate the work put into it (upon inspection), it's worth every penny!

Point taken.
As for worth every penny, I have used my modified Para SSP for 3 or 4 years now and it functions FLAWLESSLY. It is worth every penny and it cost me about 200,000 pennies less than a Nighthawk.
Great product and if I had the coin I would get one.