The Poorman's Staccato - Part 1
I’ve always wanted a Staccato for as long as I can remember—but honestly, who hasn’t? Any gun enthusiast dreams of owning a 2011-pattern pistol, especially a high-end model like a Staccato or Cosaint Arms. Then you’ve got the mid-tier options like the Springfield Prodigy and OA Defense, and rounding out the budget category is the Girsan—or is it?
There’s been a lot of hate and stigma attached to Turkish-made firearms. In my experience, most of it comes from people who’ve never actually handled or fired one and are just repeating what they’ve heard. Unfortunately, opinions are like assholes—everyone’s got one.
I think the Girsan is a great entry-level option for anyone looking to get into the 2011 platform. For me, it was a no-brainer, especially since this would be my first time modifying one. A lot of people have asked me, “Why not just save up for a Staccato or Cosaint Arms?” But where’s the fun in that—especially for someone like me, an amateur gunsmith who enjoys the process. Sure, I work in a gun shop, but I was never formally apprenticed. I proudly claim the title of YouTube University graduate.
I ended up purchasing the Girsan Witness 2311 Brat on the recommendation of a co-worker at the shop. I was skeptical at first—I'd never heard of the brand, and the price was low ($650 before tax), which raised some eyebrows. But curiosity won out, and I decided to give it a shot.
It comes with a 3.5" barrel and a 17+1 capacity—assuming you don’t live in a commie state (looking at you, New York). After digging through forums and binge-watching YouTube reviews, the general consensus on the Girsan was positive, with one recurring complaint: the ejector.
Plenty of gun-tubers mentioned erratic ejection patterns. After a few hundred rounds, many reported feeding issues caused by spent casings not ejecting cleanly. I bought the Girsan fully aware of this and already had a fix in mind. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what's going on there.
With cash in hand, I headed to my local gun shop and picked up the Brat. As soon as I got home, I jumped online and ordered the first of many upgrades for this build. Since the NYPD License Division takes an absurd amount of time to process Purchase Authorizations, most of the parts actually showed up in the mail before I could even take the pistol home.
Fast-forward two weeks: once I finally got it, the first thing I did was disassemble the slide and inspect the factory ejector. Visually, there were no obvious imperfections—but why tempt fate? I drifted out the roll pin that retained the ejector and got ready to swap it.
When I first looked over the Wilson Combat ejector, I was a bit alarmed—it looked nothing like the factory one. But at just $37, I figured it was worth the risk. Worst case? I’d file it down for fitment, and if it didn’t work out, it wasn’t a huge loss. Still, this ended up being the most tedious part of the entire upgrade process.
I knew I had to take it slow and remove just a little material at a time to avoid overdoing it. I locked my 6" Husky slim file (10 PPI) into my vise, made sure it was level, and got to work. I focused on keeping each pass straight and even—no canting.
Every 10 passes, I’d insert the ejector and check slide clearance. After about 60 passes, I had taken off roughly 1mm of material, and the slide finally went on smoothly with no binding or lock-ups. To finish it off, I polished the contact surfaces using super-fine 400, 500, and 600 grit sandpaper until everything was clean and smooth.
I reassembled the pistol and tested it with dummy rounds—and what do you know? Clean, consistent ejections right at 3 o’clock.
All in all, the process took about 45 minutes—but the result was absolutely worth it.
Now on to the trigger system. Unfortunately, I didn’t snap any pictures during the actual process, but there was definitely some fitment work required between the trigger bow and the grip.
I went with a Red Dirt trigger—styled like the one from the Staccato CS—which needed a bit of modification to free-float properly inside the Cosaint Arms grip. Specifically, I had to remove about 1mm of material from each side of the trigger bow, extending roughly halfway up on both sides.
The areas marked in red in the picture below are the spots that required filing. This material had to be removed on both sides of the bow to ensure smooth travel and proper alignment inside the grip.
On the Cosaint Arms grip, I had to do a bit of light sanding at the top and bottom of the trigger channel to smooth things out and ensure a free, consistent trigger pull. It didn’t take much—just enough to eliminate any drag. I also used a Dremel to slightly round the edges of the trigger itself—just a personal preference for feel and aesthetics.
With the trigger and grip fitment complete, it was time to move on to disassembling the trigger system. I’m not going to go into detail on that step—there are plenty of solid breakdown videos on YouTube that cover it better than I could here.
Once everything was gutted, I set aside the sear, sear spring, disconnector, and hammer/strut assembly, as none of these parts would be reused for this build.
With all the prep work out of the way, installing the Nighthawk Customs drop-in trigger system was straightforward. You start by sliding the assembly in from the rear—where the hammer normally goes—first inserting the disconnector into the hole next to the ejector. Once that's seated, line up the hammer and sear pin holes. With everything aligned, push the pins into place, and just like that, the drop-in system is good to go.
While you’ve got the mainspring housing off, it’s a good time to begin removing the grip from the frame. Start with the Allen screw located at the front of the trigger guard, followed by the top Allen screws on the grip itself. Do not try to remove the lower screws—they’re just for show (false screws).
After removing the screws, use a small flathead screwdriver to gently push out the retaining nuts on each side. Be sure to save all the screws and nuts—they’ll be reused with the new grip.
Once the grip and frame are fully separated, the disassembled setup should look like this:
Now you can slide your modified trigger and bow assembly into the new grip, along with the magazine release.
Removing the magazine release is simple: press it in as if you’re dropping a mag, then use a small flathead screwdriver on the opposite side to rotate the locking screw counterclockwise about a half turn. This will allow the release to pop out. Transfer it to the new grip and reinstall it by reversing the process. Note: the Cosaint Arms grip required a small amount of Dremeling to slightly widen the hole and properly accommodate the Girsan magazine release.
With the trigger and mag release installed, your grip is nearly ready to go.
Don’t forget to transfer over the mainspring, mainspring cap, mainspring housing retainer pin, and the mainspring housing pin retainer (yes, that’s actually a separate part—not a typo) to the new mainspring housing. Like a knucklehead, I initially forgot to do this and spent several minutes wondering why my hammer had zero tension.
With everything assembled, slide the mainspring housing back onto the frame, making sure the hammer strut is properly seated on the retaining cap. Once it’s in position, drift the roll pin back in place—and you’re good to go.
If you have a magwell installed, the process is slightly different: first, slide the magwell over the front of the grip, then over the mainspring housing, and finally drift in the roll pin. Pro tip: it’s much easier to do this with the hammer uncocked, so there’s no unnecessary tension to fight against.
Next, make sure to install the grip retaining nuts correctly on the inside of the grip. The flat end of each nut should face upward, pressing against the flat section of the frame. Don’t forget to use the provided flat washers and apply blue Loctite to the Allen screws. Do this for both sides, then finish by tightening the front screw at the trigger guard.
When complete, your finished product should look something like this:
After completing the build, I noticed the magazines weren’t dropping freely when I pressed the magazine release. The Checkmate magazines, in particular, seemed a bit bulky front to back. I saw there was some extra space between the front wall of the magazine and the plastic follower, so I carefully placed the magazine in my table vise and gave it about two and a half turns to slightly compress the follower.
Keep in mind that vise compression strength varies, so it’s crucial not to overtighten and risk damaging the follower. I took it slow, making small adjustments and testing frequently to see if the magazine would drop freely. I also used dummy rounds to ensure nothing was binding inside the mag during feeding.
Disclaimer: Modify your magazines at your own risk. Over compressing or improper adjustments can damage the follower or cause feeding issues. Proceed carefully and test thoroughly. I am not responsible for any damage that may occur.
I pressed all three of my Checkmate magazines, and each one turned out great. They all dropped freely from the gun when the magazine release was pressed, with no issues whatsoever. There were no spring bindings, follower jams, or feeding problems.
Below is a video demonstrating the magazines’ free fall.
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