Glock 43: Your Thoughts After Owning & Carrying for Awhile ?

[Bucky]

A lot for me has to do with fit and shootability. I’ve made a couple of posts after shooting my buddy”s 365 in the ongoing 365 thread. The 43 was actually painful after 50 rds. Every range trip ended with a blister on my trigger finger. I’ve been able to shoot 200+ in a single outing with the 365. I also shot the 365 MUCH better than my 43.

-snip-

I have long skinny fingers and wear an XL glove.

The physical triggers on the 43 are torture devices. I have medium hands, and not long fingers, and the same happened to me. I replaced the trigger component with an Apex unit and I’ve gone as much as 300 rounds in an outing without discomfort.

[HeavyDuty]

Most Glocks will rub my trigger finger raw until I contour the trigger safety lever.

[Nephrology]

What sights are popular for the 43? I just put the G42/43 specific Agents on and I love the .125 width, but I’m getting about 2” low at 10y with 147 AE/HST. I think I heard this sight combo comes with a .195H front, so assuming a .180 is in order.

Considering She Who Must Be Obeyed is taking the gun to the qual course in the morning, I think a duplicate is soon to come. Anyone know an easy way to get a Bold or Agent rear with a .125X.180 front? I did custom through Ameriglo direct and the customer service/speed of delivery was... less than ideal.

Along similar lines- do I need a 42/43 specific rear sight, or are they interchangeable with 17/19/etc sights?

I like the Ameriglo I-dot Pros. Rear sight is just far enough from the edge of the rear sight that it doesn't poke me or eat my T-shirts.

Looks like the green version is on sale right now.

[GJM]

Light J frames with full power ammo are not fun to shoot, but are still quite useful. While I don’t find the 43 to be uncomfortable to shoot, I treat it like a J frame that holds more cartridges, has better sights, is faster to reload and mimics the larger Glock pistols I shoot. If I was carrying something else than a larger Glock, I would be open to a Kahr, PPS or 365.

[M2CattleCo]

My thoughts as well.

My G43 replaved a 442-2.

I think it does everything the 442 did, but better.

[LSP552]

Light J frames with full power ammo are not fun to shoot, but are still quite useful. While I don’t find the 43 to be uncomfortable to shoot, I treat it like a J frame that holds more cartridges, has better sights, is faster to reload and mimics the larger Glock pistols I shoot. If I was carrying something else than a larger Glock, I would be open to a Kahr, PPS or 365.

I’d agree for those that carry the 43 in a pocket, it would be a better performing J-Frame. I found the 43 too big for my pockets or ankle, making it a belt gun. I’ve had 0 occasions where I think I could have carried a 43 and not a 26. The G42 is my better J-Frame because it actually fits in my pockets.

[Joe Mac]

My thoughts as well.

My G43 replaved a 442-2.

I think it does everything the 442 did, but better.

Yep, this.. I own two G43s; they've been very reliable and have replaced J-frames in my life, after a 20+ year committed relationship with J-frames.

The G43 carries about as easily as a J, while being a far more potent fighting handgun. Comparison with larger 9mm Glocks is missing the point, in my opinion, but if we are to do so, the G43's ease of making good hits at speed/distance is much closer to its larger 9mm siblings than to a J-frame.

[Joe Mac]

I’d agree for those that carry the 43 in a pocket, it would be a better performing J-Frame. I found the 43 too big for my pockets or ankle, making it a belt gun. I’ve had 0 occasions where I think I could have carried a 43 and not a 26. The G42 is my better J-Frame because it actually fits in my pockets.

I have a squatter's ass and like my pants loose, so the G43 works for me in a pocket holster. It's very rare that it sees a belt holster -- generally only if I've flown out on vacation, and it's the only pistol I've brought with me. For everyday use, I agree: if it's on my hip it's going to be a G26 or larger.

[Edster]

After a few years of stubbornly sticking to a j frame for deep concealment, I gave in this week and bought a 43.

My initial impression is the 43 may be slightly harder to hide in some ways than a 642. Pocket carry is possible but the flat blocky line is a bit more printy. The rear of the slide doesn't seem to hang up quite as badly as I feared. To be fair, the shape of the j frame is just so perfectly slick right out of a pocket, it really does it perfectly.

Belly band/tucked is about the same between the two. For my build, either gun tucked on the hip looks like I desperately need orthopedic hip surgery. Appendix is slightly less weird but I want a striker control device on the 43 before I go there.

The biggest change is, even with stock sights, my hits with the 43 are much better. I know the j frame is more of a gun for "get off me" distance but being able to get full-size hits out of compact is very nice.

Kind of a "hmmm" moment, though:

I normally use 124 grain +p Gold Dot for carry and 124 grain Speer Lawman for range. With my 19 and 17, POI/POA with these is the about the same.

For the 43 off a bag, the Gold Dots hit close to zero with stock sights. The Lawman, though, centers about 3" high at 25 yards and has a 6" vertical spread. Before I order a front sight, I'm going to experiment with 115 grain range ammo, 124 grain Gold Dot Short Barrel, and 147 grain Gold Dot to see if I can get some consistency between practice and carry ammunition.

[OlongJohnson]

I'm not bothering to look it up, buy my recollection is that 115gr Lawman is loaded hot to resemble the recoil impulse of 124gr +P Gold Dots. If that's not quite correct somehow, I won't defend it.