“Oh, I get it now,” I said those exact words to myself after shooting a magazine through a Staccato HD P4. I understood why people paid $2,500 for a handgun and why the brand has such a cult-like following. I’m not afraid of spending good money on good guns—just ask about my Italian shotgun addiction.
However, when companies like Glock produce outstanding guns for around $600, I’m less likely to spend a lot of money on a handgun. I’ve always known Staccato, previously STI, produced extremely nice pistols, but I didn’t “get it” until I hit the range with the HD P4.
Before we get to the range, let’s hit rewind and talk about the HD series from Staccato.
HD, P4, and Duty Grade
The Staccato HD series ushered the 2011 platform and Staccato into the duty market. The pistol uses a Series 80 trigger design, which makes it inherently drop-safe—a critical need for duty users.
One problem with 2011s often comes from chasing the best trigger possible, which is often a Series 70 trigger, which is not drop-safe.
Another issue is magazines. 2011 magazines are expensive. While multiple companies make some form of double-stack 1911-like platform, the magazines are not always interchangeable. A lot of 2011s are high-end guns built by craftsmen, and the tight tolerances and hand-fitted components don’t always ensure magazine compatibility.
The HD series fixed this by using Glock-pattern magazines. The gun comes with two metal Glock magazines made by Mec-Gar. Why metal? Likely to help ensure the magazine drops free for a quicker reload, and the feed lips are going to last a little longer than in polymer magazines.
The HD series can use polymer Glock magazines without an issue. It won’t chew up the polymer variants either. If you want to stick to Staccato HD series metal Glock mags, they’re only $29 each.
Inside the Staccato HD P4
The HD series comes in 4-inch variants and 4.5-inch variants. I have the P4, which is a 4-inch model. That’s a 4-inch bull barrel designed for accuracy. The barrels come in stainless steel or with a DLC finish.
The grip design has changed a bit, but in a good way. Staccato re-contoured the polymer grip module to be a little slimmer than traditional 2011s. If you’re new to 2011s, they have an interesting design.
The frame is metal, but the grip is polymer. The combination provides most of the weight of a metal frame with the polymer flex of a polymer frame pistol. This design creates less recoil than traditional all-metal guns and traditional all-polymer pistols.
A 2011 is defined by the polymer grip module and metal frame, not by its double-stack design. Staccato made a single-stack 2011 at one point. The recoil spring is a new flat-wire recoil system designed to improve reliability.
The HD series uses the new HOST mounting system for optics. The system uses plates for recoil bosses and to keep the optic from hanging off the side, but the optic directly attaches to the slide. This prevents stacked tolerances and allows for multiple optic mounts.
The gun comes with suppressor-height iron sights to cowitness through the optic. The rear sight sits in front of the optic and, while different, is surprisingly intuitive.
The HD In Hand
Ergonomically, I find the gun to be exceptional. I’ve heard some folks complain about the grip width of Staccato pistols. These are beefy boys and won’t fit everyone’s hand, but they work brilliantly with mine.
The wide grip helps displace recoil a bit better than thinner grips. The grip texture is extremely grippy and aggressive, which keeps the gun from sliding around in your hand.
Staccato ditched the grip safety, and the manual safety is ambidextrous. The slide release is also ambidextrous, and the magazine release is reversible for lefties.
The controls are basically shelves that provide excellent reference points for control. Everything clips and pops in and out of place with audible and tactile feedback. Even with the thick grip, finding the magazine release is easy.
At the Range
What blew my mind was just how straight I could shoot this gun. Most people can’t outshoot a gun’s mechanical accuracy, so what makes a gun accurate in most users’ hands is eliminating some of the human error. The Staccato HD P4 eliminates human error, as well as paper targets.
As I zeroed the cheap red dot on top of the gun, I knew that I had one accurate beast. It printed groups that were one ragged hole at 15 yards. That’s when that “Oh, I get it” came into play. After zeroing, I couldn’t shoot this gun enough.
At 25 yards, I was scoring failure-to-stop drills with rounds in the A-Zone and one in the head in about 2.25 seconds. At 50 yards, I was ringing steel 99% of the time. I rarely missed at 50 yards. Putting the rear sight in front of the red dot gives me a clear view through the optic and an uncluttered sight picture. The light single-action trigger is crisp, and while it’s not the lightest 2011 trigger, it’s excellent compared to a market of partially cocked polymer frame guns.
Going Fast
Beyond producing ragged 9mm groups, you could produce them quickly. I used an 8-inch target and a 33-round Glock magazine and fired it as fast as I could. I was able to dump the entire magazine into the target at 15 yards.
It wasn’t necessarily a ragged hole, but I was going fast and all 33 rounds hit the target, unless I missed the entire IPSC-sized target I pasted the target to—then I had no misses. For a more standard drill, I fired a Bill Drill, one of my favorites, and from a Level 1 holster, I scored a 2.2 on my first try.
The big gun barely moves, and the slide snaps back without pulling the gun forward. It’s a fantastic flat-shooting gun. The red dot is easy to find and sits low on the slide, so there was never a call for a mulligan.
If the 4-inch model is this flat-shooting, I imagine the P4.5 model must feel like a laser.
Hard and Dry
I had zero reliability issues over 400 rounds of Staccato’s own ammo, but also a mix of Monarch Brass and Steel-cased, Blazer Brass, and Federal American Eagle. I used Staccato’s metal mags, but also a Glock OEM magazine, Magpul Glock mags, and KCI magazines. There were no issues with any type of ammo or magazine.
What can I complain about? I’d like to see the optic plate included with the gun, especially with an MSRP of $2,500. That’s about it, but I don’t think Staccato customers are sweating it. The gun can direct-mount a Leupold DPP and optics with a similar cut, but anything else needs a plate.
The HD P4 held up to all the abuse I could put through it. Typically, by the time I get done shooting for a review, I’m more or less done with the gun. I always have fun, but a few guns make me want to keep shooting after several hundred rounds of ammo in a short period of time.
I only stopped when I ran out of ammo. This is a loaner from Staccato, so I have to send it back, but before I do, I’m going to blast through even more ammo, just for the love of the game.
