the glock 43

FOG HORN 2015

Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2015, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

GLOCK-43

GLOCK-43 - Last to market is not always in last place. 2015

Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

GLOCK-43 - Late to market is not always last place.

By: Sal Palma

A business strategy that works itself into

Business School curricula is that being last to

market is not always a bad thing. This is

especially true when your company is a global

leader in the manufacture and sale of high

performance firearms, Glock Inc.

Nationally, the increasing number of conceal

carry gun owners is being served by a veritable

cornucopia of sub compact single stack pistol

offerings, first in .380 ACP then followed by the

more potent 9mm caliber, from a number of

manufacturers. Glock, Inc. has the distinction

of being last to market with its Glock 42

chambered in .380 ACP and more recently its

9mm counterpart, the Glock 43. The business

challenge, as an executive, is how do you place

a new offering in a space that’s inundated with

competing product? If you’re Glock, you wait

until the dust settles then show the world what

they’ve been missing. Hence, the wildly

successful Glock 42, which by the way was

available in the EU long before entering the U.S.

market. So, what awaits the Glock 43?

To answer that question, I jumped at the

opportunity to get a close up look at Glock’s

newest offering the enthusiastically awaited

Glock 43 in a single stack 9mm form factor. My

review will include talking points and range

time observations but before jumping into that I

want to pass along some of my views to reveal

my thought process.

First, let’s keep in mind that a firearm, like a

hand tool, is designed with a specific

“philosophy of use1.” For example, you

wouldn’t use a sledge hammer to drive a

finishing nail. So, consistent with that idea, I

continue by saying that both the Glock 42 and

Glock 43 are niche guns. They were specifically

designed for conceal carry, and by necessity

offer a smaller frame size and magazine

capacity.

My position on conceal carry and magazine

capacity is simply this…

Individuals, when confronted by an assailant,

have only one objective and that is to “BREAK

CONTACT.” This is accomplished by neutralizing

the threat through incapacitation, or causing

the threat to retreat and exit. Visions of

firefights while chasing a bad guy down the

street are pie in the sky and will get you in

trouble. Therefore, a conceal carry defensive

scenario does not require a 13 round magazine

capacity so why carry the extra size and weight.

What’s important is that you’re able to deploy

and engage reliably consistently, both of which

are accomplished through simplicity of use,

weapon reliability and user training. So, it

follows that my principal consideration when

1 Borrowed from NUTNFANCY



qualifying the suitability of a conceal carry pistol

is simplicity of use and reliability. A negative in

any of the two categories translates to a NO-GO

decision for this guy!

Before moving on, I want it to be clear that I do

not support limits on magazine capacities;

however, I’m a firm believer in using the right

tool for the job and the Glock-43 in my opinion

is the perfect conceal carry pistol even with its

six round magazine.

Like all Glock pistols the 43 has no exterior

hindrances. Edges are rounded, and you won’t

find safety levers and slide locks that could get

caught during a weapon draw; even the

magazine release is rounded making draws very

smooth from a credible holster.

One departure from the “typical” Glock persona

is the aggressive beaver tail which is in feel and

looks akin to the venerable 1911. This feature,

along with its slide length of 5.96 inches gives

the Glock 43 an excellent purchase. The strong

hand sits high on the pistol so correspondingly

the pistol points very well. When compared to

competing single stack 9mm offerings, the

Glock 43’s slightly longer slide, as marginal as it

is in some cases, gives the 43 a ”large” frame

feel.

Out of the box, I fired a total of 50 rounds

consisting of 115 gr FMJ ball, 124 gr FMJ ball,

124 gr Federal Hydra-Shok and 147gr subsonic

with zero failures to eject, zero failures to feed,

zero light strikes and zero stove pipes. Glock’s

global reputation for reliability is evident in the

Glock 43 as it is in all of the company’s

outstanding pistols.

Shooting this subcompact 9mm was enjoyable

and surprising. I was expecting a snappy gun but

it was not much heavier than a .380 ACP; I

attribute its mild manner to the larger and

heavier slide along with its dual recoil spring

assembly.

Glock uses hexagonal rifling in its barrels

accounting for the pistol’s accuracy. The Glock

43 is no different and features a 1:9.84 twist.

During the firing session, I experienced no

stability issues with everything from 115 gr to

147 gr bullets, the 43 performed flawlessly. No

key holes at any range.

The Glock 43 trigger is a little heavy at around 7

lbs. with a small amount of slack and a short

reset. Glock steered away from the gimmicky

SA/DA designs pioneered by Taurus. The

concept behind the SA/DA is centered on a

single action striker fired pistol, but if you

happen to encounter a hard primer, you can

squeeze the trigger again rather than clearing

the chamber.



The Glock 43 is not a target pistol by any stretch

and its relatively short sight radius of 5.20

inches is a limiting factor. If you pick one up, I

strongly suggest that you consider installing a

Meprolight or Trijicon night sight and discard

the factory plastic set. The standard sights are

adequate but the 43 deserves and benefits from

better sights.

I weighed the Glock 43 empty and loaded with

6+1 of 115 gr ball. Empty, the pistol came in at

16.39 ounces and 19.01 ounces loaded. So, it’s a

comfortable pistol to carry for extended

periods; of course, you’ll want to a quality IWB

holster for the 43.

All of standard Glock critiques apply to the 43.

Yes, if you carry it with one in the pipe and draw

the pistol with your finger on the trigger it can

accidentally discharge, but its 7 lb. trigger helps

to mitigate that risk.

And yes, you need to pull the trigger when

taking the pistol down for cleaning or

maintenance. All of these are training and

discipline issues that must be taught until

they’re engrained in your trainee.

One slightly annoying issue for me was that the

fleshy part of my hand interfered with the

magazine dropping freely on a release. Not a

big problem that was resolved by a slight hand

adjustment.

Once you get past the minor Glock-isms what

you get in return is a light weight, accurate,

durable and highly reliable personal defense

weapon.

The Glock 43 is Glock Perfection personified and

once they start shipping in quantity, I have no

doubts it will become America’s most popular

single stack subcompact 9mm. It’s ready for

your favorite defensive load!

-SP

Manufacturer Specifications

9x19 / Safe Action

LENGTH: 159 mm / 6.26 in.

WIDTH: 26 mm / 1.02 in.

LENGTH BETWEEN SIGHTS: 132 mm /

5.20 in

HEIGHT: 108 mm / 4.25 in

UNLOADED: 509 g / 17.95 oz.

LOADED: 634 g / 22.36 oz.

TRIGGER PULL: ~2.5 kg / ~5.5 lbs.

TRIGGER TRAVEL: ~12.5 mm / ~0.49 in

BARREL RIFLING: right hand, hexagonal

LENGTH OF TWIST: 250 mm / 9.84 in.

CAPACITY: 6 +1

the glock 43

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