The Staccato HD pistol was the talk of SHOT Show 2025. It’s basically a 2011 that takes Glock magazines, which itself is cool enough, but it’s not the whole story.
Staccato didn’t just stuff a Glock mag into one of its existing 2011s. The company redesigned everything from the ground up to solve some of the existing criticisms of the 2011 platform.
Glock Mags
First, let’s talk about why Staccato went with Glock magazines. This has been a request by both the consumer market and law enforcement and military customers for years, as 2011 magazines are expensive and, in the past, were known for being finicky.
Glock mags are cheap and bombproof. Plus, many agencies already use Glock mags, so a changeover would be relatively simple. Finally, many SWAT and emergency response units wanted to go to Staccato, but they also needed to keep magazine compatibility with the regular street officers who carry Glocks. This choice just makes sense.
HD Features
So, what else did Staccato do to this gun? It’s totally ambidextrous, which is not possible with a 2011. Now, there are slide lock levers on both sides, and the magazine release button is easily reversible. The slide lock levers have also been extended to be more accessible.
Next, the HD grip was slimmed down to fit more hand sizes. This works because the Glock magazines are smaller, and the grip is now closer in size to the CS and C lines. Staccato kept the same grip angle that everyone loves.
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Designers added a firing pin block to make the HD drop-safe, but this had a bunch of ancillary benefits. Adding this feature negated the need for a grip safety, so that was deleted. With no grip safety, the gun is more reliable, since one point of dust and dirt entry is eliminated. The lack of a grip safety also means the shooter’s hand can be higher on the grip, giving the effect of a lower bore axis, which lowers perceived recoil.
Don’t worry – the trigger pull has not been affected by the firing pin block. It’s still a crisp, wonderful trigger.
Optics and Internals
In addition, a new optics mounting system was added. It is Staccato’s older HOST plate system that allows dots to be mounted directly to the slide. The optics system has also been moved back to keep the dot away from the debris from the chamber. The rear iron sight was moved in front of the optic. I like this. Nowadays, the red dot is the primary sighting system, so having the iron sight in front of the dot allows it to disappear until you need it.
Finally, the entire recoil and fire control system was changed. This was done to keep the great trigger, improve the felt recoil, increase reliability, and accommodate all the new control changes. The engineers basically kept everything that was great and made it even better.
Pricing
The first two models being released are the HD P4 with a 4-inch barrel (MSRP $2,499, available Tuesday, Jan. 28) and the HD 4.5 with a 4.5-inch sight block barrel (MSRP $2,699, coming in spring 2025).
