The House of 1911s - Available Stock Thread

WanstallsOnline

WanstallsOnline

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Maple Ridge BC
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As a newb to high end 1911 how does a Nighthawk compare to say a Wilson Combat or vise versa? ( besides the fact Nighthawk are in stock)
Thanks
 
Great selection. Right off the bat I can see at least a half dozen 1911's that I would love to have.

Time for a new safe...
 
Buying in the House have the Groundhog Day effect, every morning i am shooping to add a 1911 to my herd... I dont know if il'l make it the day without going for another one, not a bad feeling at all... Cheers. JP
 
caramel said:
Buying in the House have the Groundhog Day effect, every morning i am shooping to add a 1911 to my herd... I dont know if il'l make it the day without going for another one, not a bad feeling at all... Cheers. JP
Click to expand...

So which one of your collection you like the best caramel ?
 
North60 said:
As a newb to high end 1911 how does a Nighthawk compare to say a Wilson Combat or vise versa? ( besides the fact Nighthawk are in stock)
Thanks
Click to expand...

Nighthawk was founded by a group of Wilson employees that had some personal differences with the management at Wilson Combat. Both companies are in one town, which should probably get the official designation of "Ultimate 1911 Town" at this point. Nighthawk's master smiths are formerly Wilson master smiths. Nighthawk's decades of experience were once Wilson's decades of experience. The schism contributed to Wilson's lengthy waits... but pretty much immediately Nighthawk was in enough demand to have a similar wait. These days Nighthawk is around a 24 month US wait and so is Wilson's. Both occupy the the tactical wunderpistol market niche and compete there directly.

The reason the above is important, is to establish sort of a baseline for expectations. Nighthawk Custom and Wilson Combat guns have the shared lineage discussed above. Their employees are using the same techniques perfected over decades of doing it and doing it right. Blindfolded, you'd have a pretty difficult task of telling a Wilson apart from a Nighthawk unless you'd handled dozens upon dozens and have gotten used to the differences in serration widths ;) Both companies pour more man-hours into their pistols than even most of the custom shops, and coming from a shared heritage they share a level of expertise that has always set them apart. Both companies make use of all the finer niceties that some other companies don't, or charge extra for, such as the beveled take down pin recess, chamfering of slides, ball radius cuts, and flush cut crowns on the barrels. The resultant 1911s are astoundingly well-made. I've never met anyone who bought either and regretted it. They're simply exceptional guns. Nighthawk's compact models are currently a strong contender for best of breed at the moment. Wilson has been branching out lately to other models of gun/parts for guns. Both build fantastic customized 870s.

Either company is a safe bet for the best 1911 in the world these days. You can ask ten collectors/shooters and watch them split evenly down the middle. Neither side will be wrong.

Cheers,
Daniel
 
Dan, where would you place ED Brown 1911 compare to Wilson and Nighthawk, also those Maximus lot pretty good, what your assesement on them...
The only one i am sure of is the Les Baer... I bought some R1 and Sam but since i started with the LB, they were send to a good home...
My Colt Gold Cup just look awsome and the trigger and reset are great, i will compare it to the LB, but i have no expectations behond it being a runner up... Cheers. JP.
 
WanstallsOnline said:
Nighthawk was founded by a group of Wilson employees that had some personal differences with the management at Wilson Combat. Both companies are in one town, which should probably get the official designation of "Ultimate 1911 Town" at this point. Nighthawk's master smiths are formerly Wilson master smiths. Nighthawk's decades of experience were once Wilson's decades of experience. The schism contributed to Wilson's lengthy waits... but pretty much immediately Nighthawk was in enough demand to have a similar wait. These days Nighthawk is around a 24 month US wait and so is Wilson's. Both occupy the the tactical wunderpistol market niche and compete there directly.

The reason the above is important, is to establish sort of a baseline for expectations. Nighthawk Custom and Wilson Combat guns have the shared lineage discussed above. Their employees are using the same techniques perfected over decades of doing it and doing it right. Blindfolded, you'd have a pretty difficult task of telling a Wilson apart from a Nighthawk unless you'd handled dozens upon dozens and have gotten used to the differences in serration widths ;) Both companies pour more man-hours into their pistols than even most of the custom shops, and coming from a shared heritage they share a level of expertise that has always set them apart. Both companies make use of all the finer niceties that some other companies don't, or charge extra for, such as the beveled take down pin recess, chamfering of slides, ball radius cuts, and flush cut crowns on the barrels. The resultant 1911s are astoundingly well-made. I've never met anyone who bought either and regretted it. They're simply exceptional guns. Nighthawk's compact models are currently a strong contender for best of breed at the moment. Wilson has been branching out lately to other models of gun/parts for guns. Both build fantastic customized 870s.

Either company is a safe bet for the best 1911 in the world these days. You can ask ten collectors/shooters and watch them split evenly down the middle. Neither side will be wrong.

Cheers,
Daniel
Click to expand...

This is why I come here for answers and not "google" Thanks for the info Daniel you answered my question.
That Nighthawk Custom GRP two tone......... :xes
 
When i know more the Maximus really intrigues me and a Commander style EB Kobra Carry are contenders... JP.
 
caramel said:
Dan, where would you place ED Brown 1911 compare to Wilson and Nighthawk, also those Maximus lot pretty good, what your assesement on them...
The only one i am sure of is the Les Baer... I bought some R1 and Sam but since i started with the LB, they were send to a good home...
My Colt Gold Cup just look awsome and the trigger and reset are great, i will compare it to the LB, but i have no expectations behond it being a runner up... Cheers. JP.
Click to expand...

JP,

Ed Brown makes classic 1911s in a sort of updated old-school aesthetic. They are true to the original 1911 look in many ways, by omitting forward slide serrations, keeping understated lines, minimizing reshaping, not recessing the slide stop, and so on. The Ed Brown line is truly timeless, classic, and beautiful... even their tactical models like the Special Forces. They can certainly do the little extra machining bits that Nighthawk and Wilson do, and we have had a few custom order guns with all the bells and whistles that you never see on a normal Ed Brown, but they charge extra for it and it is not their primary goal. They strive to build beautiful, classic 1911s. They are also far and away the smoothest 1911s in the entire industry, so far without equal. They focus their master smith's work there. The slide to frame fit on an Ed Brown is exceptional even in a class of master grade pistols. They have more man-hours on that fit than anyone else, and it shows. They feel like they are gliding on ball bearings; there is no metal-on-metal resistance.

They are very accurate, very reliable guns, but they intentionally target a simpler, more original aesthetic with their guns. They do not shy away from modern technology and knowledge, they just make sure that they incorporate it in an understated, elegant way. Because they don't usually have forward slide serrations or flush cut barrels or beveled slide stops, they have fewer man hours on the mill in these areas and so their final prices usually come in under a Nighthawk or Wilson because of this. If you add all those options to a custom Ed Brown, you will find that it adds up to as much, or sometimes more. Ed Brown Custom tries to make a modern "gentleman's gun" and it is clear that they succeed there as their wait list timeline grows all the time. They shoot very well.


Maximus Arms' goal was to build a hand-made all-American combat pistol. They're a company full of as many engineers as smiths. They looked at the 1911 schematic and picked over eighty areas to improve, much as Diemaco did to the US M16 design when designing the Colt Canada C7 for the Canadian military and international export market. And much as Diemaco's improvements to materials and processes produced what is now the gold standard for military AR15s with serious improvements over the American model, Maximus went from the ground up starting right at the metal used to make the gun. They reinforced areas, relieved areas for better lubricity and clearance and better flushing of external dust and sand and water, and even made the ejector a singular integral piece of the frame. They made their magazine well integral to the frame as well, to avoid flexing or bending or damage and minimize drag on magazines catching any lips inside on the way in or out. Their biggest material change was to use one of the industry's toughest steels, 17-4PH, for the frame and slide. Their steel is the same steel used to construct the M1 Abrams tank and the barrels and major part assemblies of automatic cannons such as the 20mm M61 Vulcan and is many times stronger than the steel used in other small arms. This is largely overkill for the range, but their design was meant to be a hard-use gun suitable for extremely rough conditions. They stand up exceptionally well to abuse and poor climates and dirty areas and keep on trucking, so I'd say their 80+ list of changes was a solid game plan for their goal.


Cheers,
Daniel
 
Thanks so much for these write ups; as someone with an interest in the subject, but zero experience, I really appreciate the history and information you've provided.
 
Gary, it was a pleasure speaking to you about Nighthawk order the other day. You have a lot of knowledge and I feel good about making a jump into custom 1911.

Cheers.
 
The House's work is never done -- a shipment of SIG Sauer pistols just landed, including the STX, Scorpion, Stainless Target, and Traditional Reverse Two-Tone models. Check them out on our site! :)
 
Is there any way of knowing how the 80 Maximus design changes affected the ability to use standard 1911 parts? Is there any sort of spec sheet available that can detail this? Or perhaps they are still the same specs. Thanks in advance...
 
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