The Nighthawk Delegate is a serious piece of machinery. From its dramatic sculpturing to its carry bevels and unique slide profile, everything about the Delegate is custom and first class through and through.
Our test sample gun is chambered for 9mm, though the gun is also available in .45 ACP. The Delegate is a Commander-size gun with a steel frame and a cone-shaped, fully supported barrel. Nighthawk Custom smiths give the Delegate a rakish styling by angling the recoil spring area of the slide. The crown of the barrel is given a deep concave treatment and these two features earn the Delegate big style points! The slide has a heavy bevel on its bottom for ease of carry and reverse cocking serrations on the front of the slide. Its ejection port is lowered with a rollover flare so that empty casings can exit the gun unimpeded.
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Our Delegate possesses the Interchangeable Optics System (IOS), which comes with two dovetailed plates that allows the shooter to switch from an iron rear sight to a micro red-dot without the need to resight the gun. My Delegate had a Trijicon RMR mounted on it when it arrived and that’s what I shot groups with.
The steel single-stack frame has checkering just on the center of the front strap where it’s needed and none on the sides that can cause clothes to hang up on them when carrying concealed. Nighthawk heavily undercuts the frame where it meets the triggerguard and also uses a precision-fit, high-sweep beavertail grip safety so the shooter can get a comfortable high grip on the gun to help negate muzzle flip. Nighthawk Custom also includes their ingenious flush-fit magazine well that dovetails onto the front of the frame and is captured by the mainspring housing pin. It is the most secure and wobble-free funnel I have examined, yet it does not add to the frame’s length. To complete the aesthetics package the entire gun is given a black nitride treatment that not only protects the gun from corrosion but also enhances its surface hardness and is lubricious.
My test sample’s trigger broke cleanly and crisply at 3.75 pounds. My groups were remarkably consistent, round with no evidence of vertical or horizontal stringing. The Delegate is a precision piece of machinery masquerading as a carry gun and it possesses all of the nuances that savvy concealed-carriers demand!
