While in Las Vegas for SHOT Show 2024 last month, I ventured west to PrairieFire in Pahrump, Nevada, to attend Staccato’s Range Day on Monday, January 22. The Staccato Range Day event was my first visit to the PrairieFire facility, as well as a prime opportunity to check out the new Staccato C pistol and the company’s new Match and Range 9 mm ammunition.
Joining me for the excursion to PrairieFire during SHOT Show 2024 was Shooting Illustrated magazine Executive Editor Jay Grazio, NRA Publications Senior Digital Producer Jake Stocke and writer P.E. Fitch. The four of us piled into a shiny blue Nissan Altima rental on a rainy morning and headed west from the Las Vegas Strip to the facility, which is located in the Mojave Desert near the Nevada-California border, only miles away from Death Valley National Park. You know you’re getting close to PrairieFire while driving on Nevada State Route 160 when you look out the window and the landscape is littered with Joshua trees and Charleston Peak is looming in the background.
During the Staccato 2024 Range Day in Nevada in January, I had the opportunity to speak with PrairieFire’s Chief Experience Officer, Lanny Barnes, who shared with me more about the facility and everything it has to offer. (Watch the video at the top of this article, or at YouTube here.)
In spite of the rain, wind and cooler temperature, approximately 1,000 people made the trek to PrairieFire Nevada to attend Staccato Range Day 2024, with plenty of activities on the schedule to keep them entertained. “We have everything from running and gunning in the canyons, to five-stand and trying out Staccato pistols,” Barnes said.
The day prior to Staccato Range Day 2024, there was a vendor event that was open to members and non-members of PrairieFire. Many of the companies stayed onsite for the week.
“Here are PrairieFire, we have the space and the availability, so we wanted to be able to offer vendors a place where they could showcase their products, and allow the public to see what they have that’s new, since a lot of the public can’t get in to SHOT Show,” Barnes said.
Boasting more than 50 ranges on the property, PrairieFire (formerly known as Front Sight prior to its acquisition by PrairieFire in 2022) is an ideal spot to hold a large range day open to the public.
“It’s a 550-acre campus that offers an incredible opportunity to come out and have the best shooting day of your life,” PrairieFire Nevada’s Chief Communications Officer, Sonny Leggett said. “We have everything from basic courses with pistols and carbines, shotgun courses, long-range precision rifle—it’s just an immense facility that offers some of the most extraordinary shooting you can imagine.”
Staccato outfitted multiple shooting bays with its 2011 pistols for Range Day 2024, including the main demo area featuring the entire Staccato line-up and the Equilibrium Challenge, which was designed to test your ability to shoot from defensive positions and one-handed. Additionally, there were two special Staccato training classes. The first was a primer on 2011 pistols with instructor Mike Benbow, a retired U.S. Marshal who was the tactical operations commander in the Special Operations Group. The second class was red-dot training with champion competitive shooter Todd Jarrett.
Besides everything going on at Staccato Range Day 2024, there were more events at PrairieFire Nevada during SHOT Show week, including a 5K run (and ruck), the four-stage Ultimate Gunslinger Challenge match, Gunslinger Canyon Run and Gun, five-stand shotgun competition, plus a Tactical Games challenge. The latter tested your fitness and shooting ability in the 400-meter bay with both rifle and pistol targets.
If all this wasn’t enough, there was also the Staccato Ranch Challenge, a preview of the shooting experiences that will be offered at the new Staccato Ranch that will be opening in Florence, Texas, soon. Featuring two unique stages, the challenge had shooters competing against the clock or in a head-to-head battle.
NEW STACCATO PRODUCTS
New for 2024, the slim and compact Staccato C is a four-inch pistol that the company bills as “the perfect all-purpose handgun.” Built on a 7075 aluminum frame and with a four-inch bull barrel, this 9 mm is made for concealed carry, but with a 26-ounce unloaded weight, is still beefy enough for general range use. Two 16-round magazines are included with purchase. Be on the lookout for the Staccato C 9 mm pistol this summer with the price starting at $2,599.
Staccato’s new 9 mm Match ammunition is purpose-built to feed 2011 platform pistols. These match-grade cartridges are loaded with 125-grain Hornady Action Pistol bullets at 1,050 f.p.s. muzzle velocity. With a cold swaged, pure lead core, the Hornady Action Pistol bullet’s gilding jacket material entirely encloses the bullet, including the exposed circular edge of the projectile’s hollow point opening. Staccato said that from a four-inch test barrel, the Match 9 mm load will produce one-inch groups at 25 yards.
About the new Staccato 9 mm Match cartridge, Staccato Chief Marketing Officer David Fossas said, “It shoots great in a Staccato pistol, which is already a great experience—now it’s going to be even better.”
As for the company’s new 9 mm Range ammunition, it is intended for use with a wide variety of pistols chambered in 9 mm. This load has a 124-grain round-nose full-metal jacket bullet with 1,130 f.p.s. muzzle velocity, and the company states that it can produce two-inch groups at 25 yards from a four-inch test barrel. The bullets and cases are produced by Staccato.
Both the Staccato Match and Range 9 mm cartridges are loaded into new reloadable brass cases with boxer primers.
Price per 25-round box is $29.95 for Staccato Match ammunition, and a few bucks less at $22.95 for the Staccato Range ammo.
Learn more about PrairieFire Nevada and Staccato.
