G43 Review

Test firing the G43

[NOTE:   This review is from the point of view of:

1) a petite female living in a desert climate
2) do NOT argue with me about the stopping power of .380 vs. 9 mil.  I can place a .380 in my attacker's temple or eye socket and it has PLENTY of stopping power compared to a 9 mil in the chest when shot that way, so I teach my women to shoot that .22 or that .380 in their attacker's eye socket or temple to stop them (I am being facetious to a point....I understand adrenaline rushes and losing fine motor skills and the point of training Mozambique drills - I just am VERY tired of men arguing with women about .380, SOMETHING is better than nothing and if that is what I am comfortable shooting, that's what I'm comfortable shooting).
3) i prefer to bra holster or IWB, so I need a SMALL gun because I am short waisted and wear tight clothing.

So keep all this in mind when reading MY review of this firearm.  These things may not and probably do not apply to you but there are other women out there like me and these factors matter to us a LOT]

As a self proclaimed Glock Girl who ccw's a G42, I have been anxiously awaiting Glock to release the G43.  In my active imagination I had convinced myself Glock was making THE ccw gun of all ccw guns and it was going to be the Messiah of ccw guns for women......It was going to be:

1) as small as the G42
2) as fun to shoot and have a trigger as light as the 26

Sadly, it is neither of these things.

SIZE MATTERS

G42 left, G43 center, G26 right

G42 left; G43 right

So if you have read my previous blog when the 42 appeared last January, you know that it is already at the outer limits of being "flashbang-able", or able to be comfortably and safety carried in a bra holster.....which I used to ALWAYS do.  Recently I have begun corset holstering (Dene Adams) or IWB'ing (inside the waistband leather/kydex combo)

Here is that blog.  http://twawyuma.blogspot.com/2014/01/glock-g42-380-vs-ruger-lcp-380-womans_8275.html

The 43 is EVEN longer than the 42, which to me eliminates ccw'ing it in a bra holster altogether since the 42 already becomes very uncomfortable in a bra holster after a few hours. First drawback to the 43.

For a shortwaisted woman like me, I suspect that even in an IWB kydex/leather combo it is going to poke me in my hip bone, but I will wait to see until I get my own gun and have my own holster made to report back to you on this whether I'm correct or not.  STAY TUNED.

Second suspected drawback.

So that means I can corset holster this.  Only comfortable option for me with this gun....still suspected...to be confirmed.

RECOIL / MUZZLE FLIP

I was very surprised by the recoil and muzzle flip of the 43.  My video is too large to post, I will try to get it up on Youtube, but I had to regrip after every shot.

John Correia, aka Mr. Active Self Protection, described what I experienced this way after I 1st shot it:

"This is just physics. It's functionally the same size as the 42, and the 9mm has more boom than a .380. So more recoil than the 42. But the grip width on the 26 is beefier than the 43, which will make the 26 easier to control."

G26 top target - G42 bottom left target - G43 bottom right target

 Looking at my targets was very revealing about my lack of grip control on the G43.

So second confirmed drawback.









DEAD HORSE

I'm not going to beat a dead horse.  So am I disappointed?  Yes.  Will I still buy one?

It's a Glock.

It's a small Glock.

It's a small 9 mil Glock.

So the answer is yes.

Am I going to replace my G42 with the G43 for my main ccw?   Absolutely not.  The 42 IMHO is the best ccw gun for a petite female like me who prefers striker fire guns that can be easily broken down into only 4 pieces and thrown in the dishwasher.

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Nicolle Griffin is an NRA Certified Chief Range Safety Officer, Basic Pistol Instructor, and the founding Chapter Leader of the Well Armed Woman Yuma Arizona chapter, one of the largest woman's shooting and empowerment organizations in the US.

WHEN THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT RUINS A GREAT IDEA WITH A DUMB BRAND NAME....AND WORSE.....PRODUCT SAFETY FAILURES

I am angry.  ANGRY.

  

When I see a GREAT idea, a great looking product that is well made, and it is RUINED by the marketing department and its branding.....I become DISTRAUGHT.

The firearms industry is still in its infancy vis-a-vis the explosion of women interested in firearms over the past 3 years.   Women's only shooting groups such as the one I belong to, The Well Armed Woman, and many others have formed across the country since 2012 trying to meet this growing demand.  Our group alone has more than 5,000 members nationwide.  That is a HUGE marketing opportunity ripe for new products.   The firearms and related industries are taking notice and trying to keep up.  Not an easy challenge.   Throwing out pink guns to us does NOT meet our very complicated desires or needs.

More importantly, we assume that when a new company, or any company, creates something specifically for us to use to conceal carry our firearm - women who shoot and carry firearms for self defense - that you understand the whole point of conceal carrying a gun.

FEMININE PROTECTION - yes, really, that's the name they picked - makes beautiful conceal carry clutches.  Beautiful USELESS conceal carry clutches.  I am still shaking my head at this phenomenal failure.   In my head I can envision the go-no go flowchart reviewed during the product conceptual planning phases and all the missed opportunities to fix 3 VERY serious mistakes of this product.  Not only am I angry at them for allowing all these mistakes to continue to the sales floor, I am SAD FOR THEM.  Sad at all the money they spent preparing the product and failing to fix these enormous flaws, safety flaws!

Mistake #1 - need I point out the obvious?  the name

Mistake #2 - it's a clutch, for conceal carrying a gun, how hard is that to get out of my hands with my gun in it?

Mistake #3 - putting the DUMBEST name for a female product ever created on the OUTSIDE of a purse intended to be a concealed carry purse.  Now, for the sake of those of you reading this who do not shoot or own guns, let me explain.  The WHOLE POINT of conceal carrying a gun is CONCEALING the fact that we are carrying a gun.  The whole point of branding is....making your product well known.   The intersection of these 2 goals created a dilemma for this particular product for which this company FAILED MISERABLY at resolving.

How does a conceal carry purse maker successfully brand a product intended to conceal something?

NOT THIS WAY!!!!

Once this "Feminine Protection" brand becomes known, the company themselves have STOLEN the whole point of their product from the consumer.     They have "outted" the fact that she is conceal carrying a firearm.  Safety first.  You just took away my safety with your product.

Now to be fair and kind do I like ANYTHING about this product?

Product design and color and fabric options?  LOVE

THE LOGO?  LOVE LOVE LOVE, a little revolver they made into a flower.  GENIUS.  LOVE.  Well done.

MY CONCLUSION - this product is UNSAFE for its intended purposes.  In its current design I will NOT recommend it to any of the my female students or members.

Lose the name on the outside of the product, put it ONLY INSIDE on a label inside the bag.  Add chains, DURABLE chains or straps as options to the bag so that it can't be easily grabbed from my hands.

KEEP THE FLOWER LOGO and use ONLY that for branding this product.  

And...don't ever let the marketing person who permitted this enormous catastrophe to proceed anywhere within range of me. 

Glock G42 .380 vs Ruger LCP .380: A Woman's Perspective

I wanted to give a different spin on all the reviews about the new Glock .380 aka the G42....namely as a female concealed carrier who only uses a bra holster.  I am not a firearms technical expert so don't ask me spec questions about the gun.  You can easily Google and find that info all over the Internet right now.  What I'm giving you is real world info...what does it feel like to shoot, how easily is it concealed, what do I like, and, surprisingly, what do I dislike as an owner of this gun.

The argument whether a .380 has sufficient firepower to stop somebody will not be regurgitated here.  If my option is having a gun, any gun, or having none at all, I'll take having a gun, any gun, even if it's a .22 or a .380.  And whether you men out there will admit it or not, many of you believe that women can only handle a .22 revolver anyway.  So a .380 semi-auto should be a step up for us women in your opinion.  But don't get me started on that subject.

The fact that I carry a loaded gun with one in the chamber under my breast pointed at my heart should indicate my level of seriousness with firearms.  I have ccw'd a Ruger LCP .380 for several years, and have longed for the day that I could replace it with something with a friendlier, gentler trigger pull.  As a diehard Glock fan when I first heard rumors about the possibility of a Glock .380 last year I was beside myself with anticipation.  When my husband texted me a photo of a G42 he had just unpacked from a small shipment of LE sales only G42's that had just arrived at the gunstore locally where he works last week before Shot Show, I couldn't drive over to the store fast enough to get one.  Consequently I also had to get a custom holster made for it since the gun isn't even available for sale yet.



G42 (left) Ruger (right)

Top: Kahr 9 mil
Middle: Ruger LCP .380
Bottom: Glock G42

Size matters. 
Clearly the Glock is still longer than the others.  The Kahr is wider top to bottom.  The Ruger is clearly the smallest overall.  Side by side the Glock is not much wider than the Ruger.  I preferred the grip on the Glock as the Ruger grip is very small and even with my small hands you can tend to "teacup".  So if you want the smallest ccw gun of these 3, the Ruger wins hands down.












Glock vs. Glock

Comparing the G42 against the G26 the difference in length is easily visible as are the differences in sites.  Although I still found the Glock 42 sites to be better than the Ruger.  Side by side you can also clearly see the difference in width, which is something I get asked about frequently.  The G42 is very friendly to a woman's smaller hands (although personally I have no complaint with the 9 mil). 

G42 .380 (top)
G26 9 mil (bottom)

G26 (left); G42 (right)

Shooting the G42. 
When I did finally get to take her out of the case and shoot her, I was so excited all my skills flew out the window and I broke my wrist and made her jam 6 times in a row.  Once I figured out it was me, the shooter, causing the error and that nothing was wrong with my new gun, I fixed it and she shot just fine.  Any of you who has shot a Ruger LCP know how stinking horrible (technical term), long and hard that trigger pull is.  The Glock's trigger pull is just as you would expect from any Glock, smooth and easy.  I can probably have her tweaked just a little like my 9 mil trigger and it will be amazing.  The trigger pull on the Glock out of the case is pleasurable in comparison to the Ruger.  I know you diehard 1911 fans aren't always Glock fans, but I still convinced one of my 1911 fan girlfriends to buy the last G42 we had available down here last week after she shot mine.  Put it this way, when I practice with my Ruger LCP, after shooting only 12 rounds I cannot sign my name.  My hand hurts that badly.  With the Glock, not an issue.  Operating the slide of the Glock was just as expected, it moves easily and the slide lock works well.  In comparison to the Ruger, the smallness sometimes makes manipulating the Ruger slide harder, and the slidelock on the Ruger is very small.  The G42 comes with a magazine that holds 6 plus 1 in the chamber.  I also definitely preferred the much more visible white sights of the Glock over the barely visible sights on the Ruger.   To be fair, it's been a while since I shot the Kahr 9 mil, so I can't really compare the Glock to the Kahr, but the Ruger LCP is definitely my least favorite of the 3 to shoot.  Glock wins.



G42 in Gunners Custom Holsters bra holster (top)
Ruger LCP in a flashbang (bottom)
https://www.facebook.com/GunnersCustomHolsters

Concealing the G42. 
Concealing the new Glock .380 is another matter, one that I was not as fully satisfied with unfortunately and surprisingly.  This was due mostly to the way I ccw.  I ONLY ccw in a bra holster so I had to have a custom one made for the G42 since the gun's not even available yet.  Gunners Custom Holsters (go find his Facebook page and like it) is a local manufacturer of custom kydex holsters and was able to do a rush job and make me a holster that same day I bought the gun.  So he's already got holsters for the G42 ready to go soon as you buy yours!

[My girlfriends all jokingly said that the Glock gives better cleavage after seeing this photo.]

My complaints about concealing the G42 have nothing to do with the holster I had made but are only with the gun itself.  The holster was perfectly made and held tightly around the gun.  Gunner does use a firmer plastic strap in lieu of the suede strap that comes with the Flashbang brand bra holster.  His strap held the holster up higher like I prefer, although the harder strap does "imprint" where the suede one doesn't.  So I might switch out his strap for the suede.  Another 2 important facts to note about bra holsters are that 1) I only wear and recommend wearing underwire bras with these holsters (and in general), and 2) I do not snap the bra holster the way the instructions tell you to.  I snap it with the strap "upside down" with the button up top.  I have found that this holds the holster up much higher and tighter than the "normal" or correct way and prevents the holster from slipping out from under the bra.  It also reduces the chance of the gun "imprinting" or having its outline be easily visible on your clothing.  I'll post a separate blog with my instructions for snapping a bra holster.

Top: Ruger LCP with flashbang
Bottom: G42 with custom bra holster

The issue with ccw'ing the G42 specifically in a bra holster is easily seen when you look at the Ruger LCP next to the G42.  The Glock is clearly longer and the slide is more rectangular, like the regular Glock 9 mil.  The distance between the trigger guard, trigger, and muzzle is also shorter on the Ruger.  The Ruger slide also has a more rounded end (VERY important as I found out).  So simply put, the longer length of the G42 causes the slide to pinch the bottom of one breast and the muzzle to poke the wearer in the other breast.  I wore the gun in the bra holster for 12 hours and at the end of the day the muzzle and slide had left physical dents or marks under my breasts on the skin (I will spare you the photo of that painful sight although I did it send to all my TWAW leader-sisters).  the Ruger's shorter length never did that to me.  On the positive side, however, my new holster held the G42 up so high that the grip didn't poke me in the belly when I'm seated like the Ruger always does do.  So my options are getting poked in the belly (Ruger) or pinched in the boobs (Glock).  Nice.

Final thoughts. 
Long story short....am I satisfied with the G42?  Yes!   Do I love the trigger pull of the G42 compared to the Ruger LCP?  HELL YES!   Is the G42 as well concealed in a bra holster as the Ruger?  Yes.  Is the G42 as comfortable to wear in a bra holster as the Ruger?  No.  Will that last fact make me stop ccw'ing it in a bra holster?  No.  Why? Because I hate carrying a purse and I want my gun ON me.  The bra holster is the fastest, best option for me for that.  Should you run out and buy the G42 as soon as you can find one for sale?  My opinion, yes!  Or...wait for them to come out with the 9 mil in this size as rumor has it will be happening next.

______________________________________________________________________________

Nicolle Fedor Griffin is an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor and Chapter Leader of the Well Armed Woman (TWAW) Yuma Arizona Chapter, the largest chapter of TWAW in the country with 160 members.
















____________________________________________________________________________
Special thanks to https://www.facebook.com/GunnersCustomHolsters for the 1 day turn around on the custom bra holster.  Please visit and like his page and let him make your custom holster for your G42 too.