Nighthawk Custom Customer Service

[mikem]

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer so excuse the quality of the pictures

In late 2006 I got in on an order with Nighthawk for a GRP Recon. A dealer I know was looking to become a stocking dealer and needed to come up with 10 guns for the start. In helping him out he cut me a deal on the price. I had been carrying a Springfield MC Operator for about 2.5 years at that point and it was at about 20,000 rounds. I figured it was a good idea to have a replacement/spare and being a 1911 geek I was ready for a custom gun.

The gun arrived in about February 2007 and the only changes I made were to replace the standard grips with a set of Gunners. I had to do a little work to get the policy expanded beyond just the Springfield and I noticed that with my duty rounds the gun shot 8" high at 25 yards. Here is where my work with Nighthawk Custom customer service started. I emailed them about the gun shooting high and they responded quickly. They asked what round I was carrying and asked for me to send the gun in. I did and within a week they sent it back with a different front sight. Problem solved and all I paid for was shipping to the factory.

Here is what the gun looked like about a year after carrying it. It spent a lot of time with the X200 on and the finish started to wear on the frame rails.



I shoot a lot and I carry the gun every day. The gun started to show signs of wear but that was to be expected and I had no issues with the "used" look. The round count started to add up quickly. I shoot this gun weekly and have taken it to 5 or 6 classes. I have also used it for local USPSA matches.

In late 2008 at about 13,000 rounds I replaced the extractor. Other than that it ran on a steady diet of 230 grain FMJ and JHP's. I replaced the recoil and firing pins on a regular schedule at every 3000 rounds. It digested every thing I threw at it and continued to run very well. Somewhere in early 2011, around the 24,000 mark, I replaced the extractor again. When doing this I noticed the front sight was loose and would wiggle slightly. I did a little further checking and realized the cold rolled pin that secured it to the slide was sheared off. I emailed Nighthawk and within 24 hours they mailed me an envelope with 10 extra cold rolled pins. I was back in business.

All was well and the gun continued to chug along. I cleaned the gun on a regular basis of about once a month or about every 500 rounds. I detail strip the gun every 6 months and look at the hammer and sear engagement and the rest of the internals. In June of 2011 I was out shooting with Badger and while reloading some magazines I noticed something didn't feel right as I went to top the gun off. I looked closer and found that the safety had broken off right in front of the cross pin that attaches it to the frame. Below is what I was looking at.




You can see in the second picture that the finish is pretty worn on the slide. The gun was at about 25,500 rounds at this point. I emailed Nighthawk told them what had happened and the approximate round count. They told me to send the gun in. I paid for shipping and had no issue with that. The gun was over 4 years old and had a high round count. They received the gun and fitted a new safety free of charge. The rep called me and asked if, since the gun was such high use and looked "pretty beat up," I would like it refinished in the new Nitride finish they were doing. I agreed and paid for the gun to be refinished. It was $200 and they covered the cost of return shipping. The gun was gone for roughly a month and came back looking good as new. I was happy and went back to shooting it.

About a month ago the gun was at just under 31,500 rounds. I was doing some dry fire prior to starting my shift. As I went to load back up I noticed what I thought was a dog hair on the side of my slide. (I have a dog with a thick undercoat and those little hairs end up stuck to everything) I tried wiping it off and realized I was looking at a crack on the side of the slide. I flipped it over and noticed the other side had a similar crack but it was a bit harder to see. Here are the pictures of what I was looking at.





Once again I emailed Nighthawk. This was at the beginning of my power shift so the email went out around 7pm. I had a response by 8am. It told me to wait for a call tag and shipping label. I had the gun boxed up and shipped by noon on a Thursday at Nighthawk's expense. I got an email on Tuesday of the next week saying they would be replacing the slide and other components. The email didn't specify what components but I read that as everything above the frame. The email also said it would be about a month. This was on the 16th of October. I was a little shocked to hear it would turn around that fast because I know if you order a Nighthawk it is a significantly longer wait time.

Fast forward to Thursday 11/15. I received a shipping notification stating my gun was on the way. I never was called or emailed about payment, costs involved or any other item. The gun showed up yesterday. It is a new gun. Well let me clarify that. It has the same frame and serial number. Other than that every part was replaced. It has a new slide, barrel, bushing, guide rod and spring. That was what I was expecting based on the email. It also has had all the parts in the frame replaced. The hammer, trigger, disconnector, sear and safety are all new as well.

I did not expect this to be free. I have used this gun hard for over 5 years. I average 6000+ rounds a year. I know this is a wear item and like all machines they will break. Nighthawk Custom went above and beyond on this and I had to share it with the community. This is what it looks like this morning!!

[STS]

That is awesome news. I am actually impressed because as of lately, it seems all I ever hear of about Nighthawk is how their quality and customer service has really gotten bad. Maybe it was just all the typical internet BS. Thanks for sharing with us.

[WillBrink]

Excellent write up, thanx. It sounds like the issues you had they made it right fast. However, am I the only one who finds such serious issues you have had in a gun with a tad over 30k rounds bad mojo?

Machines break, and you could have a "on of" gun in those issues, but did your SA have any such issues at 20K + rnds?

For me, and I could be off base here, your story tells me I'm gonna go with Wilson, Ed Brown, SA Pro etc for 1911s well known for their ability to have few problems even at higher rnds counts.

[STS]

Forgot to ask if the slide was cast or forged?

[mikem]

STS - I don't remember if it was a forged or cast slide.. sorry.

Will - I don't think this is a quality issue. I don't know of a lot of pistols with round counts this high. I do know a lot of people that over exaggerate their round counts. I keep a notebook and an Excel spreadsheet to document my rounds. I also keep the rounds my team fires in a separate book to monitor the life of the pistols they use (I am sure I have missed some rounds but I have a good idea). I do this for Glocks as well and have had some pretty interesting failures on Glocks too.

I am the armorer for 14 1911's. There are 2 Nighthawks, and 12 Springfield Armory guns. These guns are duty guns and see heavy usage. Mine see the most usage. The other Nighthawk has had the safety replaced when it snagged on some gear and bent. Otherwise it has been going strong. It has about 17000 documented rounds down range.

As for the Springfield Armory guns there have been issues as well. The majority of these guns are MC Operator's with 1 Pro. The Pro has just passed the 20000 round mark. The owner has been carrying it since 2005. It went back to Springfield for a crack in the frame about 8000 rounds ago. It cracked right above where the window is for the slide lock (this is not uncommon on 1911's). Springfield milled out the area and returned the gun. About 2000 rounds ago, in the 18000 round range, the gun had a Kaboom. I posted pictures on Lightfighter and 10-8. This was and has been a known problem with the Pro and the reason they changed the barrels they were running. Springfield fixed that problem without issue.

My Springfield is a MC Operator. It had the ejector work loose from the frame around the 14000 round mark. I contacted Springfield. I returned the gun and they pinned the ejector. They have since done it for every MC Operator on my team. This is not a huge thing but it is something they should be doing from the factory.

Some other issues from Springfield (to include the Pro) was no bevel to the top of the back edge of the guide rod. This will peen the barrel lugs on the 1911 and cause undue stress to the lugs. It will also restrict movement of the link. I had to take a file to every Springfield we have ever gotten to correct this. It took me about the 1st year of working with 1911's and several phone calls and emails with Tim Lau before I got the issue worked out. I watch the barrel lugs on the original guns closely but to date none have cracked.

Bottom line is 30000 rounds is pretty high count and when talking to some pretty switched on 1911 guys you will start to see things go wrong past 25K rounds.

Am I defending Nighthawk, yes. I am also defending Springfield as they have been very stand up with any issues we have had with guns with similar or lower round counts.

On that front even Glock has replaced every frame that we have had break, some at the +/-10000 round mark. We have even had several break that were not in the flagged series of serial numbers from the 2001-02 time period.

I have never owned or worked on a Wilson or an Ed Brown thus no comments on them.

[El Pistolero]

It's nice to read about great customer service. Too often, people only post about negative experiences. If I ever have three grand to drop on a 1911 I will give Nighthawk a hard look.

[DAT85]

Thanks for taking time out to post your experiences with NHC !

As a semi-custom 1911 geek,I always am interested in "real user"reports about QC and customer service of the builders of these guns.

Have a good Thanksgiving !

DAT85

[Pappabear]

Good story. Everyone bitches when they get hosed. Not enough of us tell everyone when a great mfg takes care of their customers.
BCM, NOVESKE, SPRINGFIELD and we all know NIGHTHAWK takes great care of their users.

Makes you feel good about owning a Nighthawk.

[WillBrink]

STS - I don't remember if it was a forged or cast slide.. sorry.

Will - I don't think this is a quality issue. I don't know of a lot of pistols with round counts this high. I do know a lot of people that over exaggerate their round counts. I keep a notebook and an Excel spreadsheet to document my rounds. I also keep the rounds my team fires in a separate book to monitor the life of the pistols they use (I am sure I have missed some rounds but I have a good idea). I do this for Glocks as well and have had some pretty interesting failures on Glocks too.

I am the armorer for 14 1911's. There are 2 Nighthawks, and 12 Springfield Armory guns. These guns are duty guns and see heavy usage. Mine see the most usage. The other Nighthawk has had the safety replaced when it snagged on some gear and bent. Otherwise it has been going strong. It has about 17000 documented rounds down range.

As for the Springfield Armory guns there have been issues as well. The majority of these guns are MC Operator's with 1 Pro. The Pro has just passed the 20000 round mark. The owner has been carrying it since 2005. It went back to Springfield for a crack in the frame about 8000 rounds ago. It cracked right above where the window is for the slide lock (this is not uncommon on 1911's). Springfield milled out the area and returned the gun. About 2000 rounds ago, in the 18000 round range, the gun had a Kaboom. I posted pictures on Lightfighter and 10-8. This was and has been a known problem with the Pro and the reason they changed the barrels they were running. Springfield fixed that problem without issue.

My Springfield is a MC Operator. It had the ejector work loose from the frame around the 14000 round mark. I contacted Springfield. I returned the gun and they pinned the ejector. They have since done it for every MC Operator on my team. This is not a huge thing but it is something they should be doing from the factory.

Some other issues from Springfield (to include the Pro) was no bevel to the top of the back edge of the guide rod. This will peen the barrel lugs on the 1911 and cause undue stress to the lugs. It will also restrict movement of the link. I had to take a file to every Springfield we have ever gotten to correct this. It took me about the 1st year of working with 1911's and several phone calls and emails with Tim Lau before I got the issue worked out. I watch the barrel lugs on the original guns closely but to date none have cracked.

Bottom line is 30000 rounds is pretty high count and when talking to some pretty switched on 1911 guys you will start to see things go wrong past 25K rounds.

Am I defending Nighthawk, yes. I am also defending Springfield as they have been very stand up with any issues we have had with guns with similar or lower round counts.

On that front even Glock has replaced every frame that we have had break, some at the +/-10000 round mark. We have even had several break that were not in the flagged series of serial numbers from the 2001-02 time period.

I have never owned or worked on a Wilson or an Ed Brown thus no comments on them.

Good follow up info. Very helpful, thanx.

[loupav]

Great write up and thank you for posting.

I've had a few run ins with NH CS, and with me they've been a little slow. But true to their word.