Review: Nighthawk Custom Double Agent

Where concealed-carry pistols are concerned, there seem to be two mindsets: One particular camp sees the purchase as a necessary evil and, therefore, seeks to mitigate the investment as much as possible. The other, however, sees these guns as the life-saving tools they are and will not settle for anything but the best. If you hail from the latter, then you are undoubtedly familiar with the brand Nighthawk Custom. Based in Berryville, AR, this shop encompasses the hand-built mentality, with each firearm produced being the work of a single gunsmith. Although ultra-high-end firearms are often associated with competitive shooting sports, Nighthawk also understands the concerns of the armed citizen and crafts equally capable compact pistols. New for 2025 is the Double Agent, a double-stack semi-automatic designed for everyday carry.
The new pistol’s name is a mashup of its higher capacity and the collaborative efforts with Agency Arms, which is also known for custom services. With both “Agency” and “Nighthawk” engraved on the pistol’s slide, it becomes easy to recognize the fine fit and finish of the entire pistol. If we start with the two-piece frame, we’ll notice the ingenious melding of aluminum and steel to create a foundation that is both light and strong. The gun’s grip texturing is comparable to coarse sandpaper, which is enough to gain control of the 9 mm cartridge for which it’s chambered without beating up your hands or beltline. I appreciated the inclusion of this pattern around the trigger guard, as it accommodates your support hand in either of the two most popular grips. The same texture is cut into the slide to assist with racking, giving the package a continuous look and feel.
To aid in a fluid draw, the beavertail and hammer are both scaled back and rounded, which helps to reduce snagging. The slide stop and magazine release are also smoothed out, and only a right-handed safety comes standard, a move that eliminates another snag point in the process. Southpaws need not worry, as Nighthawk offers these in an ambidextrous version as well. Lastly, overall intelligent contouring helps to mitigate printing, which is always a concern with larger handguns.
As these are built from the ground up, you can order your Double Agent with one of many sight options. At a minimum, you’ll receive a Heinie Straight Eight Slant Pro, drift-adjustable rear notch paired with a tritium front sight. However, if you’d like to enhance the pistol’s versatility, you can add the Interchangeable Optic System (IOS), which allows you to swap the back plate with one made to accept a red dot.
The serrated rear sight features a single white dot, which helps foster quick and easy front-sight acquisition • Thanks to a tritium insert, the front sight draws one’s eye quite easily • Nighthawk’s optional IOS System makes switching from irons to an MRDS simple and intuitive • Elegant knurling spans the length of the slide providing ample purchase, a feature that is as practical as it is eye-catching • Two 16-round magazines ship with the pistol, giving you more than 30 rounds for your carry complement • For those seeking added recoil control, a squared trigger guard offers additional purchase for your support-hand index finger • Facets along the barrel help to repel debris while adding a touch of visual class • Both the beavertail and skeletonized hammer boast concealed-carry-specific features.
Chiefly, the slide is built to facilitate rapid presentation, and I found it to be rounded everywhere it needs to be. More importantly, it houses a hand-fit barrel to ensure cycling will be equally smooth. The Double Agent employs a bushingless system with a polygonal crown and barrel hood. Angling the business end might not do anything more than offer better aesthetics, but doing so to the hood reduces internal friction, affording the gun better reliability, particularly with lightweight ammunition. To that end, I decided to incorporate CCI’s new reduced-recoil practice load to see how it fared with less-than-ordinary pressure. On the other side of the spectrum, I also added DoubleTap’s lead-free +P load to see if Nighthawk got the balance right. I also included Wilson’s Signature 135-grain Match load to see how well the gun could shoot using ammo built for accuracy.
Testing began with me wearing the Double Agent around the house in a DeSantis Universal IWB holster in the 4-o’clock position. When loaded with the full complement of 16+1 rounds of 9 mm, it’s noticeable, but not unbearable. Realistically, the only reason I write these words is because we’re engulfed in a world of polymer-frame micro-compacts, so these days, anytime I strap on an all-metal gun, it’s always like, “whoa.” However, extra weight is a benefit when it comes time to shoot, so to the range I went.
I began the day by fine-tuning the sights and gathering some accuracy data at 25 yards. Each group I fired was more impressive than the last, with even the largest ones rivaling my best 5-inch-barreled 1911s at closer ranges. This is a result of the properly fitted match barrel combined with an extraordinary trigger. I found the “bang switch” to be heavy enough for self-defense use, while still breaking well within the advertised range. When it broke, the gun did so without even the slightest indication of creep and stopped dead in its tracks when the hammer fell. Cycling was perfect with each load, which says a lot, as tuning a double-stack pistol is quite a tall task.
Accurate off the bench, I next sought to find out how well the firearm could be presented as well as how fast it recovered. Moving in to 10 yards, measuring with a Kestrel shot timer I was able to draw from concealment and land a centered shot on a Caldwell 66-percent AR 500 IPSC target in less than 1.5 seconds. Mind you, this is shooting from my weak side. Switching to my strong hand and starting from a low ready, I easily produced controlled pairs with splits in the .14- to .19-second range. The pistol fired and settled right back to its point-of-aim, making predictive shooting drills like this not only easy, but also concise.
I ended my day by burning through the remainder of the 400 rounds I brought with me to the range, which, of course, happened far too quickly. The Double Agent ate everything I threw into it, no matter how hot or dirty it became. Again, this displayed impressive balance, as typically, reliability requires a bit of slop. This pistol really did live up to its “complete package” claim and made it hard to put down.
This brings me to an important point when considering budgeting and investments. Striving to get your money’s worth out of anything you don’t use can be quite a challenge. Therefore, saving some coin under the guise of “I’ll never fire it anyway” is what some may consider a bit of a fallacy, as changes are good you will quickly find yourself thinking about purchasing a “range gun” sometime shortly thereafter. The Double Agent satisfies both of these roles and does so in splendid fashion, and you will undoubtedly find yourself looking forward to your practice sessions. In short, although designed to be pressed against your side, it will quickly find its place close to your heart as well.