Read through this, and wanted to hear from folks who own the C, and have good round counts behind one. I have a chance to pick one up, decent price, not great.
Generally companies improve on designs, is this a must buy? Or was it just a solid gun that folks wanted to see stay in production?
I have no desire to run glock mags, am I missing other key elements of their new lineup? Specific info appreciated.
Long response to a short question, but it seems you want details, so...
I've put a few thousand on mine, and have a hard time seeing how they could functionally improve on it much as a production 2011. It really is a special gun - 20 years ago, it would have been an absolute grail gun. There are a couple of things I don't care for, but they're minor and are definitely outweighed by the positives.
Among other positives,
it's deceptively thin, and seems to shoot softer than most guns in the commander size. It's completely controllable and fast as hell at speed, though not quite at the level of a bigger, tuned competition gun, of course. Mine's been 100% reliable thus far, with a wide variety of factory and reman ammo, including some aguila low-recoil training ammo. The slide serrations and the grip texture are also both deceptively grippy and effective - it's not obvious visually, it shows up as soon as you start manipulating the gun. Haven't had any problems with any of the mags yet, but they're relatively low cycle-count still.
The only things I've changed to the gun have been a short trigger, a Dawson magwell (original is absolutely fine), and the sear spring, which is probably the biggest functional change. The factory spring is pretty heavy, leaving both the trigger pull and the grip-safety weight heavier than I like. Swapped it out for a C&S lightweight spring, barely tuned it, and both are much more acceptable. In my sample, the trigger isn't as crisp as I'd like it - there's a bit more creep than the 1911/2011s I'm used to, but I'm assuming it's that way for enhanced durability and reliability, so I don't intend to do anything about it. Especially as it's not affecting accuracy/performance in my hands, from what I can tell.
The mags are another minor con - their geometry leaves them 1-2 rounds shy of other mags the same height, for no functional benefit I can tell. They could have used CZ 75 or other proven mags, without any increase in grip width or reliability problems. They're also so heavily sprung that using a speed loader is almost necessary for the last round or two, especially if you're loading a lot of mags. But on the whole, a minor issue.
While I haven't handled the HD line much, the biggest differences seem to be that the HDs are wider, with an ambi slide release, along with the glock mag thing and the grip angle change. They also mount the rear sight in front of the optic's lens, which may have some utility, but I'm not sure how much. I've also been hearing that you pretty much need to use the metal mec-gar mags, as the mag catch in the HDs can tear up the plastic glock mags, and those mags also don't seem to be as secure as the metal ones. Something about being able to pull the plastic ones out without pressing the mag release, but not sure on the details. I've also been hearing that some of the HDs are a bit lube sensitive, and need a refresh at lower round counts than other Staccatos, but again, this isn't personal experience.
Between the C and the HD series, I don't think I'd characterize the differences as an
improvement, rather than just differences for intended purposes/preferences. But to be honest, there may be shooting performance differences I just wouldn't know, given I don't have any time on the HDs, and between the different slide lengths and compensator options, there might be something there. Still surprised they discontinued the C, as it blows just about everything else from other manufacturers away, as a stock, out-of-the-box commander sized duty gun. Maybe Staccato has just figured out how to make the HD more efficiently than earlier designs?
If I had to sum up the C as a package...I just don't see how a commander-sized duty/field 2011 could really be improved upon very much, as a production gun. If someone were allowed only 1 handgun, this would be it - it's not too big to be concealable, it's not so small as to be a pain to shoot, it's stone-cold reliable, and absolutely has all the shootability, capacity, and accessory options to be an
excellent real-world fighting handgun. To improve on it much in any direction (competition, CCW, etc), you'd have to make notable design/size changes. It's an apex omnivore, do-all goldilocks gun. And to my younger me, an absolute grail gun I'd have done whatever necessary to acquire. Knowing it's been discontinued after only 2 years in production somehow makes it a little more special. One of the best gun purchases I've made, and very happy I picked mine up.
