S.W.A.T. December 2007 - McKeesport Police Department

NIGHTHAWK 10-8
10-8 mated up with the excellent
Surefire X200 weaponlight.
(Photo: 10-8 Performance)
ers. They wanted a “bombproof” duty
use trigger that was lightweight and
adjustable for the gunsmith. The solid
bow and shoe are designed for maximum
strength, but light enough for the
trigger to be in the four- to five-pound
pull range. The overtravel screw is permanently
set so that it does not walk
out after a high round count. We only
put a little under 1,000 rounds through
the sample gun, so we can’t say for sure
about the long-term durability of the
trigger; we can say that it didn’t change
from the first shot to the last. The trigger
was crisp with little slack and a nice reset.
The solid construction of the trigger
is evident immediately in the feel of the
trigger.
Between the trigger and the hand fitting
of parts, the gun was far more accurate
than I was. Everyone who shot
the gun was more than happy with the
accuracy of the 10-8 pistol. Some would
argue about how much mechanical accuracy
is needed in a duty pistol. We
know that we want as accurate a gun as
possible. We also know that as a gun is
built tighter for more accuracy, it affects
reliability and longevity. While this may
not be a big deal for a competitive shooter,
for a street officer, a highly accurate
pistol that craps out at the wrong time is
worse than a moderately accurate pistol
that works all the time. Nighthawk had
to strike a balance between reliability
and accuracy for the 10-8 gun, and it appears
that they did.
On a related note, 10-8 wanted the gun
to be readily field serviceable. The gun
was easily disassembled for basic maintenance
without the use of a bushing
wrench, and the grips use slotted screws
for easy removal with any multi-tool.
The sights on the 10-8 pistol were designed
by Hilton Yam and are available
from 10-8 Performance. The rear sight
is 4140 bar stock steel and the front is a
tritium with serrations. The rear sight
is a U-notch for quick acquisition of the
front sight. Hilton purposely left the rear
sight without any tritium to reduce clutter
during sighting, based on his experi-
ence as a shooter and instructor that tritium
on the rear sight would slow down
shooters in daylight shooting. The sight
has 40 lpi texturing on the face to reduce
glare.
The rear sight is not a “no snag” or
low profile; as a matter of design, it is
high profile and snag. Hilton designed
the rear sight to be used as a catch point
for use during one-handed malfunction
clearance. Hilton wanted the leading
edge of the sight to have a profile that
would catch on holsters, the lips of ballistic
shields, heels of boots, etc during
malfunctions. This was also the reason
the rear is hardened bar stock, to survive
this type of use. I used the sight on Kydex
holsters and the heel of boots during
malfunction drills, and it held up well
during them. The sides and edges on the
rear sight are beveled and smooth. The
sights take a little getting used to, but after
a few rounds downrange, users liked
them. They were quick at close range, yet
still good for distance precision shots.
What would I change on the 10-8 gun?
90 S.W.A.T. » DECEMBER 2007 SWATMAG.COM