Glock 43: The Bottom Line on a Compact EDC Pistol

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What do you do if you have conceived the world’s best high-capacity 9mm pistol, and it sells at a rate that makes selling hotcakes look like the hotcake-seller is a slacker? You make your 9mm more compact. That’s what Glock did with the G17, turning it into the G19. But, that wasn’t good enough. Oh, it was great in 1988 when the G19 appeared, but there was always someone who asked: “Can you make it more compact?” (the answer is, “Of course we can.”)

And in due time we got the G26, an even more compact hi-cap 9mm, in 1995. But it brought a new set of problems. (I’ll get to the G43, honest, just hang in there.) The double-stack magazine and the grip area to contain it has an absolute minimum size it can be and still work. When you make the vertical length of the grip area so short that it approaches the width and front-to-back dimensions of the frame, it becomes difficult for some to hold it well and shoot well. The G26, holding 10+1 rounds in its compact state, holds a useful amount of ammo, but drawing and firing isn’t always easy. Especially for those with larger or beefier hand. So, what to do? Single-stack it. And that’s what the G43 is, the final distillation of the Glock platform to its most-compact and yet still useful form. (Well, until the next breakthrough, anyway.)

But Glock did more than just squeeze the frame down to hold a single-stack magazine. Since the frame at the top was no longer wide enough to manage a double-stack magazine, the original slide dimensions would have hung over the edges. So Glock trimmed the slide down, making it noticeably narrower and a smidge less tall. This makes the G43 a lot more compact to carry and keep concealed. Now, the magazine, which for all intents and purposes is a single-stack magazine, isn’t really. It is a sort of half-stack-or-less design, with the cartridges being offset just enough to keep the magazine length from getting too long. I’m sure a lot of shooters will negate that work done by Glock by adding a magazine extension in order to get the capacity up past the six rounds it normally holds with the finger rest baseplate.

The idea of a single stack Glock was not new. Glock probably got a request for one the day after they unveiled the G19, but it took a while. And in the single-stack lineup the G42 came first. That one is a .380, and it was/is really compact. Wait, it isn’t a lot more compact than the G43, as you could put them side by side on a counter, take a step or two back, and not be able to tell the difference. So why then make a G43? Well, a few reasons, all of them pretty important. And a couple of shortcomings, at least in the eyes of some EDC owners.

First, the G42 has a reputation of being, shall we say, a bit picky about ammo. As a blowback action, it depends a lot on having just the right recoil impulse in order to work. That and a secure hand behind it. So, if your grip isn’t as secure as it should be, of the ammo is wimpy (and the .380 is no rocket launcher) then you can get malfunctions, even with a Glock. And if you get brisker, the top-end .380 ammo might be too much recoil, and again, cause malfunctions. You really have to tune your G42 to your grip and the ammo you select.

The G43 has no such problems, it is very Glock-ish in that regard, eating everything factory you feed it. (Not even Glock can guarantee reloads and reliability.) The second reason is for ammo compatibility. Let’s say you are selecting the G43 as a backup gun, not your main gun. (Although it would work just fine as a main gun for EDC, provided you are comfortable with the capacity.) If you are packing a 9mm as your first gun, why would you select and carry something in a different caliber as your backup? This is something law enforcement agencies consider. Well, the forward-looking ones, the ones who approve of or mandate a backup gun.

The G433, using the same ammo as your main gun (or a duty pistol, for LE) means you don’t have to keep and inventory more than one load. That’s good news. Now for the bad news. The G43 uses a magazine unique in the Glock world. It does not fit any other pistol. This is not a big problem, as Gl.ock is sure to have made plenty of G43 magazines since it first hit the gun shops back in 2015. Glock is not bashful about providing magazines for their line, so it isn’t like you will be using the G43 as a backup with just the two magazines that came with it in the box.

On the downsides, there are a couple. First, the G43 does not have an accessory rail;. Hey, the whole point of a single-stack ultra-compact 9mm EDC pistol is managing or achieving deep concealment, right? So adding a light isn’t going to be high on the “I have to have it” list for many buyers. And if there isn’t going to be a light, then why have a rail for a light? The second one is that the G43 does not have interchangeable backstraps. All I can say on that one is see the previous point about no rail (it keeps the G43 compact) and, we got along just fine for well over a century before we started seeing replaceable backstraps. So not having one is not the crime of the century.

As far as triggers go, the GF43 keeps the “five pound” trigger pull of the Glock series. This is something I’ve been shaking my head over for the forty years since Glocks first appeared. No, it isn’t five pounds. No, in most of them it isn’t even close, and it isn’t at all like the trigger of a 1911. But for a lot of shooters, that’s just fine. So, you get the Glock trigger, ultra-compact size, utter reliability, and a decent ammo capacity, in a pistol that is easy to use and won’t hurt your feelings if it shows the wear of Every Day Carry. Aesthetically it may hurt my feelings but it works, and that’s what matters when the chips are down.

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