Glock G43X Review

The Glock G43X, let’s check it out.

 

When the Glock G43 came out, it was very popular. It was a small Glock, very thin, easy to conceal, and that’s really what the market was for, was concealed carry.

Just a great little handgun, about six rounds in the magazine though, and so, you know, really I kind of feel a little bit inadequate with just six rounds. Of course, you can carry extra magazines. Now that they’ve gone to the G43X with the 10 rounds, it gives you a lot more capacity, but also it gives you more grip, and that’s a big plus for this pistol.

Glock is a very popular handgun, not only with civilians, but also with police agencies. It’s one of the most used handguns by police agencies in the US, and because of that, a lot of people take their inspiration to follow that because these guns have been uber reliable. They’re just very simple, and Glock’s really made a name for itself.

And so, when they came out with the 43, it was a very thin, single stack, six rounds plus one. It’s part of their slim line series, so it’s a really thin handgun. So this makes it excellent for concealed carry, especially for guys who already own Glocks.

Now, the six rounds though, you know, was a little bit of an issue, but it wasn’t much different than most of your single stack firearms until the SIG P365 came around. Now we have 10 in one in a pistol that’s pretty much the same size as the Glock 43, and actually a little bit shorter. And so that was a big issue, because for me, that’s one of the reasons why I don’t carry the model G43 as much is because it’s very limited in mag capacity.

So there was a big demand for something that had a little more magazine capacity, and thus the G43X. Obviously, you can see right away that these pistols are definitely a little bit different in the grip. But before we get into some of the details, let’s go ahead and drop our magazine, check to make sure the guns are unloaded.

And guys, to be honest, 10 in one is much more appealing than six in one. Yes, you can get the two plus base plates or extended magazines for the 43 to match the G43X, but there are some other differences with the G43X that we’re going to look at. It’s not just a longer grip, and it’s not just a silver slide.

Now I have Talon grips here with the G43. One of the reasons is because of the grip being shorter, it just makes it easier to grab. It’s a little more comfortable.

Nine millimeter typically in a single stack pistol can be a little bit snappy because it’s just a smaller pistol. And then here with the G43X, we’ve got those pyramids that run all the way around. And guys, I’ll tell you, it really gives you a good solid grip on the handgun.

And two, the big thing though is that you can feel your hand with the grip, and that makes it really easy to control. It gives you more confidence when you’re firing the handgun. They had already added this little bit of an extended beaver tail.

And so with that thinness, it’s got a great feel to it. One of the things about your standard Glocks is they are thick, and because they have that double stack magazine. And so this really brings this into a very comfortable shooting handgun.

The frame is about the length of a Model 19 or a G19 as far as the length goes, but definitely the slide goes and hits that shorter version. And one of the big things you’ll notice are the serrations right here on the front of the slide. We have five on the back, four on the front.

It does have the end PVD finish on here, which I really like. Much better than a Cerakote finish that seems to mar and can really just wear. This is impregnated into the metal.

It’s going to give you a really nice finish. But also they’ve beveled the front of the pistol like they have on all the Gen 5s. So here you have more of a square muzzle.

Here you have it not only on the slide itself, but also on the frame. And it does match very well. And that was one of the problems with the original Gen 5s is they weren’t matching altogether right here.

Now there are other options with sights, but it does come with the standard Glock sights. And of course here we have some excess sights, night sights that I added to this pistol. So you can definitely switch those out.

Now the slide is the exact same width on the 43 and the 43X, but there is a slight difference with the grip. And that is about one millimeter. It’s not much, but it accommodates this magazine.

This magazine does not interchange with your standard Glock 43. Now a lot of people are going to complain about that because they really would like magazine compatibility, but you’ve got a short six round mag here anyway that’s not going to fit into your G43X. And guys, to be honest with you, I’m glad that Glock did not limit themselves to a better pistol just to fit an older model.

And so if that’s something you want to complain about, I don’t really see where that’s a complaint. Because this is honestly a totally different handgun. You do get two 10 round magazines with the pistol.

And I’m sure that there are going to be additions to that as well. It is just a touch wider. And so that just allows for those extra rounds without even going farther down.

I mean, there’s a small gap here. It’s not a lot of distance to add four more rounds. And so I think they’re going more with just a little bit of that one and a half instead of the double stack and instead of the single stack.

Of course, every witness holds, and it is metal lined. Now for me, for really deep concealment, I like the 43. It does have the shorter grip, but for shootability, this has a lot of advantages, that longer grip.

Now another difference is here on the frame of the G43. You’ll notice these raised areas, and it’s on both sides. And that’s probably to accommodate obviously the slide stop and just give you a little more room here and keep it really thin.

But on the G43X, there is no raised area. I love that. It’s really smooth.

Got a little bit of a finger rest right here and here, thumb rest, but really super smooth. Here we’ve got that extra piece. I believe a little bit of that has to do with the increased width of the frame to where it was just enough not to have to add those.

The barrel lengths are exactly the same, 3.41 inches. They are hexagonal, and so you don’t want to really shoot a lot of reloads. A lot of people say it’s polygonal or polygonal, but according to the Glock website, it’s hexagonal.

And of course, otherwise, it has all the same features as your Glock 43. It’s just a longer grip. Again, it’s the front slide serrations.

That is the big difference between the Glock G43X and the G43. Now when comparing it to the SIG P365, you’ve got quite a bit more on the grip and just a little bit more on the slide. Again, the same as the G43.

And both of these hold 10 rounds. But now one of the things about the SIG is that it does have a little bit of an extension at the front. So it does give you a little more purchase on the handgun, but it’s still a very small grip compared to the full-size grip you’re going to get with the G43.

One other thing though about these two guns in particular, especially if you’re looking at this and trying to decide, is that Glock reliability has been stellar. I mean, Glocks, they just function. One thing about the SIG, and it hasn’t happened to mine, this one has been really an excellent handgun, but there are SIGs out there that have had a lot of problems.

And two, again, if you are a Glock guy and you’ve been shooting Glocks for years, definitely this has a lot of appeal to it. The Glock also introduced the G48. And when I heard that they were introducing the G48, I had no earthly idea what this pistol was going to be about.

We’re going to do a complete full review on this handgun separately from the G43X, because people are going to want to look at either one. But really they’re very comparable, pretty much the same pistol, except for one thing. The grips are exactly the same length, but the slide is longer.

Really you’re getting your profile to your model 19. The G43X has a 3.41 inch barrel, while the G48 has a 4.17 inch barrel. But honestly guys, except that there is one additional serration on the front of the slide, these two guns are pretty much identical.

You do have a hole, a relief cut right here at the bottom of your slide, like you do on the model 34, but otherwise same exact gun. Now there are a lot of states that have limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds. And so you’ve got a full size handgun with a 10 round magazine, and honestly that’s just no good.

So what Glock has done with this, with the G48 and the G43X, is they’ve given you the same exact profile as your model 19, but yet small and more compact with the 10 rounds. So instead of carrying a Glock 19 with a 10 round magazine, which really is an overkill, you’ve got the G48 with a 10 round magazine capacity, and yet thinner, smaller, but yet shoots like the Glock 19. So I think that alone is a great reason for the 48 and for the 43X.

It’s six and a half inches in length. It’s just a little over five inches at 5.04 inches in height. And with controls, it’s 1.1 inches.

So again, it’s a very thin, light handgun. Weight on the G43X, one pound, 2.6 ounces. The weight on the G43 with the Talon grips, one pound, 2.2 ounces.

Weight on the SIG P365, one pound, 2.4 ounces. The MPVD finish, it’s very well executed. To be honest with you guys, when I first saw that it was silver, I was a little bit surprised.

I know they did the gold, but the gold was really because of the modular handgun system trials as an entry into the US military. And so it needed to be that FD kind of color. But the silver is definitely a departure from the standard color.

And of course, it’s on this and on the G48. But what I really love about the MPVD finish is that it is durable. It is impregnated into the metal.

And I just like that. And the more I’ve handled this gun, the more I like that silver color. I mean, it just gives it a totally different look to it.

Of course, you have your mag release right here and the mags do eject and come right out. It’s fairly simple to take this mag release and switch it to the other side. And once you do that, I mean, this gun is fully ambidextrous however you want to carry it.

I mean, you can make it to suit you because there are no other controls except for the slide stop right here. Of course, we can engage our slide stop and it is a slide release because it does release the slide with a round in the chamber. With the Glock, you have a trigger blade safety.

And that means that blade has to be engaged before it’ll fire. And so just pull it. There’s some take up right to there.

And then we have some resistance and then a snap. They have improved the trigger from the original Glocks, but it’s still pretty mushy. We’re going to check reset right about there.

Fairly quick reset. Let’s check our trigger pull weight with our Lyman trigger gauge from Brownells. Brownells sent it to me, so I always like to give them credit.

Five pounds, 5.1 ounces. Five pounds, 2.1 ounces. Five pounds, 7.9 ounces.

Glock says that it is around the five and a half pound mark and they are pretty spot on. Now we’re going to test the Lula loader with the G43X magazines. And I think it’s going to work no problem.

It just fits just in the right spot. And I want to thank Fiocchi for sponsoring the ammo. 115 grain full metal jacket.

Fiocchi is all made right here in the USA. Taking it down to the range, of course, we had no malfunctions whatsoever. It’s just typical Glock reliability.

With the limit of a longer frame, I mean, it gives you just a little more to grip to. And it’s one of the things about the G43, you always feel like your pinky’s kind of hanging off the end of the grip. But with the G43X, it gives you that full grip feel to it.

But yet it still feels like a Glock. And I really like the texturing, the little pyramids, they hold very well. Of course, the front cocking serrations, it just makes it nice for press checks more than anything.

But you can definitely load your magazine or load around into the chamber that way. It does have just the standard regular sights. Of course, you can upgrade those.

And I’m sure they’ll offer models with the night sights, which I would definitely want to go for. I love the finish. It’s not the Cerakote.

It’s more of an impregnated end of the metal. You can just tell it’s going to hold very well. So otherwise though, it’s really a G43 just with a little bit of a longer grip.

And that grip does make a big difference. I didn’t hit record on my camera. And so this is two five shot groups.

And I’ll tell you guys, you know, really, I should have been able to get them all in just one hole. It’s that accurate. But it’s cold out here.

And I’ve done a lot of shooting already. Not making excuses, but I’m just saying this gun will shoot better. And this wouldn’t be a full review if we didn’t break down the pistol.

So we’re going to go ahead and double check to make sure the gun is unloaded, pull the trigger, pull back on your slide about an eighth of an inch, pull down on these tabs, and then your slide just comes right off. Here we have our recoil spring and guide rod. It is dual and it is captive, but it is polymer.

It has the core that goes all the way through. And of course you have your dual springs. This really helps with felt recoil.

Then just remove your barrel and it’s your standard Glock barrel. And guys, that’s all you need to do to field strip the handgun. Of course, here you can see standard Glock parts.

They have done some improvements, but I don’t think there’s anything done over the standard G43. And then here again, just your standard Glock pistol. Now to reassemble, just bring in your barrel, your recoil spring and guide rod, return it to the frame, test for function, and we’re good to go.

I know some of you guys that are just looking at this, you know how to break down the Glock pistol, but this is for guys who may just stumble across this video between now and 10 years from now. Now, as far as price goes, Glock has not announced a price at the time of when I’ve received this handgun. I know that right up front, these will be in pretty high demand.

The G19X, when they introduced that, they did it just because a lot of people were wanting it, but they really didn’t foresee the demand for those pistols. In fact, they were really shocked. And I think that’s one of the reasons they had the confidence to go ahead and put out the G43X and the G48.

And so a lot of people are looking for something that’s still a Glock, and yet it has improvements. And that’s definitely what they’ve done here. I know I hear a lot of people say Glock hadn’t done anything new in years, but they have.

I mean, they’ve made hundreds of changes to the original design. Most of them are internal. There are obviously some external with the slide serrations and the grip and just doing a lot of things, even improving the trigger.

But guys, like I always say, I love Glocks, let’s keep it a Glock. And as far as the G48, compared to the G43X, you’re just getting a little bit longer sight radius. You’re getting a little more balance to me.

And if you choose to do that, of course, when you’re concealed carrying, the grip again is the big part. And a lot of guys are going with a little bit of a longer slide. So this is really just another option, guys.

It just gives us more to be able to choose. And it’s just like the same thing with the standard Glock 43. It’s just another option.

If you want to go with a shorter grip, you can do it. It’s almost like the subcompact, the compact, and the full size slimline. And I think it’s great to have these different choices.

Rubber Dummies is one of the best training tools on the market. And you get a 10% discount using suit00 when you click the link down in the description. And I want to thank Glock for sending the G43X for this test and evaluation ahead of the release date.

Guys, I’ll tell you, it’s been very difficult to keep this a secret. But this is a great little handgun. And Glock just keeps getting more and more perfect.

I mean, they are fitting a lot of niches. And it’s great to see them release so many new models over the past couple of years.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don