The Glock 43 was Glock’s first entry into the single stack 9mm market. Most of us would say its about time. Let’s face it, Glock tends to lag behind just a bit when it comes to firearm’s trends. They make a good product, but damn do they take their time addressing their customer’s demands and needs. Is the G43 the single stack 9mm we’ve always wanted?
What’s the Glock 43?
Of course, the Glock 43 is a single stack 9mm, but let’s look at the specs and see just how small and compact this firearm is. If you’ll notice this is a burnt bronze G43. This is not a factory option, but a cerakote finish applied by Cerakote Services. It’s been roughed up quite a bit as you can tell, but still runs light a champ. The gun itself was provided for T&E by the online gun store Omaha Outdoors.
G43 Specs
Capacity – 6 rounds
Weight – 17.95 ounces unloaded
Length – 6.26 inches
Height – 4.25 inches
Barrel Length – 3.39 inches
Width – 1.02 inches
As you can see the gun is quite small. It fits in hand well and is quite carry friendly. This little pocket pistol sits right on the edge of pocket size. It’s certainly much more comfortable to carry and draw from with a standard holster.
Carry Comfort
The G43 is a comfortable gun to carry. It’s flat surfaces and thin nature makes it easy to conceal under a t-shirt in an OWB or IWB holster. The weight is nice and comfortable, and it never feels like a boat anchor when carried.
Ergonomics
It’s all Glock when it comes to ergos. It’s simple. There is no manual safety or excess controls like a de-cocker. It’s just a trigger, a magazine release, and a slide lock.
The controls are all easy to reach without having to move your grip around. The magazine release is easy to reach, the trigger and trigger safety work, but the slide lock sucks. Maybe its just me, but with small guns, my thumb always rides on the slide lock. This means the slide rarely locks when the last round is fired.
Also, the grip is finger grooveless, which I really like. I’ve never wanted the Gen 3 and 4 finger grooves so to see them eliminated on the G43 is nice. The grip itself is just long enough with the extended magazine to fit most of my pinky on. I hate a hanging pinky. For reference, I wear an XL/2XL glove.
The trigger is also stock Glock, which is okay. The trigger is stiff, but the pull is short, and the reset is very nice. It’s tactile and audible which I appreciate.
On the Range
The Glock 43 handles quite well. It’s small but controllable. It’s a good balance of size versus control. The sights are standard Glock sights, nothing to brag about here. They work, but are plastic, and not exactly the most robust sights on the market.
Double taps and rapid and accurate fire is possible. So is more extended range, more precise slow fire. Of course, both take practice, and my position with the Loadout Room lets me get a bit more practice than most.
Out to 25 yards, I didn’t have any issues placing shots in the vital zones of my MGM targets. I could also ring steel out to 35 yards with decent consistency. On average I could score 13 out of 15 shots at longer ranges.
The downsides associated with small guns are present. The weapon has a limited capacity, the shorter sight radius isn’t conducive to making small groups, and the thin magazines aren’t as easy to reload with. With that said, dropping magazines is easy. The little guys fall freely when the magazine release is pressed, and they are mainly launched out of the gun.
Glocks run, and they run, and they run, and they run. This gun has never hiccupped in the reliability department. It doesn’t matter what I put through it. Tulammo, Wolf, Winchester Steel, Winchester White box, SIG Elite, JHPs, FMJs, it doesn’t matter it all fed, and it all ran like a smokestack. The G43 eats everything and in a gun made for concealed carry that’s vital to me.
Logistics
Logistics win wars right? Glock and the aftermarket have mastered handgun logistics. Magazines are readily available and affordable from Glock and companies like ETS. As are triggers, sights, and even frames. If you want to customize a gun and tinker with it, then Glock and the G43 are excellent gotos. I don’t know of any other weapon in the single stack territory that offers the same degree of customization as the G43.
Glock may have been late to the show, but they delivered a platform that performed. I’m no big Glock fan, but I will say the G43 is a reliable gun that delivers. I wouldn’t hesitate to carry this gun to defend myself or my family.
