The trek to 500 rounds with the Staccato XL has been a slow, winding journey, but I’ll take the blame for that—not the pistol. Life threw some detours my way. Weekends spent assisting with instruction at KR Training, plus a trip to TacCon, meant I was running my everyday carry, the C2, far more than the XL. The XL, ever patient, sat on the sidelines, waiting for its moment to shine.

With those distractions finally in the rearview, I got back to work over the past couple of weekends, giving the XL the attention it deserves. A huge shoutout goes to my friends at Ammo To Go, who generously hooked me up with a case of 150-grain Federal Syntech Action Pistol 9mm. That ammo was the fuel I needed to power through, and I sailed past the 500-round milestone after competing in two local USPSA matches in the Limited Optics division. The XL didn’t just perform—it felt right at home on each stage, comfortable and confident in the heat of competition.

Reaching 500 rounds is a milestone I take seriously. It’s a critical benchmark for any pistol’s reliability. In my experience, if a gun is going to show manufacturing flaws or poor craftsmanship, it’ll usually stumble before hitting this mark. The XL’s road to 500, though a bit leisurely, was buttery smooth and completely uneventful—exactly the kind of boring reliability you want from a high-end firearm. No hiccups, no surprises, just consistent performance.

That said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous along the way. After the hammer fall issue with the C2 (which Staccato resolved promptly, to their credit), I was hyper-aware of every detail with the XL. Those minor feeding hiccups I mentioned in my initial review—noticed while “making ready” for a drill or a stage—had me on edge. But they never returned. Looking back, I’m pretty sure I was just babying the XL, treating a premium blaster with kid gloves and overthinking my handling. Once I relaxed and trusted the gun, those issues vanished.

At 500 rounds, there’s honestly not much to report, which is exactly the point. A reliable pistol should be uneventful, letting you focus on shooting rather than troubleshooting. That said, I do want to circle back to the recoil profile I described earlier as gentle but peculiarly slow. I couldn’t decide if I loved it or hated it, and while I’m still not entirely sure, it’s definitely growing on me. It took about 200 rounds into the 500 for me to realize I was overcomplicating things. The XL’s slow cycle time made it easy to track the dot in the optic, which I initially mistook for muzzle rise that wasn’t actually happening. That misperception led me to put unnecessary input into the gun as it returned from recoil, subtly throwing off my follow-up shots.

It took another 100 rounds or so of conscious effort to break that habit. I had to trust the XL’s rhythm and stop meddling with its natural cycle. Once I did, everything clicked. The pistol and I found our groove, and my scores at those USPSA matches started to reflect the harmony. The XL’s recoil, once a puzzle, became a feature I could lean into, allowing me to stay on target with greater ease.

I’m genuinely thrilled with the Staccato XL right now, though I’ll admit I’m still in the early, starry-eyed honeymoon phase. It’s a joy to shoot, and I’m eager to keep pushing it. I plan to feed it plenty more ammo and run it through more matches in the coming weeks. At this rate, it won’t be long—probably just a few weekends—before we hit the 1,000-round mark. When we do, I’ll be back with another update, ready to share how the XL holds up as it takes the abuse I will be dishing out.