Glock 43 9mm Gray Frame – Superb 3.41 in. Subcompact Pistol

Description

The Glock 43 9mm Gray Frame is the single stack 9mm that finally answered the question Glock had been asked for years, here with a gray frame rather than black. It is the smallest 9mm the company builds, and at 6.26 inches long and just over sixteen ounces empty it carries in places a double stack cannot.

Glock 43 9mm Gray Frame Size and Concealment

Going to a single column magazine is what makes the difference. It takes the pistol to 1.06 inches at its widest and drops the grip to a size most hands can wrap without the gun printing through a covering garment. The trade is honest and worth stating plainly: capacity falls to six rounds, and the short grip means many shooters will find their little finger sitting below the magazine floorplate unless they fit an extension.

Slimline Design

The Slimline family exists because Glock’s double stack magazines set a floor on how thin a grip can be. Going to a single stack column removes several millimetres across the widest part of the pistol, which is the part that prints through a shirt. The grip also carries a built in beavertail, so the web of the hand sits high without the slide biting on recoil, and the magazine catch is reversible for left handed shooters.

The barrel is a Glock Marksman Barrel, using the enhanced polygonal rifling profile and tighter crown Glock introduced with Gen5. On a short barrelled carry pistol that matters more than it might seem, because there is less sight radius to work with and less room for error in the bore.

Safe Action and Handling

The Safe Action system is unchanged from the rest of the line: three passive, independently operating mechanical safeties that disengage in sequence as the trigger is pressed and reset automatically when it is released. There is no manual safety lever to find under stress and no decocker. Trigger pull is around 5.4 pounds, slightly lighter than the standard duty guns, which suits a pistol meant to be fired quickly at close range.

Magazines and Grip Options

Worth knowing before purchase: the flush six round magazine is what makes the pistol as concealable as it is, but it leaves the smallest finger unsupported for most adult hands. Extended magazines and floorplate extensions add a round and a full finger of purchase, and most owners end up carrying flush and practising with extended. Magazines from the G43X and G48 will not interchange, since those use the wider slimline body, so buy 43 specific magazines.

Specifications

• Model: G43
• Caliber: 9x19mm Luger
• Capacity: 6+1
• Barrel: 3.41 in., Glock Marksman Barrel
• Action: Striker fired, Safe Action
• Overall length: 6.26 in.
• Height with magazine: 4.25 in.
• Width: 1.06 in.
• Weight without magazine: 16.23 oz
• Trigger pull: approximately 5.4 lbs
• Sights: Fixed
• UPC: 764503914393

Why Buyers Choose the Glock 43 9mm Gray Frame

For a lot of people this is the pistol that turns carrying from an intention into a habit. It is small enough to disappear in an inside the waistband holster under a t shirt, chambered in a cartridge with far better defensive credentials than the pocket .380s it competes with on size, and it is a Glock, so holsters and parts are stocked everywhere.

The platform argument applies here as much as anywhere. Holsters, sights, magazines and parts for Glock slimline pistols are stocked everywhere, and the manual of arms is identical to every other Glock, so a carry gun and a range gun can share the same habits.

Who Should Buy It

The Glock 43 9mm Gray Frame suits the deep concealment carrier who wants 9mm rather than .380, the shooter who found a G43X or G26 grip just slightly too much to hide, and the buyer looking for a backup or off duty pistol sharing the Glock manual of arms.

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