By Jeff Johnston, FE Hunting & Shooting Editor
Top-end 1911s have been around for a long time—most of them are wonderfully accurate but heavy, light on mag capacity and unreliable compared to a Glock—so I didn’t fully appreciate Staccato guns until I got my hands on one, the company’s new C (compact, 4-inch) model.
Ok, I can kinda see what all the hype’s about, I thought as I first handled it. It was much lighter than I anticipated, to the point I could envision actually carrying it, so I put in on the scale: 29 ounces. That’s just two more than a Glock 19. It also felt as thin, if not thinner. So I measured it. A Glock is 1-inch wide at the slide and 1.22 at the widest part of the grip. The Staccato? .92 at the slide, 1.21 at the grip. Pretty wild, considering it holds 18 rounds. Then I tried the trigger. No contest there. If Glock was truly perfection, the trigger wouldn’t max out my scale; the Staccato’s single stage broke at 4.13 lbs and felt like a trigger should feel.
And then I shot it.
Huge mistake there.
I knew it would be more accurate—for this type of cash it damn well better be—but nothing in the gun world competes with a Glock for sheer reliability, right? I had one jam on my fourth mag while shooting the Staccato, but its action was still very new and stiff. I worked the slide manually about 200 times, oiled it, and I haven’t had another jam since. But back to the accuracy…
If you’ve gotten used to shitty striker-fired triggers and have learned to manage them pretty well, you’ll simply be amazed at the wizardry you’ll be capable of with a real trigger like this. First round-accuracy is simply amazing and true double taps are not only possible, they’re almost automatic, thanks to the trigger and the recoil mitigation provided by the 1911-style grip that you can actually get a grip on. With a red dot installed on the C’s milled cutout, this “2011” 9mm would serve just fine in any competition short of the “anything goes” racegun class.
I’m typically not the dude that jumps from one carry gun to the next after each Shot Show. I carry a Hellcat in light clothing and for the last 25 years I’ve carried a Glock 19 for everything else. But the more I draw and shoot this do-all Staccato, the more I’m thinking that it’s the next best thing to a carbine if the shit actually hits the fan. So if you don’t have $2,500 ready for a new gun, take my word for it and don’t make the same mistake I did. That’s right, don’t shoot it.
Cost: $2,600
Pros: most accurate carry-size gun you’ll ever shoot; excellent trigger and grip; holds 18 rounds; slide milled for an optic.
Cons: will spoil you; magazine release button is very stiff
