PHOTO OF THE DAY: Nighthawk 10-8 1911 On Duty

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Around 2006, we at 10-8 Consulting, LLC worked with Nighthawk Custom and commissioned the 10-8 Model 1911 to be built by the smiths at Nighthawk. Built to our specifications, it was designed to have all the features we wanted in a service ready 1911, including a Dawson Light Speed Rail and then-brand-new 10-8 rear sight for the 1911. Pictured above is one of the very first test pistols Nighthawk sent us for our evaluation (which I purchased myself.) Paired with it is an old school SureFire W117D Military Light. Yes, it is heavy and not nearly as bright as the new X300U, but old habits die hard. Plus, I like having a system disable switch on board. I have rebuilt this pistol twice, refinished three times, replaced the extractor three times, went through countless recoil and FP springs, and put nearly 30,000 rounds through it. With strict maintenance, this pistol continues to serve me well.

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About Tim Lau

Tim Lau has over a decade of experience as an end user, armorer and instructor. He has worked for several well known firearms training organizations, and holds multiple firearms instructor certifications. He owns and operates 10-8 Consulting, LLC, which provides industry consulting services as well as marksmanship and specialized firearms training to qualified civilian, law enforcement and military personnel.

2 thoughts on “PHOTO OF THE DAY: Nighthawk 10-8 1911 On Duty”

  1. nice weapon! I have a nighthawk predator and I love it. the best coating they used to have for it was the diamond black. it was awesome! you could scrape your pocket knife on it and it would be fine. But then another company started doing the diamond black (Ion bond I think is the name of the company) and the quality went way down hill. Now nighthawk is doing a black nitride coating and it is awesome. I am really close to having mine sent back for the black nitride. I only mention this because I see the wear on your slide which is no big deal, but if you would like ,you should talk to them about the nitride. thanks…

    • I am not a huge fan of salt bath nitride on a 1911 due to the extremely permanent nature of it. With 1911s, I am constantly tinkering with my pistol, replacing parts and rebuild the guns as necessary. I am, however, a big fan of parkerizing as it is easy to reapply. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I like the look of honest wear on a service pistol. I shoot my guns; they aren’t safe queens.

      Ion Bond is excellent for abrasion resistance but very different than salt bath nitride as it is a particle vapor deposition and does not surface harden the substrate metal.

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