Frank
5th March 2006, 02:14
First, before anyone feels a need to bother Mr. Emery and put him to work, please be advised that there will be no pictures. I don’t have a digital camera.
Back in late November, I reported (http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=7397&highlight) that I had bought a new NHC Talon II. Even though I picked it up just after
Christmas, I’ve delayed reporting on the gun's performance until now. The reason will become apparent as the story unfolds.
The gun is a basic Talon II in black Perma-Kote, with a single left side safety, Novak night sights, no magazine well, standard recoil spring plug, and cocobolo grips. The fit and finish are first rate. The slide racked smoothly but with absolutely no vertical or horizontal play. The barrel locked up tight with no movement either at the muzzle or hood. The trigger broke like the proverbial glass rod. The trigger pull measured 4 lb. 5 oz. (average of ten pulls) on my Lyman digital gauge. It felt lighter, but a trigger will often feel lighter than it measures if it’s crisp.
The fit of the gun is very impressive. While it locks up tight and there’s no play, it can still be easily field stripped without tools. The first thing I did was fit a short aluminum match trigger. (I usually have some on hand.) When re-assembling the gun I noticed that while everything just fit and nothing was loose or rattled, everything went together easily. It’s a beautifully fit together gun. (I’m always somewhat amazed, whenever I detail strip a 1911, by how it all fits together kind of like a Chinese puzzle, with each part holding in another part or two.)
I then went to the range with some PMC 230 grain FMJ and an assortment of JHPs – some 230 grain Eldorado Starfire, some 230 grain Hydro-Shok and some 165 grain Federal Personal Defense. The gun fed everything beautifully, and it was no trouble to keep everything in 2 to 3 inches at 15 yards shooting quick pairs or quick singles, off hand from low ready. And 2 to 3 inches at 25 yards off hand slow fire was no problem. The sights were well regulated. But there were two small glitches.
First, when dropping the slide from slide lock using the “sling shot” technique, the fresh round would sometimes not fully chamber. Dropping the slide manually with the slide stop worked fine. (Ultimately this cleared up on its own after the first couple of hundred rounds. It now has about 1,500 rounds through it.)
But the real problem was that the slide would not consistently lock back on the last round. This was a considerable problem with the McCormick Shooting Star magazines I was using this first trip to the range.
I wrote Craig at NHC about the problems immediately after my first trip to the range. However, I chose at that point to continue testing myself before sending it back, and I told Craig that. After all, at that point the gun had only a few hundred rounds through it and I had only used one brand of magazine. My plan, as I told Craig, was to shoot the gun some more using various magazines.
And I did just that. I made several more trips to the range with various assortments of magazines and good factory ammunition, including PMC 230 gr. FMJ, WWB, and various JHPs. I kept the gun cleaned and properly lubricated, and after the second trip to the range replaced the recoil spring with a Wolff commander variable at 20 pounds.
The sling shot technique began working consistently on my second trip to the range. But the slide continued to frequently fail to lock back after the last round. It did so with the following different magazines: the NHC/Novak, Wilson, McCormick Shooting Stars with fresh Wolff extra power springs, Cobra magazines from Tripp, Ed Brown (Metalform with rounded followers) and Wilson with new Cobra followers and springs. I used multiple examples (4 to 6) of each type. And the story was always the same. The slide continues to battery about 30% of the time after the last round.
A particular magazine which locked back the slide on one occasion failed on another. In addition, with the Cobra magazines and with the Wilson (both with the Wilson follower and the Tripp follower) almost half the time when the slide did lock back, it would fall when the magazine was removed. I thought initially that this problem may be related to my grip being incompatible with the design of the NHC slide stop, but the problem persisted even when I altered my grip.
After about 1,200 rounds I figured that I had given the gun a fair trial. I emailed Craig a full report' He immediately asked me to send the gun back and had a UPS call tag emailed to me. I wrapped the gun up and sent it off.
I got the gun back last Monday, took it to the range on Thursday night, and it worked just fine. I used a similar assortment of magazines, but this time also included some Metalform Tuner Specials (7 round, Wolff spring, flat follower with dimple). Went through about 300 rounds, and the gun performed without a hiccup.
The final verdict is that NHC makes a fine gun and provides exceptional service. I sent the gun back on 8th February and had it once again in my hands on the 27th. I was completely satisfied with the turn around, because I know that the SHOT Show was going on, and also I had to ask the folks at NHC to hold off shipping for a couple of days because no one would have been around to sign for the it at my end.
Would I carry this gun? Yes. Would I use this gun in IDPA competition? Yes. Would I buy another? You bet.
YMMV, but I’m pleased. (Also, I mounted some ivory grip panels, and the gun now qualifies as handsome.)
DVC
Back in late November, I reported (http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=7397&highlight) that I had bought a new NHC Talon II. Even though I picked it up just after
Christmas, I’ve delayed reporting on the gun's performance until now. The reason will become apparent as the story unfolds.
The gun is a basic Talon II in black Perma-Kote, with a single left side safety, Novak night sights, no magazine well, standard recoil spring plug, and cocobolo grips. The fit and finish are first rate. The slide racked smoothly but with absolutely no vertical or horizontal play. The barrel locked up tight with no movement either at the muzzle or hood. The trigger broke like the proverbial glass rod. The trigger pull measured 4 lb. 5 oz. (average of ten pulls) on my Lyman digital gauge. It felt lighter, but a trigger will often feel lighter than it measures if it’s crisp.
The fit of the gun is very impressive. While it locks up tight and there’s no play, it can still be easily field stripped without tools. The first thing I did was fit a short aluminum match trigger. (I usually have some on hand.) When re-assembling the gun I noticed that while everything just fit and nothing was loose or rattled, everything went together easily. It’s a beautifully fit together gun. (I’m always somewhat amazed, whenever I detail strip a 1911, by how it all fits together kind of like a Chinese puzzle, with each part holding in another part or two.)
I then went to the range with some PMC 230 grain FMJ and an assortment of JHPs – some 230 grain Eldorado Starfire, some 230 grain Hydro-Shok and some 165 grain Federal Personal Defense. The gun fed everything beautifully, and it was no trouble to keep everything in 2 to 3 inches at 15 yards shooting quick pairs or quick singles, off hand from low ready. And 2 to 3 inches at 25 yards off hand slow fire was no problem. The sights were well regulated. But there were two small glitches.
First, when dropping the slide from slide lock using the “sling shot” technique, the fresh round would sometimes not fully chamber. Dropping the slide manually with the slide stop worked fine. (Ultimately this cleared up on its own after the first couple of hundred rounds. It now has about 1,500 rounds through it.)
But the real problem was that the slide would not consistently lock back on the last round. This was a considerable problem with the McCormick Shooting Star magazines I was using this first trip to the range.
I wrote Craig at NHC about the problems immediately after my first trip to the range. However, I chose at that point to continue testing myself before sending it back, and I told Craig that. After all, at that point the gun had only a few hundred rounds through it and I had only used one brand of magazine. My plan, as I told Craig, was to shoot the gun some more using various magazines.
And I did just that. I made several more trips to the range with various assortments of magazines and good factory ammunition, including PMC 230 gr. FMJ, WWB, and various JHPs. I kept the gun cleaned and properly lubricated, and after the second trip to the range replaced the recoil spring with a Wolff commander variable at 20 pounds.
The sling shot technique began working consistently on my second trip to the range. But the slide continued to frequently fail to lock back after the last round. It did so with the following different magazines: the NHC/Novak, Wilson, McCormick Shooting Stars with fresh Wolff extra power springs, Cobra magazines from Tripp, Ed Brown (Metalform with rounded followers) and Wilson with new Cobra followers and springs. I used multiple examples (4 to 6) of each type. And the story was always the same. The slide continues to battery about 30% of the time after the last round.
A particular magazine which locked back the slide on one occasion failed on another. In addition, with the Cobra magazines and with the Wilson (both with the Wilson follower and the Tripp follower) almost half the time when the slide did lock back, it would fall when the magazine was removed. I thought initially that this problem may be related to my grip being incompatible with the design of the NHC slide stop, but the problem persisted even when I altered my grip.
After about 1,200 rounds I figured that I had given the gun a fair trial. I emailed Craig a full report' He immediately asked me to send the gun back and had a UPS call tag emailed to me. I wrapped the gun up and sent it off.
I got the gun back last Monday, took it to the range on Thursday night, and it worked just fine. I used a similar assortment of magazines, but this time also included some Metalform Tuner Specials (7 round, Wolff spring, flat follower with dimple). Went through about 300 rounds, and the gun performed without a hiccup.
The final verdict is that NHC makes a fine gun and provides exceptional service. I sent the gun back on 8th February and had it once again in my hands on the 27th. I was completely satisfied with the turn around, because I know that the SHOT Show was going on, and also I had to ask the folks at NHC to hold off shipping for a couple of days because no one would have been around to sign for the it at my end.
Would I carry this gun? Yes. Would I use this gun in IDPA competition? Yes. Would I buy another? You bet.
YMMV, but I’m pleased. (Also, I mounted some ivory grip panels, and the gun now qualifies as handsome.)
DVC