(gunshot booms)
-: Clint Smith, owner and operator of Thunder Ranch
two-tour in Vietnam combat veteran
in the United States Marine Corps,
in charge of operations of Gunsite
when it was called the American Pistol Institute,
and longtime firearms trainer,
knows what he wants in a 1911.
He told Nighthawk what he wants.
And they made it.
The Nighthawk Combat Special from Thunder Ranch.
Now this is given a special, looks slightly worn,
but that's the way it comes, black finish.
It has all of the details that we want
in a modern 1911
plus some of the ones from the old days
that might surprise you.
The rear sight is a Heinie ledge
so that you can use it
to cock one-handed if you have to unholster
or ledge or whatever.
Grip safety to get your hand as high on the gun as possible.
But interestingly, a very small thumb safety
on the other side.
It's larger than the original 1911,
but not as big as the Series 70 that came after,
and nowhere near as big as the combat safeties
that you see on a lot of pistols.
I was kind of worried about this
when I first got this, because I thought,
"Well, what if I miss it?"
Haven't missed it yet.
It's worked every time.
Clint knows a thing or two about shooting pistols,
especially the 1911.
The pistol comes with a pair of Nighthawk branded
8-round magazines.
(gunshots blasting)
It works. Yeah. One would expect it to work.
It's a 1911, first of all.
It's built by Nighthawk, second of all,
and I've been feeding it pretty much hardball
the whole time I've been shooting it.
Although I've tried it with some hollow points
and it has worked just fine with those.
What really surprised me was that it worked very well
and very accurately with my favorite pin load,
which is a 250 grain flat-point round nose,
load not to be specified,
'cause, well, you'll have to figure it out for yourself.
It shot really small groups.
Now this does not come cheap.
This is 3500 as the base pistol.
But when you get a Nighthawk pistol
you get a pistol that is built by one gunsmith.
It's not slide fitted to frame by one guy,
barrel fitted to that by the next guy,
trigger dropped in by the third guy,
everything else bolted on by the fourth guy,
tested by a fifth, test fired by a sixth,
inspected by a seventh.
No.
The gunsmith who built it,
and the name is on the paperwork,
who built this gun.
Each Nighthawk comes that way.
Takes the box of parts, fits 'em all together.
Tests it. Tests to make sure it works 100%.
Hands it off to the test fire guy
who shot the most amazing group.
Yeah.
I don't know how many rounds he fired,
but they're all pretty much through the same hole.
That's how good this gun is.
I don't know what they pay him,
but boy, he sure does a good job at it.
Now you can specify a few things, but not many.
This one came with an added mag well on it.
But you want the Combat Special?
You get the Combat Special.
You want some other combination of various features?
You get a different model of Nighthawk,
and that pistol will be built by one gunsmith,
start to finish.
Comes in a case, magazines, instruction,
target, the whole works.
And this is a lifetime gun.
Now, assuming you win the lottery
you could probably afford enough ammunition
to wear one out or at least shoot it loose.
At that point, send it back.
Nighthawk will tighten it up and send it back to you.
They're not worried.
They build solid guns.
This is a solid gun.
And the owner is going to be very happy,
because unfortunately the owner isn't me.
It's just on loan while it passes through,
but I got to shoot it.
I got to shoot it for Firearms News
and you get to read about it in Firearms News.
Nighthawk Thunder Ranch Combat Special, 45 ACP.
You can have it in nine if you want, but really?
(rock music)