Walther NightHawk Review

Overall Rating

Feels nice
-Nicely worked
-Light (if you like that)
-Accurate
-Looks great
-Removable magazine for Co2

-Too much plastic (for my taste)
-Trigger too hard
-No single action
-Bad sound

Hi,
I bought the Walter NightHawk last week and want to write a little review about the pistol and what experiences i have had with it until now.
So lets get straight to the point!
The NightHawk comes complete with a mounted 'Top Point' red-dot and a compensator. The compensator is suposed to make the pistol more accurate and powerful by eliminating the excess CO2 gas behind the pellet which might destabilize it in flight. The compensator can be unscrewed the thread on the muzzle can be covered with a small metal device which is also included in the package and makes it look like the normal CPs without the compensator. The NightHawk is based upon the Walter CP Sport (CPS) which is similar to the walter CP99. The difference is, that the CPs entirely made out of plastic and has no single action wile the CP99 has an iron top and a single action mode. The fact that the NightHawk (CPs) has not got the single action makes the trigger hard to pull which can have a negative effect on the accuracy acheived when shooting. The red-dot sight of the NightHawk is of a very high quality and can be adjusted to 11 different levels of brightness. It works with a 3Volt CR 2032 battery which can be easily changed when empty. The Top point sight can also be taken off and you are left with just the normal CP sport pistol. However, taking the sight off includes taking the mount appart and this can be 'fuzzy'. The gun also has a removable magazine in the grip in which the CO2 cartridge can be induced. The advantage of this is that the cartridge can be separated from the gun when still not empty by simply ejecting the magazine like you do with the real thing. However, this does not mean that the cartridge can be kept open and still under pressure for any longer than in other CO2 pistols. The rubber ring sealing off the cartridge is still under pressure and may be damaged if left in this state for long. It is simply an extra safety feature. As the pistol (and the compensator) is made out of plastic, the sound when shooting is not so great. In fact, it is best described as a 'plastic' 'toy-like' sound. I also habe a Beretta 92fs made out of metal and find the sound of it much better than that of the nighthawk. Until now, i have not been able to test the accuracy of the gun but i will add that to this comment as soon as i have tested it. The power seames to be around 120m/s. Of course it also has a safety catch and comes with two magazines.

Conclusion:
The walter Nighthawk is a very good and high quality CO2 pistol and i certainly recommend it. If you don't mind a hard-going trigger, a missing single action and don't place too much value on accuracy then the walter NightHawk is one of the best guns for you. The greatest advantage of the nighthawk is its look. However, if you can find one, i would advise you to buy the Beretta XX-treme. It is simply the better combination (and i can tell because i have the Beretta 92fs in normal version and the compensator and Red-dot of the nighthawk).

What i would like to have on the nighthawk (fantasy):

-The compensator made out of high-quality aluminum
-The slide made out of titanium :-)
-A single action
-A very soft/sensible trigger.
:-)
I hope this review has helped you,
Hornet.

Members' Comments onHornet's Review

• hotsky on 12th Apr 2006

  quote "The compensator is supposed to make the pistol more accurate and powerful by eliminating the excess CO2 gas behind the pellet which might destabilize it in flight." Sorry but no; the compensator is only there for looks; it has absolutely no effect on either accuracy or velocity. The CO2 is obviously what propels the pellet and after it(gas) leaves the barrel it has no negative (or positive) effect on the pellet flight.

• Hornet on 23rd Apr 2006

  sorry, but no! I said: 'is supposed to'!!!! That is what the producer (UMAREX) claims and i have not checked on it yet. However, i have read various reports on the Nighthawk in which people (peple with knowledge about the theme) have tested the gun with and without the compensator and have noticed a difference in the point of impact of the pellet on the target. The compensator may not have changed the accuracy as the groups were about the same size but it certainly changed the flight of the pellet. If you can read/speak German, there is a link below (also containing pictures) which is the source of my information: http://www.muzzle.de/N2/CO2/UMAREX__Walther_Nighthawk_/umarex__walther_nighthawk_.html About two thirds down the page there is a bicture of a paper target with two groups of impact. the one around the middle of the target is with the compensator and the one on the left is without.

• icemanclown on 4th May 2008

  well let me see here iv had my walther nightHawk for about two years now and so far its still relayabal other then how fast the batterys run out on it but other then that its a vary nice gun. i still to this day get very good accerice with my walther nighthawk and i really recomend it for hunting but if your woundering about if you should buy it or not?..i my self really recomend it you should and you will be saprized and you'll love it..........i got mine for night hunting and it works wounders so yeah have fun if you get it i know i am haveing a blast with mine well got too go.....