When it comes to carrying guns, most of us are used to making a trade-off or two. Weโre told that concealability means giving up some precision or comfort, or that a gun that feels good to shoot will likely be too bulky to carry all day. Enter the Staccato C, a gun that seems intent on proving those old assumptions wrong.
Billed as a single-stack 2011, the Staccato C promises to bring the features of a competition-level pistol into a package thatโs actually reasonable to carry. But does it really live up to that claim? Iโve put this handgun through its paces, and hereโs what you need to know before you decide if itโs worth the investment.
For the purposes of this exercise, I set up the Staccato C with the bells and whistles that I needed to squeeze every last drop of top performance out of the gun. I mounted a Holosun 507C-X2 using the gun’s included optics plate.
This allowed me to easily test the Staccato C’s accuracy, firing off 5-round groups starting at a distance of seven yards.
I ran the Staccato C through its paces with a solid 800 rounds, pulling from AAC 115g, Blazer 115g, Magtech 124g, Staccato 124g, and Sig V-Crown 124g to see how this gun handles different brands and both FMJ and JHP rounds. This wasnโt just a one-and-done test; I pushed it to see how it performed shot after shot, round after round.
Added to that, I used a couple of tools to help give the most accurate review I possibly could. First, I shot the gun with a ransom test to check the accuracy and remove any hint of a possible error on my part that might incorrectly weigh as a possible negative on the gun’s performance.
Also, I tested the trigger a few times with a Lyman Digital Guage to get the average trigger pull.
Now, onto something that I don’t think enough people think about when purchasing a gun; how does it feel and fit when in your hands?
Think of it this way, you could buy a pair of shoes that you think look nice, but if your foot is a size nine and you buy Andre the Giant’s shoes then they just aren’t going to fit properly and ruin the whole experience. Same thing with a gun. It has to feel like the gun was specifically made for your hands.
That being said, the frame texture of the Staccato C is very notable for its sandpaper-like grip.
While this texture gives you enough friction to lock the gun right in your hand during rapid strings of fire, it doesn’t irritate your skin. This makes it a very comfortable option for conceal carry. The texture covers nearly all the way around the grip and extends high up the frame, giving the person firing solid support when shooting.
Also, a slightly extended lip at the bottom part of the grip gives a comfortable place for your pinky finger to rest, giving an extra bit of stability.
One thing I always judge a gun on is the design of the safety. The Staccato C passes my safety test with flying colors. This thing has an amazingly well designed grip and thumb safety. As someone whose first pistol came out of the 1911 family, I have always had issues with grip safeties that fail to disengage properly and thumb safeties that are too small. The Staccato addressed every single one of my concerns in that regard.
The Staccato Cโs thumb safety has hit the sweet spot. Itโs firm enough to give you peace of mind when youโre carrying but not so stubborn that youโre fighting it on the draw. Itโs exactly what a carry pistolโs safety should feel like, delivering both control and ease of use right when you need it.
That being said, there are some things about the gun that some people might find a little bit challenging. For example, the magazine release might be a little bit of a pain for some folks.
Even after firing eight hundred rounds, the release is still stiff as it was on the first round I fired. It’s small design practically demands perfect finger placement and might be a little difficult for those who don’t have their finger planted square on the release.
This might be a bit of a problem for those with smaller hands, as indicated by my wife asking me how the heck she is supposed to get the magazine to release with her tiny hands. But it’s not entirely something she is the only person that suffers from this issue. Unless you have larger than average hands, the slide catch is not going to be accessible with the firing hand of most shooters.
The optics plate on this model is smartly designed, integrating backup iron sights for those running optics. That means no scrambling to find a new sight with just the right height once youโve got the optic installedโStaccato thought that part through.
Mounting is straightforward, with the plate attached to the slide and the optic sitting securely on top. Thankfully, itโs not a skyscraper situation; the optic keeps a decent low profile despite the robust build of the plate system.
And letโs talk about the factory sightsโDawson Fiber Optics with a range of color choices. These make for an impressively bright, clear-sight picture, helping with quicker target acquisition when seconds matter.
And now, the big question: how does it shoot? In a word, excellent.
While the Staccato C’s recoil impulse isn’t as flat as a Comensated XC for example, it is still pretty darned soft. Even when I was shooting off longer strings of fire, I noticed nothing harsh about the slide cycling in between shots.
I spent the majority of my time testing the pistol at targets from seven to fifteen yards away and the thing that I noticed through all of this is that the gun will shoot as fast as you allow it to go.
If you have good visual discipline, you are going to be able to place rounds exactly where you want them to go. Putting it simply, the gun is as accurate as the human being holding it.
Even after firing eight hundred rounds through the gun, the Staccato C didn’t feel sluggish in the slightest or like it was fighting any kind of gunk that had built up. So if you are looking for an accurate gun, this might be the one you are looking for.
That being said, it is on the pricy side at around $2,599 at most retailers. However, I have run almost a thousand rounds through this thing and I can definitely say it is one of the most accurate guns I have ever fired. I suppose, in this case getting what you pay for is a good thing.