Experience with Nighthawk Custom Guns

[Fergus]

Heading into to town today and was going to stop by the local gun shop and have a peak at a Nighthawk Custom Talon II. Just wondering if there are some folks out there with first hand experience with the product. Thinking about a 10mm.

1. How was it right out of the box?
   
2. Any reliability issues encountered?
   
3. Stuff to be aware of specifically for the Nighthawks?
   

If you would care to share that would be great or send a PM if that would be more appropriate.

Thanks

Edited February 10, 2009 by Fergus

[dr2e]

i have a talon and a talon II and there are nice, albeit expensive, pistols. it is nice that they will "customize" a model to your preferences. to answer your questions:

1) very nice out of the box. for the price you pay they should be.

2) both functioned 100% if i did what i was supposed to do. i say this because when i was taking a class after about 400 rounds the talon II had issues due to lack of lubrication. lubed it up and had no issues again.

3) n/a in my case (you mileage may vary... )

all together my experience has been positive and i would recommend them to anyone. if i had to do it over though i could get my 'smith to build a true custom for around the same price.

[03k64]

I have a NH Talon and it's a great gun. Very nice fit and finish, not quite as tight as Les Baer but more than tight enough and it's been completely reliable right out of the box. Mine was built before Ron Phillips left Nighthawk and though I haven't had any problems with mine, there has been some talk of QC problems at NH lately. I would have no problems in buying another one though I agree with dr2e in that I would have a smith build me a true custom for the same price.

Edited February 10, 2009 by 03k64

[1911vm]

Fergus the responds that you received from dr2e is extremely honest listen to him I wish I have been given that advice when I started. A lot of manufacturers have what is so called custom, that you usually end up changing or re-doing something on. I have purchased and sold a few of them, now I just order what I want and never look back. The other Option is to look for a good deal on a gun that has been done and add your own flair. Good luck

[Fergus]

Thanks for the responses - much appreciated. I too wonder sometimes about the $/value ratio so to speak. Do you spend the $ expecting the high priced gun to be everything you wanted in a gun or do you talk to your smith or special order. Tough call.

I'm just going to look today. For me I'd really like to get a 10mm I've only shot one a couple of times and it was very nice although don't seem to be that common. Anyway I heard the shop had some Nighthawks so I thought I would check them out. I've been looking on the net at the Dan Wesson Razorback, which I suppose I could give to my pistol smith and have him do some customizing.

Decisions, Decisions.

[Kyle O]

Nighthawk Dominator, wouldn't strip top round off of a wilson mag,

nighthawk mags work flawlessly (and cheaper)

3,000 rounds, no issues, just reliable, accurate shooting.

[Paul Burtchell]

Great guns no doubt, but for approx. a grand less you can have a true custom built by one of the gunsmiths who are on this forum. Just food for thought.

[sfinney]

But it wouldn't be a ....... NIGHTHAWK

Edited February 11, 2009 by sfinney

[austinkroe]

For reference, every Dan Wesson I have held has one of the tightest frame to slide fits I have ever felt. I think it would be a great place to start. I have no experience with NH but I have a couple of customs and have played with dozens more. The DWs were on par or better fit in the slide area.

That said, I would buy custom (gunsmith) before anything else if I wanted a specialized gun. SS 45 I would look elsewhere but a 10mm I would see a smith. I think you could have a good smith build one for less than the NH.

[dr2e]

i bought a dan wesson after the nighthawks to use as a "beater" pistol. i use it for L-10/singlestack and am very happy with it. it has been fine tuned some but all the internals are still factory. it runs, is accurate and has been reliable since day 1.

[Joe D]

There are better guns for way less money = Les Baer PII.

[1911vm]

[

their you go

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=122330668

[Fergus]

i bought a dan wesson after the nighthawks to use as a "beater" pistol. i use it for L-10/singlestack and am very happy with it. it has been fine tuned some but all the internals are still factory. it runs, is accurate and has been reliable since day 1.

I was thinking about shooting the SS in a couple of the local matches.

Appreciate all the great info. I see there is also a comment made about the Les Baer. Have to check that out as well hadn't thought about checking out gun broker or some auction type websites. Great stuff.

Regards

Edited February 11, 2009 by Fergus

[-JQ-]

Since we've drifted a bit...

I think choosing a high end product type custom and having one built by a smith are two different discussions.

While the workmanship of the small smith may be better (maybe a lot better?) buying the "brand" name custom has its place too. I bought a Wilson CQB knowing that most every shmoe knows who they are. So for resale (not that I will ever) there is some added value...

On the other side of the coin, I would love to get a true custom built from the frame up.

[bgary]

I'd really like to get a 10mm I've only shot one a couple of times

Might want to sort through that in greater depth before plunking down a bunch of money for a custom gun.

[voice of experience] I had a custom Open gun built several years back, and the 'smith did a *wonderful* job of building exactly what I told him I wanted. Only problem is, what I wanted turned out to be a really unpleasant combination when it came time to light it up. I "wish" I had spent more time learning about the options and their "relevance" for my purposes and tastes, before I started writing checks. In hindsight, what that means is I didn't really know what I wanted until I had paid for ...something else. Expensive lesson. [/voice]

B

[mikegot38]

Heading into to town today and was going to stop by the local gun shop and have a peak at a Nighthawk Custom Talon II. Just wondering if there are some folks out there with first hand experience with the product. Thinking about a 10mm.

1. How was it right out of the box?
   
2. Any reliability issues encountered?
   
3. Stuff to be aware of specifically for the Nighthawks?
   

If you would care to share that would be great or send a PM if that would be more appropriate.

Thanks

I have two Nighthawks. The first is the actual gun on the cover of one of their catalogues. Bobbed mainspring. Bought it on a whim instead of what I had planned to buy. It is now my main carry gun. Great fit and finish. It shoots 1 1/2' at 25 yards. Pretty darn good for a short gun. The second is a full size with a damascus slide. When I ordered the gun I was told 4 months and it arrived in 2 months. I would not accept it because when they clear coated the damascus slide, it turn an ugly shade of brown. The frame is their diamaond black. They offered to fix it but I wanted a new damascus slide. They emailed and emailed the supplier of the damascus slide and kept getting jerked around. Thus, after about 6 months of @#$% from the maker of slide, they took the gun back and sent the slide to Gene Shuey. He stripped the slide and acid etched it so it is a beautiful contrast of bright raised and black recessed damascus on the slide. I do not know what Gene charged them but it did not cost me a dime. The gun shoots 1 inch at 25 yards.

I also have a Wilson CQB that shoots 1 inch at 25 yards but you did not ask about Wilson.

I also have a Millennium Custom built by Derek Janowicz of this Forum. It is a great gun. I ordered it at 2008 Area 8 and had it in time for 2008 IDPA Nationals. But then again you did not ask me about that either. It shoots so well that at 25 yards I get one ragged whole.

All are in .45 acp.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 12, 2009 by mikegot38

[Kano]

.. Great Customer Service but you pay for it in what they now charge for a SEMI CUSTOM 1911. The early Nighthawks when Ron Phillips

worked there and they did not have as many models ... Decent Semi Custom. There permakote finish is not very good ... poorly fitted beavertail and safety for what they charge. run of the mill production custom with a lack of consistency. Most of the models have Storm Lake Barrels ( For the money they charge) I want a Kart or Bar Sto Barrel. I had 3 gunsmiths look over my Nighthawks and they could not see the high price tag. I sold mine and replaced them with other 1911's... I think they are a great bunch and very nice guys ..but there pistols are over priced production custom 1911's.....

[Jaxshooter]

I would have to agree with Kano. The two NH I have shot were not fit all that well beavertail, slide to frame etc.. You could see daylight under both front sights. For the same money or less I would go full custom. Baer or Wilson for semi customs at less money for a much better fit and finished guns.

[chp5]

Fergus - I don't know anything about the Nighthawk Custom Talon II.

I just wanted to say that's a great looking dog in your avatar!

Irish Wolfhound?

Edited June 30, 2009 by chp5

[00bullitt]

I had two Nighthawks back in the day when they first started up and got on their own after they left Wilson. I ordered two Predators. One was a bobtailed commander and the other a governemnt model. Both had Ti frames and the bull barrels with cone type muzzle bushing milled on the end of the barrel. Both guns were absolutley gorgeous. But neither one of them made it past 300 rounds until they started having feed issues. I tried every kind of mag and started troubleshooting. The problem was that the nose of the bullet would hit the feed ramp as it transitioned into the barrel and stick. The Ti did not like carbon and built up a rock hard sandpaper type coating stopping bullets in their tracks. They both went back to Nighthawk and came back about 3 weeks later. feed ramps were repolished on both and looked beautiful. Again........about 300 rounds and they started to choke again from the same thing. So......called Craig and back they went. Three weeks later again and they cam back with a grey epoxy type coating on the feed ramp area. So....off to the range and it ran the whole seesion without issue. About 400 rounds. I thought the problem was solved. I shot an IDPA match with the Govt model and it ran fine. Shot the commander later that day and no problems. Shoit them both later the following week and both ran about 200 rounds fine. The following weekend was another IDPA match. Got through the first two stages and then the same problem reappeared. So I got the Predator II(commander) and shot the next two stages. It ran fine. Last stage and it had the same problem. So....Monday morning,back on the phone with Craig and back they went. Two weeks later and Craig called and said it was issues with the Ti frames. I think he used the term carborizing. So he offered to rebuild the guns with Les Baer Aluminum frames. Well....I didn't really want Aluminum frames so I asked him about using ramped barrels but he said that would take a while because they did not have ramped barrels for the Predator guns with the milled bushings on the end. said it would take about 6 months to get them. Told me he could put regular bull barrels in them. Well.....I ordered the Predators for the cool looking barrels with the heavyweight bushings on the end of the barrel. So I asked Craig if the Nighthawk warranty was transferrable to other owners. He said yes. I told him they were going up for sale. So I had him recoat the feed ramps with that Epoxy stuff and got them back and sold them. Craig told me he would take care of me if I wanted to by another and that I would be moved up to the front of the line. I considered that but ended up buying some other high end custom guns. Of which I was never really happy with. But all in all......their guns are gorgeous and their customer service was first rate. But I'm pretty sure they no longer off the Ti frame option.

I spent right at $6000 for those two guns. Never got 1000 rounds through them. I know of several other guys that have bought guns from them and have not had any problems.

[aztecdriver]

I've got a T3, and about 1000 rounds through it. No issues that I didn't create, the only misfeeds were from rounds that shouldn't have been in the box that didn't have a good crimp. As of now, I couldn't be happier. I bought the gun for carry, and I wanted custom gun characteristics out of the box, with the customer service and warranty to back it up. After feeling the weapon, that was the choice I made - have not yet regretted it.