Back around 1980, Virgil Tripp’s concept of a wide-body 1911 pistol that could hold a double-stack magazine while maintaining the 1911’s exquisite trigger pull and pointing qualities captured the imagination of American shooters. Its first home was in a free-style “combat shooting” competition: IPSC, the International Practical Shooting Confederation, and USPSA, the United States Practical Shooting Association. These guns were big and normally accompanied by flared magazine wells large enough to serve as flower pots if you turned them upside down. Add a big old optical sight from the latter 20th century, and you had a humongous pistol that it would take Count Dracula’s cape to conceal on the street.
The first mass-produced double stack 1911 was the Para-Ordnance from Canada, which began as a 14-shot gun chambered in .45 ACP. There were some folks who were comfortable concealing them despite the widened frame’s girth. The late Frank James, always a practical sort (and a hell of a good shot), was the first to point out that such a gun made a lot of sense for home defense. He pointed out that none of us sleep with spare ammo, and when the burglar alarm goes off, there might only be time to grab the gun and whatever ammo it contained. There might not be time to put on our glasses, let alone put in contact lenses, so a big red dot sight made tactical sense in a bedside pistol.
Time went on. The 9mm cartridge eclipsed the .45 ACP in popularity with a public willing to accept the theory that all “service pistol calibers” were equally effective and a “wide-body double-stack” .45 could hold way more 9mm rounds in the same size pistol. And, of course, it made sense to have a rail for attached white light or light-and-laser combinations.
Virgil Tripp’s concept morphed into STI (Strayer-Tripp International) and then into Staccato, at which point the brand really took off. Today, the 2011 moniker has become a generic term, like “Kleenex” for any paper tissue or “Frigidaire” for any refrigerator. It has become a “new hotness” with many imitators and many variations.
The police picked up on the Staccato. When the US Marshal’s Service adopted the Staccato for its elite Special Operations Group (SOG), the company had its foot in the door, making a positive entry into the police market.
In southern California, the Ontario Police Department made news when it adopted the expensive Staccato 9mm with red dot sight and attached white light as standard issue for the rank and file, not just the elite SWAT team. Numerous other agencies, not budgeted to buy that many expensive guns for standard issue, made the Staccato optional for officers who wanted to buy their own guns and carry them on duty.
The “Why”
Why purchase an updated 1911 design at a time when striker-fired 9mm pistols with polymer frames and substantial capacity magazines cost so much less? Let’s take a look at the fine points of the matter.
Shootability
Any firearms instructor, police officer, soldier, or experienced civilian shooter knows that jerking the trigger is the single most common cause of bad hits. The 1911’s short, crisp, and relatively light trigger pull reduces the degree to which a bad pull jerks a shot off target. Anything that improves hit potential is a definite “plus.”
Proprietary Nature to the User
1911 or 2011 or whatever, a single-action auto pistol must be carried “on safe.” The trained, competent user learns to off-safe the gun in the instant before the shot and loses no time at all, but if the Bad Guy gets the Good Guy’s gun away, he has to figure out which lever or button “turns on the killing machine.” This buys precious, life-saving time for the Good Guy or Gal to draw a backup or take other action to rectify the situation. Of course, this mandates that the legitimate user stay familiar with the equipment!
Variations
The 1911 design lends itself to recoil compensators, which improve hit potential in extreme emergency rapid fire. Staccato’s top-of-the-line XL series, beginning at $3,200 and going up past $4,000, come so equipped. They also come with 2.5-pound triggers, which are best used for competition and, in this writer’s opinion, have no place in high-stress gunpoint situations. Honestly, a 9mm pistol in a 1911 configuration kicks so mildly a compensator shouldn’t be needed for defensive purposes. Staccato itself lists its 2.5-pound trigger guns as being for competition and specifies the four-pound trigger pull range in its defensively oriented handguns.
Most 2011-genre handguns have big, square grips, which make discreet concealment a challenge. Enter the Wilson Combat EDC (Everyday Carry) X9 series, with slim, rounded grips that still take magazines from 15- to 17-round capacity. These are more concealable and offer a better “trigger reach,” allowing the shooter to get the index finger deeper into the trigger for greater leverage, which, of course, equals better control.
The Staccato can be had with barrel lengths as short as 3.5 inches and in steel or aluminum frame models. The Wilson Combat EDC series is all aluminum. Today, most, if not all, of the various high-capacity 9mm 1911/2011 genres are “optics-ready.”
Price Ranges
The top-of-the-line Staccato carries a manufacturer-suggested retail price (MSRP) of well over $4,000, while their concealed carry models start in the lower $2,000 range. On the bottom end of the price list is the Tisas version from Turkey, starting at around $800. My own in-between choice is the full-size Springfield Armory Prodigy at around $1,500, which I liked well enough to buy one and found it performed as advertised in competition. For concealed carry, my personal favorite of the breed is my Wilson Combat SFT9, with 15- and 17-round magazines, starting in the upper $2,000 range. Kimber makes their KSD9C, essentially a less-refined copy of the Wilson gun, for around $1,500, and the one I tested worked well. All of the above, by the way, are 9mm.
“You pay your money, and you take your choice” is an old saying that is true in this context. A well-made, reliable 1911 pistol that holds a lot of 9mm cartridges and is easy to shoot well simply makes sense.
Strayer-Tripp coined the name “2011” before the calendar had turned to that year. We’re now well past 2011, and the concept has held up and is thriving for good reason.
