- Messages
- 899
- Reactions
- 3,281
The 10mm cartridge has seen a resurgence like few other rounds have ever made. Most ammunition, when it loses favor in the commercial market, fades into obscurity as firearm and munition production is moved to more profitable products. The 10mm has proven to be the cockroach of the ammunition aisle. So today, we took a couple of unfired 1911, 10mm longslide pistols to the range for a head to head comparison.
In this corner, we have the Nighthawk Chairman, 10mm Longslide, Black Nitride frame and slide, high polish small parts and barrel, Mammoth Tusk Grips, and featuring their universal optic cut, with a curb weight of 40.9 ounces without optic. Price, $6500. In the opposite corner, the Dan Wesson Kodiak Tritone, a 10mm longslide, Mammoth Tusk grips shipped but not installed, and weighing in at 47.1 ounces, Price $2349 (without Mammoth Tusk). Both pistols have ambi safeties, and magwells and target type sights. We ran the following ammo today; Fort Scott 124 grain, 1611 FPS. Minuteman Ammo 180 grain Hornady XTP at 1300 FPS and Minuteman Ammo Subsonic 10mm, 200 grain Montana Gold running at 1050 fps.
First, I love the 1911 platform. Go ahead and insert your favorite 1911 jamming jokes here, but after shooting a 1911 chambered in 10mm, I was hooked. In my opinion, 10mm is actually the perfect round for the 1911 longslides. Its balanced so perfectly, develops a bit more power and handles the recoil marvelously. My own collection of 10mm's started with the Dan Wesson Wraith, threaded barrel and sexy as heck, although the aggressive G10 grips will grind off any callouses on your strong hand. When Kimber introduced the Super Jaeger 10mm longslide, ported with a Leupold Deltapoint, I grabbed one immediately. When the Dan Wesson Bruin showed up with a 6" long black slide, it too followed me home. A months ago, a custom built Nighthawk Chairman arrived after a long production cycle and it was just too gorgeous to sell. Finally, this week the Dan Wesson Kodiak Tri Tone showed up, with 3 shades covering the 6" bronzy colored slide and frame. It too, was a must have. I also run the Smith & Wesson 610 6" 10mm revolver, Ruger GP100 Match 10mm and CMMG Banshee in 10mm. Its safe to say, in my home, the resurgence has merit, my safe is a veritable roach motel.
Mostly, I just collect and rarely have time to shoot the firearms acquired, but I'm making an effort to change that. Today was a fun chance to shoot 2 of these pistols for the first time, side by side. The Nighthawk Chairman versus the Dan Wesson Kodiak. I let the brass fly and here's what I found.
The Dan Wesson Kodiak has been worth the wait. I love the Dan Wesson Bruin in 10mm, and the Kodiak fell right in line with the first shot. First round bull at 15 yards, that's always a good start. It ate all the ammunition I fed it, flawlessly. The trigger is near perfect, short travel and crisp miniscule reset, with a perfect balance of clean, consistent pressure ascent to the wall, and that surprise break at a repeatable 3.5 pounds. It's difficult to differentiate between the Kodiak and the Bruin. Their fit, finish and performance are nearly identical. I can see the front sight of both real well, red fiberoptic on the Kodiak and green on the Bruin. Really, outside of styling they are the same, except the Kodiak light rail, Mag well and ambi safety, the Bruin does not. The rear target sights, just fine for range use, but probably not a great option if you intended to carry in most holsters during hunting season. The sight edges are wide and sharp, most certainly will catch on clothing, a coat or take some flesh off during a fast slide rack. That said, it did not disappoint. The weight of the pistol helped manage the recoil of the heavier loads and keep you shooting longer and with more confidence. Every ammunition I fed it, was accepted and dispatched without question. The ambi safety and magwell on the Kodiak are a must have, and the Bruin doesn't have those, yet. The action is tight and crisp, probably a tad tighter than Mr John Browning intended, so watch your lube selection. A high quality, light oil is the best option here and all I use on 1911 pistols in the Wilsons Combat 1911 lube.
Moving forward to the Nighthawk Chairman. First, let establish my bias here, this was my custom build. I defined every aspect of this pistol, working with Mr Lehr at Nighthawk, we laid it out 6 months ago. As the build moved forward and then came back from DLC, we selected the best matching Mammoth Ivory grip panels from Nighthawk and the final polish levels of each small component. At long last, the pistol shipped and it arrived with all the pomp and circumstance our Fed Driver could muster. I was out that day, so staff started teasing me with pictures while I was working up in the Soviet community of Seattle. A Nighthawk 10mm long slide is the pinnacle of my pistol world experience. It's beautiful to look at, but getting to pull the trigger was a special moment. It was like being on a date with a supermodel and I was definitely out of my league with this pistol. Well, today I squeezed the trigger and it was worth the wait. The first round departed at 1611 FPS, that Fort Scott 124 grain solid copper bullet sails high, impacting dead center about 2" high. The gold bead front sight is difficult for my again eyes to see, even with some cheater 1.5 magnification on my shooting glasses, so the Trijicon SRO will get mounted real soon. I adjusted my point of aim, with the bull solidly on top of the front sight post and the next 2 mags proceeded to eat up the bull. I switched over to the Minuteman subsonic ammo, 200 grain Montana Gold bullets running at 1050 FPS and a personal favorite in 10mm, with the expected results. Accurate, flawless function and that lower recoil does my damaged hand a huge favor after any length of time on the range. The Subs are all I shoot in the S&W 610 and GP100 Match, because my hand's stamina with heavier recoil just isn't there and in the heavier longslides, it's also a perfect marriage. 4 years of Division 1 college football did a number on the tendons in my strong hand and thumb. The lighter 40 ounce weight of the Chairman was a perfect compliment to the lighter recoil of the smaller rounds and an absolute pleasure to shoot. Everything changed when I upgraded the power factor, to the Minuteman 180 grain XTPs. Big badda boom. My accuracy waned, as fatigue set in and I began to anticipate a tad. The supermodel was still signing autographs and taking selfies, while I faded into the background. But hell, I just dated a supermodel and she's going home with me tonight.
After shooting these pistols side by side, along with my other 10mm platforms, I have some great observations to share. The Kodiak and the Bruin are pretty much the same gun, styling choices and a few features are the only real difference. The Kimber Super Jaeger is a great pistol, with the Deltapoint it's a fun gun to shoot. Accurate and tight, but watch out for that ported barrel if shooting indoors, it's spicy! The Dan Wesson Wraith 5" is a perfect suppressor host, and that adds a great deal of utility to any range day. The 610 revolver is my favorite wheel gun, beating everything else in the home safes without a question. The Nighthawk Chairman is exceptionally beautiful and highly functional. It's safe queen in anyone elses collection, but that won't be my style with her, she's a daily carry gun for me. Every Friday we have a date at the shop and she'll ride high on the hip in a custom Savoy Leather holster.
So, who wins? I do for sure, because they're both going home with me tonight. But what do I recommend, that's the real question. There is no doubt in my mind, you won't find a better value than the Dan Wesson Kodiak. The function is flawless, her looks are exotic. The functional upgrades of mag well, ambi safety and rail score high with me. She shoots like a dream. The Nighthawk is an exquisite specimen and makes YOU feel special, Bernie should give one to everybody, in the name of firearm equality for all. Dan Wesson, you hit a stand up triple on the Bruin, but the Kodiak sailed deep over the left field wall for a walk off homerun. Nicely done, Mr Wesson would be proud.
In this corner, we have the Nighthawk Chairman, 10mm Longslide, Black Nitride frame and slide, high polish small parts and barrel, Mammoth Tusk Grips, and featuring their universal optic cut, with a curb weight of 40.9 ounces without optic. Price, $6500. In the opposite corner, the Dan Wesson Kodiak Tritone, a 10mm longslide, Mammoth Tusk grips shipped but not installed, and weighing in at 47.1 ounces, Price $2349 (without Mammoth Tusk). Both pistols have ambi safeties, and magwells and target type sights. We ran the following ammo today; Fort Scott 124 grain, 1611 FPS. Minuteman Ammo 180 grain Hornady XTP at 1300 FPS and Minuteman Ammo Subsonic 10mm, 200 grain Montana Gold running at 1050 fps.
First, I love the 1911 platform. Go ahead and insert your favorite 1911 jamming jokes here, but after shooting a 1911 chambered in 10mm, I was hooked. In my opinion, 10mm is actually the perfect round for the 1911 longslides. Its balanced so perfectly, develops a bit more power and handles the recoil marvelously. My own collection of 10mm's started with the Dan Wesson Wraith, threaded barrel and sexy as heck, although the aggressive G10 grips will grind off any callouses on your strong hand. When Kimber introduced the Super Jaeger 10mm longslide, ported with a Leupold Deltapoint, I grabbed one immediately. When the Dan Wesson Bruin showed up with a 6" long black slide, it too followed me home. A months ago, a custom built Nighthawk Chairman arrived after a long production cycle and it was just too gorgeous to sell. Finally, this week the Dan Wesson Kodiak Tri Tone showed up, with 3 shades covering the 6" bronzy colored slide and frame. It too, was a must have. I also run the Smith & Wesson 610 6" 10mm revolver, Ruger GP100 Match 10mm and CMMG Banshee in 10mm. Its safe to say, in my home, the resurgence has merit, my safe is a veritable roach motel.
Mostly, I just collect and rarely have time to shoot the firearms acquired, but I'm making an effort to change that. Today was a fun chance to shoot 2 of these pistols for the first time, side by side. The Nighthawk Chairman versus the Dan Wesson Kodiak. I let the brass fly and here's what I found.
The Dan Wesson Kodiak has been worth the wait. I love the Dan Wesson Bruin in 10mm, and the Kodiak fell right in line with the first shot. First round bull at 15 yards, that's always a good start. It ate all the ammunition I fed it, flawlessly. The trigger is near perfect, short travel and crisp miniscule reset, with a perfect balance of clean, consistent pressure ascent to the wall, and that surprise break at a repeatable 3.5 pounds. It's difficult to differentiate between the Kodiak and the Bruin. Their fit, finish and performance are nearly identical. I can see the front sight of both real well, red fiberoptic on the Kodiak and green on the Bruin. Really, outside of styling they are the same, except the Kodiak light rail, Mag well and ambi safety, the Bruin does not. The rear target sights, just fine for range use, but probably not a great option if you intended to carry in most holsters during hunting season. The sight edges are wide and sharp, most certainly will catch on clothing, a coat or take some flesh off during a fast slide rack. That said, it did not disappoint. The weight of the pistol helped manage the recoil of the heavier loads and keep you shooting longer and with more confidence. Every ammunition I fed it, was accepted and dispatched without question. The ambi safety and magwell on the Kodiak are a must have, and the Bruin doesn't have those, yet. The action is tight and crisp, probably a tad tighter than Mr John Browning intended, so watch your lube selection. A high quality, light oil is the best option here and all I use on 1911 pistols in the Wilsons Combat 1911 lube.
Moving forward to the Nighthawk Chairman. First, let establish my bias here, this was my custom build. I defined every aspect of this pistol, working with Mr Lehr at Nighthawk, we laid it out 6 months ago. As the build moved forward and then came back from DLC, we selected the best matching Mammoth Ivory grip panels from Nighthawk and the final polish levels of each small component. At long last, the pistol shipped and it arrived with all the pomp and circumstance our Fed Driver could muster. I was out that day, so staff started teasing me with pictures while I was working up in the Soviet community of Seattle. A Nighthawk 10mm long slide is the pinnacle of my pistol world experience. It's beautiful to look at, but getting to pull the trigger was a special moment. It was like being on a date with a supermodel and I was definitely out of my league with this pistol. Well, today I squeezed the trigger and it was worth the wait. The first round departed at 1611 FPS, that Fort Scott 124 grain solid copper bullet sails high, impacting dead center about 2" high. The gold bead front sight is difficult for my again eyes to see, even with some cheater 1.5 magnification on my shooting glasses, so the Trijicon SRO will get mounted real soon. I adjusted my point of aim, with the bull solidly on top of the front sight post and the next 2 mags proceeded to eat up the bull. I switched over to the Minuteman subsonic ammo, 200 grain Montana Gold bullets running at 1050 FPS and a personal favorite in 10mm, with the expected results. Accurate, flawless function and that lower recoil does my damaged hand a huge favor after any length of time on the range. The Subs are all I shoot in the S&W 610 and GP100 Match, because my hand's stamina with heavier recoil just isn't there and in the heavier longslides, it's also a perfect marriage. 4 years of Division 1 college football did a number on the tendons in my strong hand and thumb. The lighter 40 ounce weight of the Chairman was a perfect compliment to the lighter recoil of the smaller rounds and an absolute pleasure to shoot. Everything changed when I upgraded the power factor, to the Minuteman 180 grain XTPs. Big badda boom. My accuracy waned, as fatigue set in and I began to anticipate a tad. The supermodel was still signing autographs and taking selfies, while I faded into the background. But hell, I just dated a supermodel and she's going home with me tonight.
After shooting these pistols side by side, along with my other 10mm platforms, I have some great observations to share. The Kodiak and the Bruin are pretty much the same gun, styling choices and a few features are the only real difference. The Kimber Super Jaeger is a great pistol, with the Deltapoint it's a fun gun to shoot. Accurate and tight, but watch out for that ported barrel if shooting indoors, it's spicy! The Dan Wesson Wraith 5" is a perfect suppressor host, and that adds a great deal of utility to any range day. The 610 revolver is my favorite wheel gun, beating everything else in the home safes without a question. The Nighthawk Chairman is exceptionally beautiful and highly functional. It's safe queen in anyone elses collection, but that won't be my style with her, she's a daily carry gun for me. Every Friday we have a date at the shop and she'll ride high on the hip in a custom Savoy Leather holster.
So, who wins? I do for sure, because they're both going home with me tonight. But what do I recommend, that's the real question. There is no doubt in my mind, you won't find a better value than the Dan Wesson Kodiak. The function is flawless, her looks are exotic. The functional upgrades of mag well, ambi safety and rail score high with me. She shoots like a dream. The Nighthawk is an exquisite specimen and makes YOU feel special, Bernie should give one to everybody, in the name of firearm equality for all. Dan Wesson, you hit a stand up triple on the Bruin, but the Kodiak sailed deep over the left field wall for a walk off homerun. Nicely done, Mr Wesson would be proud.
