NightHawk Custom refinish project

hercster

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Ontario, Ca
I got into firearms rather late in life thanks to my first pleasure trip to Texas. I was a 65 year old Canadian who had never fired a handgun. In fact, I had never even held a handgun.

After a couple of SIG’s and a S&W PC revolver, I became convinced that I needed to own a Night Hawk Custom pistol in order to become a whole person. I joined all the popular gun forums and got a lot of encouragement from some of the great guys that seem to hang there every night.

Eventually I ordered a Predator ll with a bunch of options and in a colour scheme that was pretty unique for the time.



I still think that this gun was among the most stunning ever built by NHC. When it was delivered to me in Canada, there was a minor flaw because part of the slide hadn’t been dehorned the way I wanted. Larry Lyles was the customer service guy at the time and I think he was as good as they get at that job. He told me not to worry and that the gun would be corrected when I decided to return it for refreshing.

This year, I decided to do just that and got into contact with Bob Reeves who took on the job with such enthusiasm that I thought he was Larry reincarnated. Believe me, Bob takes second place to no one at the CS job. I had some special needs and can’t thank Bob enough for the effort he put in on my behalf.

My Predator ll was showing wear and there were a number of small features I wanted to change:

Originally, I had an ambi safety installed as I was shooting IPSC with it. I’m super fussy about some things and didn’t like the design of the right side control as it wasn’t symmetrical with the strong side. So I scrapped it and had NHC install their best single.

There was part of the slide that should have been beveled better. I pointed it out to NHC at the time and we agreed that would be addressed when I ever decided to get the whole gun refinished.

The shortened and countersunk slide stop has become popular on full customs so of course I had to have that done. :) Another popular design feature on the high-end guns, are French Borders so they were done as well as the muzzle ball cuts which make the front end of the predator look even more “burley”. I would not enjoy the "bad guy's" view of this pistol.

Here are a view rushed shots of the pistol as refinished in "Black Nitride". The only features that aren't really apparent in the pictures are the improved dehorning/beveling all round and the French borders which are thinly cut.









I like everyone of the features I asked for and the execution is flawless. There’s no way you might be able to say that it’s not a brand new gun. There are other options available but not many. I’ll bet she is still one of a kind now. I really like the Dirty Olive contrast of the grips.

NHC is supposed to be a "semi-custom" shop but you would never know it from the way Bob and the team handled my project. From beginning to end they made me feel as if I was there only and best customer.

It was a great experience and I know I have a "super star" pistol made by the best in the business.
 
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Very nice, Nighthawk custom carry is my wet dream 1911, but what pray tell are "french borders"?

These are narrow cuts running the length of the side bordering the top. Google French Borders and you will see lots of pictures but usually on high cost guns as the look "purty" but do nothing.

Here's a good example and easier to see than mine:

 
A lot of custom builders offer them and the Semi Custom shops offer them as options. I did it only because I was going to refinish and get other features done as the same time. Any machining to the slide usually means a complete refinish job too. So I bundled a few things together or it would be hard to justify the cost. The same was true for the ball cuts and the slide stop treatment. I'll bet these sorts of thing are big money makers as the better people have CNC setups for this sort of thing so it's set up and forget it. Katchingggggggg
 
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