G43 Review

[T2C]

Have you fired your Glock 43 since your last report? How many rounds have you fired? What is your opinion now?

[GregP220]

I picked one up at a LGS and fired 125 rounds (25 were PDX1 124 gr +P) at that store's indoor range.

No malfunctions, but the pistol feels absolutely tiny in my hand ( I wear XL gloves ) and the abominations that are Glock OEM polymer sights didn't help me any. I kept the range between 8-10 yards.
Once I figured out how to hold it my groups tightened up a great deal and I left the store thinking it has promise.

A couple days later and the 43 is wearing Ameriglo Protector sights, Galloway Traction Grips and Taran +1 baseplates. Once I'm not on-call I plan to take this little puke out to the desert with about 600 rounds and really wring it out and figure out if I'm keeping it long-term.

[GregP220]

I decided I didn't want to wait until next Saturday so I went to another indoor range and put 360 rounds of 124 gr. fmj handloads and 50 rounds of 124 gr HSTs through it.

All the dry firing I've been doing (and the improved sights) really helped and I'm quite happy with how it shoots. A pistol this small is a challenge for me and the improvements are rewarding to see. It was fun to soundly outshoot the guy in the next lane and he was shooting a full sized Ruger P series.

After 535 rounds I'm starting to suspect it is a keeper but I want to shoot around 1000 rounds through it and do some full speed mag dumps with carry ammo to know for sure.

[GregP220]

After work today I went up into the National Forest behind my house and and put the following rounds through the 43:
50 Speer 124 Gold Dot +P
25 Hornady 135 Critical Duty +P
25 Winchester 124 PDX1 +P
25 Hornady 147 XTP
20 Federal 147 HST

Prior to the defensive rounds I also put another 220ish rounds of 124 gr handloads loaded with Unique to get the pistol good and dirty. Zero malfunctions, I did start to ride the slide lock towards the end of the shooting and kept the slide from locking back. Bad grip form on my part.



My first Dot Torture drill (5 yards) with the 43. MY weak hand shooting (dot 8) sucked. I shoot my larger pistols better, mostly because my hands are so cramped on the 43, but I really do like this pistol.



I really like that this gun seems to shoot anything I load into the magazine. You can see some finish wear already on the front of the slide from holster presentations. I think I'll keep it. (and yes there is a 45 acp case in there)

[RIDE]

Thank you for the review Greg!!!!

[CoryCop25]

I have noticed that I really have to concentrate on the basics when shooting the 43. I also believe that if I use a little more trigger finger, I get better results. I since put new sights on mine and when I took it to the range, the POI needed to be adjusted a bit.
Here are some 10 yard targets with a one second per shot tempo BEFORE the new sights were added....

Untitled by Cory Fluck, on Flickr

by Cory Fluck, on Flickr

by Cory Fluck, on Flickr

[USMC_Anglico]

Great info, keep it coming. I'm looking hard at a 43

[GregP220]

Thank you for the review Greg!!!!

You're welcome - it has been fun.

I have noticed that I really have to concentrate on the basics when shooting the 43

Agreed, short sight radius + small size means more concentration. I have a hunch it will help as a training tool to make one a better pistol shot.

Great info, keep it coming. I'm looking hard at a 43

I'll be taking a bit of a break but I can say after 900 rounds (in 10 days ) it has earned a spot in my carry rotation. I also think the Taran +1 pads are worth the money to correct the dopey 6+1 capacity limit.
Zero malfunctions and they have been used for 775 rounds of the testing.

Hope others keep posting their findings.

[Slvr Surfr]

I thought I would be in the minority, but I had the exact same shooting experience as Sensei. The G43 just twists in my hands when shooting. I could not for the life of me get the rounds to group where I wanted at 7 yards. I have a G42 that I carry for back up and have none of the issues.

The G43 reminded me very much of my wife's Kahr PM9 while shooting. I could not shoot her PM9 very well either. My 9mm shield is the perfect size for my hands as far as small frame single stack 9mm's go. I think the extra grip length gives a hair bit more to hold onto. I shoot the Shield much better than the G43. I would like the opportunity to shoot both at the same time, but my initial seat of the pants gauge says the Shield shoots a hair softer.

[Jesse H]

This is my wife at 5 yards, 2 magazines (12 rounds), two handed grip, slow fire with the new G43 that she plans to conceal carry. Taking our time that day she only put ~100 rounds through it and there were no malfunctions with mostly Federal American Eagle and a few magazines of cheap Winchester JHP. I thought she'd have a malfunction or two because of her grip strength but I was happy to report none.

She's got small hands and comparatively weak grip strength so the gun does appear to flip in her hands. We didn't get a chance to do faster shooting drills as she's still relatively new and we were working on the fundamentals.

I find it to be snappier than a G26, which isn't really that bad to begin with, but noticeably softer shooting than a G27. I personally find it softer shooting than my duty G22. The trigger on this one is heavy, but surprisingly good. Very little over travel and very clean when it breaks. Much better than all of my Gen 4 Glocks. I wear medium sized gloves so I don't find it too difficult to grab on to.