Nighthawk Counselor

marinedoc

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Oct 19, 2018
Messages
168
Does anyone own or has shot the Nighthawk Counselor? Fairly new to it's stable of guns and it interests me, but I'm concerned about the accuracy of the 3 1/2 inch barrel. Not comparing the two, but had a Kimber 3" bbl and couldn't shoot it very well. Have no trouble with 4" bbl's but didn't do well with the Kimber. I don't have a Nighthawk, although I have a pretty extensive stable of 1911's, all of superior quality and read nothing but good news about the Nighthawk quality and performance. I know that they were started by several of Bill Wilson's crew that left and set up their own shop.
 

joepistol

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Apr 23, 2020
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Rochester Hills, Mi
may seem strange, but I picked up a RIA 3.5" 1911, just to try the size & see if the criticism I'd read about for the Officer sized 1911's was justified.
I can say that if you do your part, the short barreled pistols are capable of more than acceptable accuracy. If I was buying a Nighthawk, I'd choose a larger size..just because. No reason that a smaller sized pistol wouldn't have the same build quality as the larger sized model. As you mentioned, only way to know for sure is try one. Maybe there's a range where you could rent one, to try , before investing a lot,of $ just to learn it doesn't suit you..
 

marinedoc

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Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
168
may seem strange, but I picked up a RIA 3.5" 1911, just to try the size & see if the criticism I'd read about for the Officer sized 1911's was justified.
I can say that if you do your part, the short barreled pistols are capable of more than acceptable accuracy. If I was buying a Nighthawk, I'd choose a larger size..just because. No reason that a smaller sized pistol wouldn't have the same build quality as the larger sized model. As you mentioned, only way to know for sure is try one. Maybe there's a range where you could rent one, to try , before investing a lot,of $ just to learn it doesn't suit you..
Thanks, but in a couple of days I'll be the expert on this relative to my shooting ability, for I have the Counselor coming in tomorrow. Had a long discussion with one of the guys at Nighthawk before popping for this one, so hope it works out. Otherwise, just part of my collection, like a picture hanging on the wall.
 

marinedoc

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Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
168
Have taken the new Counselor to the Range a couple of times. No problems to 15 yards. One hole groups at 5 yards and good groups at 7 and 10 yards, and all in thoracic area at 15. Not going to compare my shooting this gun with one of my 5" bbl pistols, but for a top quality, defensive EDC gun it's amazing. The workmanship blows me away and it's just fun to shoot. Is it "better" than my Glock 43 or the Wilson EDC X 9? That's not the question. Will my 911 get me to the store any more efficiently than a VW Beatle? I wouldn't want to have to make the choice of which gun I would keep if I had to get rid of all my guns but one.
 

nicalaex

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Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
70
Got my NH Kestrel and it is awesome!! Accurate, aluminum frame, terrific reset on trigger, and just plain good looking. Ran 400 45 auto rounds through it and handled perfectly. My carry from now on.
 

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