Posted: 3/9/2008 12:52:59 PM EDT
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Some of you may remember the write-up I did when I first got my NHC around Christmas time (2007). Well, I figured I'd do an update. You always hear glowing reviews when someone first gets a new gun, but you don't hear much about what they think after they've had some time with it. Ok, so here we are about 2.5 months later. I've got just over 1000 rounds through it (1046 exactly according to my log). Not an incredible amount and much less than any of my other 1911s. But very rarely do my range sessions exceed 100 rounds, so it does take a while and that represents a decent amount of range trips and different experiences. Just imagine how many range trips I've had with my Wilson - it has 8226 rounds through it!!! As I noted when I first got the gun, I was having quite a few 3-point jams. I diagnosed this as too much tension on the extractor and dealt with that myself. I have not had any more issues since. Disappointing on a production gun and even more so on a 1-off custom. It's the only issue I've had with the gun and as far as issues go, it's the one I'd want to have since it is not a permanent problem and is very easily dealt with. The gun is quite reliable now. I have noticed that the chamber is a bit tighter than my other 1911s (this gun uses a barrel marked with "Nighthawk" and "Match" on it). The chamber is still quite generous and will feed about 90% of my handload "rejects". The rejects are rounds that will not fit all the way in a SAAMI-spec case gauge. For comparison, 0% of the rounds that fail this test work in my XD. However, my Wilson, Colts, and Kimber feed about 95-99% as a guesstimate of these kinds of rounds. Probably due to the tighter chamber, I've noted that the gun seems to be a bit more consistently accurate than any of my other 1911s. Most box-stock guns run as accurately as I can shoot them though as I tend to shoot more for speed and never shoot from a bench. But I will say that the Wilson and NHC do give me better groups -- and the NHC seems to have the advantage over the Wilson in that regard. The barrel on the NHC shows a lot of wear on the outside due to it being such a tight-fit gun. It's fit more tightly than any 1911 I own. The wear on the hood is very even and there are no unworn spots -- which shows that the barrel is engaging the lugs quite well and is expertly fit. NHC did a VERY good job in this regard. It beats my Wilson, by comparison. The trigger is wearing in nicely and is crisp and light. It is what you would expect from a custom 1911. I do think my Wilson's trigger is slightly better, but we're splitting hairs here. The finish on the gun is their Diamondblack and it's really very nice. This gun is not a carry gun for me, so I can't really say how it holds up to carry use. I wouldn't mind carrying it, but it just seems too nice for that as I have other guns that work just as well and cost significantly less. On the inside of the slide and frame I do note some wearing of the finish, which is to be expected, but it seems to be holding up quite well. It is supposed to be one of hardest, most rust-resistant finishes. I can't really evaluate that very well. I've never even rusted my worn blued-finish Colt. I tend to take real good care of my guns. The cosmetics and workmanship of the gun are definitely second-to-none. It's THE best fit gun I've owned. The slide-to-frame fit is so tight and well-executed that they look like one solid unit from the back and actually require a bit of force to separate on field stripping. The gun has no blemishes that I can find. All in all, I'm very happy with the gun. Was it expensive? Oh yeah. Was it worth it? That depends. For me, yes. But I'm a 1911 aficionado so to speak and value a really nice 1911. Is it necessary for a carry gun or even for a good range shooter? No way. Would I get another NHC based off of this? MOST DEFINITELY. Since pics are obligatory, here's the gun and then a pic of the target from the latest range session. For the target, that was shot at 25 yards (75 feet), two-hand hold off-hand (not from a rest). It is 100 rounds (yes, it really is -- I was wondering where the others went too... must be in that big hold in the middle) using assorted handloads of 185grn SWC, 200grn SWC, and 230grn LRN. I'm not a bullseye shooter and shoot about 1 shot each second (I try and train to a balance of speed and accuracy).  
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Yes. I gave them a list of requirements and they built me a gun. They quoted 6-months... and they delivered a few days before that deadline hit. A lot of the wait-time was due to my requirement for a custom serial number. |
Thanks ! I was wondering whether they did "customer spec" builds. |
Thanks guys! haha -- you're probably right about that. My problem is I become too attached to some guns, so I don't want to carry them for fear of ever losing them should I have to use them. And while this one has proven itself, I'm more comfortable with my other 1911s just because I "know" them better. I've spent A LOT of range sessions with my other guns, so I've got a good feel about what they can and can't do and how they behave. I'm not quite ready to say that about this one yet. Maybe in another year or so. I think I've decided on a Baer SRP hardchrome for my next gun! |
To be honest. No. Maybe once or twice when I was younger. I only shoot what I carry. Dry fire for trigger control. Use carry ammo at the range for consistency. Yeah I'm crazy. |
| Yeah, wadcutters do that. They punch nice little holes in that construction-type paper that good targets are made out of. If you look closely, you can see which ones are wadcutter hits and which are the LRN. The round nose profile makes a "messier" tear in the paper. |
Sadly, I think I shot the last of those a few months back when I was cycling out some old carry ammo. You always knew if a gun was going to be reliable if it fed those. If it fed those fine, it would feed anything  . Which is probably why they discontinued it. I don't remember it being particularly accurate either.The most accurate carry ammo I've found has come from Hornady. Their stuff is pretty much match ammo in my opinion. And it's done well in recent gel tests too. The cases are like gold to me -- they hold up better than any cases I've ever used. I've gotten so many loadings out of old TAP cases and they never go out of spec like other brands. I actually weighed them for comparison and they weigh more than other brands, which is probably why they hold up better. |
I still have eight boxes of the old CorBon load that I used to use for bowling pin shooting. I keep them for the same reason. They are my acid test for any .45ACP autoloader. |