Nighthawk Custom

Nighthawk Custom is a firearms manufacturer located in Berryville (Carroll County). The company is known for its “1911” brand, a semiautomatic pistol developed by John Moses Browning and used by the American armed forces.

Nighthawk Custom was established in 2004 by four people, although ownership was later consolidated under Mark Stone. The company has operated, since its inception, according to the slogan of “One Gun, One Gunsmith,” meaning that one single person oversees the creation of each individual weapon and its component parts; upon completion of test firing, each weapon is marked with the stamp of that gunsmith. Ten years after the company’s founding, it had approximately fifty employees. In 2018, Nighthawk Custom announced an expansion of its manufacturing facility with a new building to house twenty gunsmiths and ten support personnel, a move aided in part by a grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. By 2022, the workforce at Nighthawk Custom had increased to approximately eighty-five.

In 2015, the magazine Guns & Ammo selected Nighthawk Custom to design a collectible 1911 pistol (limited to 100) for sale. In 2016, Nighthawk Custom became the exclusive importer and distributor of Korth revolvers made in Germany. The company later secured the rights to be the exclusive importer of shotguns made by the Italian company Cosmi SRL. In 2019, Federal Premium Ammunition approached Nighthawk Custom about collaborating on the development of a new pistol cartridge (and a pistol to fire it) designed to offer greater capacity in the smaller pistols popular among those with concealed carry licenses; the result was the .30 Super Carry, released in early 2022 after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For additional information:
Magsam, John. “Cartridge’s Road to Market a Long One.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 6, 2022. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/mar/06/cartridges-road-to-market-a-long-one/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

———. “Custom Gun Manufacturer Expands Northwest Arkansas Facility.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 9, 2018. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/oct/09/custom-gun-manufacturer-expands-northwest-arkansas/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

———. “Gun-Maker Adding Space to Go Leaner.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 14, 2018. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/oct/14/gun-maker-adding-space-to-go-leaner-201/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

———. “Nighthawk Chosen to Build 1911 Pistol.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 7, 2015, pp. 1G, 8G. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/jun/07/nighthawk-chosen-to-build-1911-pistol-2/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

———. “Sights Firmly Set on Future.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 4, 2014. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2014/may/04/sights-firmly-set-future-20140504/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

———. “State’s Nighthawk in Deal to Distribute Pricey German Guns.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 7, 2016. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/aug/07/states-nighthawk-deal-distribute-pricey-german-gun/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

Nighthawk Custom. https://www.nighthawkcustom.com/ (accessed August 2, 2025).

Staff of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas