The New Glock 43: Subcompact Single-Stack 9mm
Russ Chastain 03.18.15
Our friends over at The Firearms Blog (TFB) recently revealed a new pistol that’s bound to get the attention of Glock lovers and concealed carriers. It’s the Glock 43: a subcompact, single-stack 9mm that offers everything Glock fans love in a sweet little carry-friendly package.
TFB’s Phil White was one of three writers who recently got to stroll around during a factory tour of Glock’s Smyrna, GA factory, and then they were each handed a diminutive Glock, the likes of which they’d never seen before. It was the spanking-new 43.
They got to shoot to their hearts’ content, and that apparently took a lot of shooting!
Perhaps the best thing about the new 43 is that it offers more power in a pistol that’s just 8mm (that’s about 5/16″ for us Americans) longer than the Glock 42 380 ACP.
Let’s do a quick comparison with the Kel-Tec PF-9–just because the cheap Kel-Tec has been touted as the lightest, slimmest 9mm pistol. I’ll use specs from my PF-9 review.
Length: 43 6.26 inches, PF-9 5.94
Height: 43 4.25 inches, PF-9 4.43
Width: 43 1.02 inches, PF-9 0.97
Barrel length: 43 3.39 inches, PF-9 2.97
Sight radius: 43 5.20 inches, PF-9 4.7
Ammo Capacity: 43 6+1, PF-9 7+1
Weight with empty mag: 43 17.95 ounces, PF-9 14.75
Full specs for the Glock 43 can be seen below; I only offer these above for comparison. The 43’s MSRP will be $529.
The Glock 43 reportedly shoots pretty much like the 42 380. To me, there’s no contest between the two cartridges; the 9mm wins every time.
Heck, this might even be enough to get me to take another look at Glocks. Speaking of which, if you’re interested in the Glock 43, you probably won’t have to wait long. It looks like the 43 will be in gun shops within the next week or so.
