Staccato HD P4.5

Staccato used to be called STI, the company behind the original 2011. In 2020 it took the name of the pistol line it had launched the year before, with the same owners and staff. The HD line is an entirely new family of pistols designed with feedback from professional end users. The HD P4.5 is a clever twist on the HD P4.

Staccato took the P4's slide and paired it with a longer 4.5-inch barrel that has a one-piece sight block. The slide stays the same size, so it still cycles quickly. The extra barrel length out front adds weight that doesn't move with the slide, and that helps reduce muzzle flip. It's a smart way to get some of the benefits of a longer gun without slowing the action down.

This is the base configuration. It's a single-action 9mm with a DLC-coated barrel and a 4-inch fully captive flat wire recoil system. The frame is 4140 steel machined from billet, and the slide is steel. It weighs 34 ounces without a magazine.

Like the P4, it's set up for duty. There's no grip safety, the beavertail is higher and the grip is narrow. Staccato includes two 18-round steel Glock-pattern magazines, which keeps spare magazines easy to find.

The P4.5 measures 8.1 inches long, 5.6 inches tall and 1.6 inches wide. The base package uses an Ameriglo blacked-out front sight, and the trigger breaks at 4 to 4.5 pounds.

If you like the HD P4 but want a little more weight up front to keep the muzzle down, the P4.5 is worth a close look.