Staccato P Review

This is out Staccato P Review. The Staccato P is the latest model in the evolution of the 2011 series of pistols. 

Originally, they were known as STI. They specialed in competition-style pistols.

Unfortunately, there is no gun good enough to beat the other, more common meaning of ‘STI’ in the Google search results. 

The company will probably never admit to it, but I would guarantee rebranding from STI to Staccato had a lot to do with bumping those Google search rankings up.

Changing Market

The competition shooting market in the US is relatively small. At least when you compare it to the tactical market.

The tactical market includes not only law enforcement and the military, but also self-defense-minded citizens as well as those who enjoy shooting in general.

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When STI rebranded to Staccato, they not only changed the name of the company but also changed their offerings. 

They went from the aforementioned competition-centric models to firearms with a more tactical base.

These models of 2011, including the Staccato P, were tested by law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshals. 

They were approved for duty use, and the pistol was adopted by the Marshals going forward. This adoption gave Staccato a good launching pad to take over a large portion of the high-end tactical handgun market.

Staccato P is a duty-size gun and was the flagship model for the brand when it came to duty usage. They also offer the Staccato C2, which is a slightly-smaller version designed primarily for concealed carry.

Role

As we mentioned earlier in this review, the Staccato P is designed primarily for duty use. Still this is a gun that can work for multiple roles.

This could be shot as a competition pistol, be carried concealed on your person or used as an OWB carry option. The P is very versatile for a larger gun. 

If you plan to conceal carry this gun, you might want to consider switching out the magazine well or taking it off completely. That will drastically affect the concealment of the firearm.

If you’re looking for a thinner gun and you’re willing to sacrifice capacity, Staccato makes the Staccato C2 and the CS. If those are still to thick checkout the Springfield EMP4.

Features

With a flush-fit magazine, the Staccato P carries 17 rounds.

It also has the ability to accept longer magazines that can hold either 20 rounds or even greater capacities.

There are a variety of 2011 magazine options with a variety of lengths and capacities. You can purchase these magazines directly from Staccato or get an even higher-quality magazine through a company called MBX.

MBX offers the tactical-style followers that lock the slide back on the last round or competition-style followers that don’t. 

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However, their magazines are extremely expensive despite being known to be the most reliable and durable magazines.

Many use the Staccato mags as they tend to work very well and only cost about half as much as their MBX counterparts.

Magwell Staccato P Review

One notable thing you’ll see in this Staccato P review is that the gun has a massive magazine well with a two-piece design. 

Part of the magwell is formed into the grip itself.

Another portion is a magwell that attaches via a pin in the rear of the grip. This design is massive and makes it extremely easy to get the magazine seated into the pistol.

If you take the magwell off the gun and just use the well that’s on the grip itself. You still have nice rounding at the rear and from the firearm as well as slight rounding on the sides. 

You’re going to have a very easy-to-use magwell even if you make this gun smaller by setting it up for concealed carry.

Grip/Ergonomics

This gun, as we said earlier, is a 2011 design. That means that it uses a 1911 slide and has a proprietary frame that connects the slide and grip module.

The grip module in the STI 2011 is a polymer unit.

You can also replace this with metal units made by aftermarket manufacturers. These can be made in materials like titanium, aluminum, and steel. The material determines the weight and durability. 

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Throughout this review, though, we’re going to be talking about the polymer option.

There are multiple options out there and you could easily replace the factory setup. Units designed to take shorter magazines if you want to make the gun more concealable are available from Staccato.

Ergonomics

There are no removable back or front straps on the Staccato 2011 grip module. There is a beavertail in this design as a safety like those on many 1911.

This is a very well-designed beavertail safety. With a lot of the 1911s I’ve handled over the years, I’ve had trouble reliably disengaging the safety mechanism or felt that the sides and edges were a bit sharp. 

I had no such trouble with the Staccato 2011; it’s well-routed and feels fairly good in the hand.

They aren’t perfect, though. I’ve handled guns like Dan Wessons and Nighthawks that seem to be blended just a bit nicer.

Those guns often cost $2,000 more than a similarly setup Staccato P. So it’s not and apples to apples comparision.

Texturing

The texturing on the P’s polymer frame is interesting.

It has what looks like a bunch of little number ones put on the front and back straps as well as the sides of the pistol. 

There’s also a Texan star in the bottom quarter of the grip itself on each side. I like that touch.

The texture is not overly aggressive.

It’s not going to hurt your skin when you’re carrying this gun concealed. Nor will it tear up your hands if you shoot a high round count.

That said, it’s still aggressive enough that it’s not going to slip around in your hand, even if your hands are sweaty and wet.

Staccato P Review General Feel

The overall feel of the Staccato 2011 is that it’s a big gun. This is definitely a firearm that you know is in your hand and if you’re a smaller-handed shooter, I could see how this could be an issue.

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That said, due to the ergonomics of it, even a smaller-handed shooter is probably going to be able to reach all the controls on this gun just fine with the exception of the slide stop and the magazine release. 

If they’re worried about activating the safety and pulling the trigger, I don’t think they’ll have any issues.

Sights

From the factory, the Staccato P comes with two sighting configurations: you can get it with a dovetailed rear sight and a front fiber optic sight, or you can get the gun with the DPO model, which is what I have. 

That model has the ability to take a red-dot. 

From the factory, the gun came with a plate with a rear sight mounted to it. It had fiber optic sights on the front and a blacked-out rear. Those sights were perfectly acceptable on a gun like this. 

I managed to shoot them fairly well at the one range session I had with the stock iron sights, but I do wish Staccato had gone with a slightly thinner front fiber optic sight on this gun.

If I were to keep the gun in the iron-sighted configuration, I would’ve switched the iron sight out to a .115 unit from Dawson Precision. 

I was perfectly happy with the rear sight that came on the gun.

Red-Dot Options

Staccato has a variety of plate offerings if you have the Staccato P DPO, so you’re not going to have trouble finding a red-dot to fit this gun.

You can use an RMR Holosun, RMRcc Holosun 509T—there are plenty of offerings that will fit this gun. You could even mount an Aimpoint ACRO. 

There are also a couple of aftermarket manufacturers making plates for the Staccato 2011. 

I used one of those because it sits lower than Staccato’s factory offerings, but I’m not sure if I would use it again.  Mine loosened up after 200 rounds and probably 500 dry-fire reps. I got an email from them offering to upgrade to their newest version for less than half the price of the old version of the optic. 

They touted the reason being the durability of the old design.

Personally, that kind of makes me mad as I feel that if they felt the need to offer that upgrade to customers, customers shouldn’t be charged for their recall. In their defense, I didn’t contact them after mine came loose. 

I just paid for the upgrade to save time. 

If I were to do it all over again, I probably would’ve just got the Dawson mounting system and gone with that.

With the lower mounting system I used, I’m also going to have to replace the front sight. 

This isn’t a big deal because I would prefer a blacked-out front sight anyway. I’m not a fan of the fiber optic since I’m running the Trijicon RMR.

If you’re a fan of red-dots and you want to have one on a 2011, the Staccato P is a great option. The sheer number of red-dot options put it above and beyond most of the other offerings on the market.

Controls

The 1911 series of pistols has a lot of controls, and the Staccato P 2011 is no different. Controls make or break a firearm, so let’s go over them all to see if this gun is a good fit for you.

Safeties Staccato P Review

As we said earlier, this gun has a grip safety in the rear and it’s fairly ergonomic. Not much more to say about that, but we can go into detail on the ambidextrous thumb safety this gun offers.

The Staccato 2011 ambidextrous safety is well-designed and pretty much your standard 1911 safety. There are no really sharp edges on it anywhere and it’s almost exactly matched on either side.

The paddles themselves are identical in width, although the left-side safety sticks out just a little bit more. It has the same width paddlewise, but it’s extended a little bit further to account for the plunger mounted on the side of the firearm.

This safety is very easy to ride your thumb on when firing. 

It’s just as easy to put your thumb underneath it and flick it back on so the gun is safe again. I think Staccato did an excellent job on this gun considering the price point.

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This gun is expensive, and many may say that the safety should be absolutely perfect. It’s not quite as good as guns like the Nighthawk or Dan Wesson that I mentioned earlier, but it’s still very good considering that those guns still do cost significantly more than the 2011. 

The Staccato P is still in the lower price bracket as far as 2011s are concerned.

Staccato P Review Magazine Release

The magazine release on the Staccato is a round circular button with no texturing. 

It’s reversible from one side to the other but comes set up on the left side of the gun for a right-handed shooter. 

It’s very positive to release the magazine and easy for me to reach with my medium to large size hands. If somebody had small hands, I can see how they might have to break their grip to reach the magazine release.

Slide Stop

The slide stop on the Staccato is pretty standard and similar to a 1911 slide stop. It is only mounted on the left-hand side of the gun, so it’s easy to use for a right-handed shooter.

With my right thumb, I cannot reach the slide stop without breaking my grip. It’s very easy for me to do the Vickers method of dropping the slide using my support hand thumb, however, after loading a fresh magazine into the gun.

If you’re left-handed, you can also easily drop the slide using your trigger finger. It’s positioned well, so you can just reach it without having to bring that finger back too far.

Overall, I think they did a solid job. 

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It’s nothing spectacular and it would’ve been nice to see them work an ambidextrous slide stop into the design, but I can live with what I have as a right-handed shooter. 

I would probably be happy with it as a left-handed shooter as well.

Overall Ergonomics

Overall, I’d have to give the ergonomics of the Staccato P an 8.5 out of 10.

They’re very good for this gun considering the price point. This gun isn’t cheap, but it’s a more affordable option in its class. This is not a custom gun and doesn’t claim to be. The ergonomics on this gun will work well for most shooters who have very small up to very large hands.

Trigger Staccato P Review

I am not a trigger snob, so I am probably not the best judge when it comes to a 1911-style trigger.

The trigger on this 2011 Staccato P has just a slight bit of take-up before you reach a wall. At that wall, you feel just the tiniest bit of creep before it goes into a rolling break. The trigger resets halfway into the take-up of the trigger, so you might as well let the trigger all the way out before pressing the trigger to the rear. 

It’s a very short reset nonetheless.

It’s a clean 1911 trigger and comparable to most of the 1911 triggers I’ve handled on $1000 to $1500 1911 guns like the lower-end Dan Wessons or SIG Sauer 1911s.

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This trigger is nothing to brag about, but it’s no slouch either. If you’re expecting a super-crisp custom-style trigger, my P didn’t have it. That being said, reading other reviews and seeing reports, there seems to be some inconsistencies in the trigger pull. 

If you can go by a local shop and handle a couple of these, you may find that one has a better trigger for your needs.

Aftermarket

As we said earlier, this gun has a pretty good aftermarket following. You can get a variety of iron sights for it, as well as optic plates and even grip modules.

There are a variety of manufacturers that make magazines as well. 

Many of the parts in this gun are standard 1911, so they can be switched as well. Do keep in mind, though, that a lot of the parts are specific to the 2011 style of gun and some require a lot of fitting as Staccato modified the 2011 design slightly in this gun.

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You’ll notice on a lot of grip manufacturers’ websites that they make one version for a standard 2011 and another for the Gen2 Staccato Ps.

Maintenance Staccato P Review

Maintaining this firearm is like any other 1911 style gun—it’s pretty easy to do, but it’s more intensive than something like a Glock.

If you’re looking for something that’s very easy to maintain, then this pistol may not be for you. 

If you’re willing to go through slightly more process to take the gun down and check the gun at more regular maintenance schedules, then you won’t have any issues with the Staccato P.

Aesthetics

Aesthetically I think Staccato did a very good job with this gun. There is no crazy badging on the slide, which I really like.

There are forward serrations at the front of the slide and the rear that are deep, sharp, and wide. I really like that design; it looks great and it’s well balanced.

On the left side of the frame, you’ll see 20 with a Texan star and then a 11 written after it referencing its series. 

It’s classy and looks good. 

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On the right-hand side of the gun, you’ll see an American flag in front of the grip, your serial number, and ‘Staccato P’ with another Texan star on the front.

All this writing, with the exception of the flag, is all black, so it blends well from a distance. You won’t even notice it. The grip itself looks good and this gun is just well-proportioned.

I really don’t have any complaints about the looks of this gun. It doesn’t have that classic 1911 look, but it looks modern and looks up to the times. That being said, it doesn’t have a trendy look like a lot of more modern-styled guns can have.

This is a classic-looking firearm that still looks modern. 

The best equivalent I can think of is something like a Dodge Challenger. It took the best of the old classic lines and applied some new ones to make a gun that stands out and still looks good to this day.

Staccato P Review Shooting

Shooting the Staccato 2011 was a lot of fun. This is a gun I’m considering making my carrier gun, so I’m shooting this more than I would most other pistols.

When I took it to the range the first time, it did not have an optic mounted. The lack of an optic was a major pitfall to me; shooting this gun at 10 yards and in, it’s crazy accurate—I mean this gun just shoots. But once we got past 10 yards, my eyes started giving me trouble and it became more difficult to group well.

Shooting this gun single-hand only, I was able to put up a half-inch group at seven yards. I could do the same thing strong-hand-only as well. This gun has a very low recoil impulse for your normal range ammo. Adding a red-dot to this gun made it a lot easier to shoot at a distance. It just shoots well, but it’s not perfect.

I’ve zeroed this gun with my carry ammo and put about 50 rounds of 124 grain HST +Ps through it. 

Recoil

I found the recall impulse to be significantly snappier than when it’s shooting regular range ammo. +P ammo always has more recoil than standard pressure ammo and it’s significantly more noticeable in this 2011 than it would be in a gun like a Glock or a SIG P320.

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I’m sure this could easily be rectified with a slightly stiffer recoil spring, but I’m a little bit reluctant to do that. 

I bet I would have reliability issues if I shot this gun primarily with 115-grain range ammo.

The real question is, is this gun easier to shoot than other options? 

This gun is definitely a shooter and I noticed a performance increase when shooting it compared to my other firearms. That said, the increase is definitely slight. This gun does not shoot four times better than a Glock 19 or a SIG Sauer P320.

When it comes to overall performance, I shoot all guns similarly well, but if I let my fundamentals slip a little bit, I get much better results with the 2011 than when shooting a $500 striker-fired pistol.

The 2011 series of pistols is more forgiving—the great trigger pull and overall heavy frame makes the gun more forgiving to a relaxed grip.

I can let the fundamentals slide a little bit when shooting the Staccato P and still get good results. Those fundamentals will bite me if I’m doing the same thing with a Glock.

If your fundamentals are all good and you’re shooting well, then you’re not going to see a huge difference in the performance between a 2011 and a Glock 19. 

Carry Staccato P Review

There’s something about carrying a 2011.

If you’re the guy who wants the best of everything and you want something a little bit different from all your buddies, this is a great option.

While I understand this gun does not shoot significantly better than $500 options, I am considering buying a second one. I’ll set one up specifically for carry ammo while the other is set up for range use.

The value of this gun, in my opinion, is not quite there. 

Street price on these runs about $2299 or $2399, and at that price, this gun is not the best value in the world.

Realistically, I think this gun should come in a little under $2000 with the optic cut. 

That being said, this gun really doesn’t have that much competition. You have companies like Bul that offer 2011 pistols, but they rarely come into the country. 

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They’re very hard to get and they don’t have the optics mounting support and the aftermarket accessories that the Staccato 2011 has.

If you’re looking at this for an expensive carry gun, then I think you’re going to have a hard time beating the Staccato.

If you’re looking for a range gun that isn’t used for competition and mostly sits in your safe, then something like the Bul will probably be a better option. Plus it will save you around a thousand dollars.

Please let us know what we can do to improve our Staccato P review below.