Picked up this pistol off GB a couple of days ago. Today, I took it home, field stripped, lubed, and packed it up for the range. The trigger measures an average of 7.5 lbs on my guage (compared to 6 lbs for most of my other Gen4 guns with dot connectors).
Ammunition today was 50 rounds of 115 Blazer Brass FMJ and 50 rounds of Winchester 147 grain USA FMJ. Conditions at the range were indoor lighting, IDPA target at the 10 yard line.
Functional performance was measured using full 6 round mags fired at a steady 1 round per 3 seconds rate for both boxes. There was 1 FTF on the last round in the magazine at around the 40 round mark of Winchester ammunition.
Accuracy IN MY HAND was subpar compared to any other of my 9mm Glocks (and I have many, many 9mm Glocks). I attribute this to the gun twisting in my hand due to the slim grip. I literally had to re-adjust my grip after every 3rd or 4th round due to the grip movement under recoil. Also, recoil was noticibly more than my Gen4 G26 which was fired after my G43. Trigger squeeze was also a problem as the slim grip makes it very difficult for me to use anything distal to the DIP joint to work the trigger; I’m almost using the middle phalanx. While I kept 90% of the rounds in the center 0 box of the IDPA target at 10 yards, I can usually punch a 3" hole with a G19 or G26 and 100 rounds of decent FMJ at that range using 1 shot per 3 second pace (maybe with a called flier or two ;)).
I plan to put another 250 rounds of FMJ (likely 124 grain) and at least 50 rounds of my 147 HST carry ammo through it before making any final opinions. So far I give it a meh.
Thanks for the review. I wonder if a tighter grip may help, vs keeping what you usually use. Last class I was in, the question of how much trigger finger to use came up. The answer was, paraphrasing a friend of the instructor, to use so much that you’re almost hitting the slide release.
I’m trying that approach and it seems to work ok , but I really haven’t done consistent practice or accuracy drills.
Just something outside the box to try, might help with a smaller pistol to try and get more hand contacting it.
Interesting feedback. I’ve been wondering about that since trying to shoot the 42. With the 42 I’m good to 15 yard but the wheels come off at 25. A GM buddy who is cleaning plate racks at 25 told me to use the first joint crease and that helped a lot. I’m wondering if the 43 will handle similarly in my hands.
How big are your mitts. From pinkie tip to thumb tip outstretched I’m just over 9". Fairly long. May be a factor.
No the OP, but I got a chance to shoot a 43, and I’ve shot a few 42s. For me, it felt like the 43 moved around more, but when I really put it on a timer, I wasn’t much slower with the 43 vs the 42 when comparing splits. I liked shooting the 43 more than the Kahr 9mm guns, as well as the LC9s. I found the 43 and the Shield to feel very similar when comparing recoil.
Average size hands for a guy who is 5’11. I wear a 7.5 surgical glove and “large” shooting gloves.
I’ve never fired the 42. However, today I fired my 9mm Shield next to the 43. Recoil was similar but the Shield moved less in my hand on follow-up shots and the trigger reach didn’t feel so crowded.
I’d like to check one out. Always wanted a glock. I have a full size and depending on the pricing locally I’ll either go 42 or 43. LGS has 42’s @ 399.99 plus tax. Strange, any gun other than a Glock has a FTF, it’s damned to hell. Glock has FTF, it gets a pass.
I picked one up at a LGS and fired 125 rounds (25 were PDX1 124 gr +P) at that store’s indoor range.
No malfunctions, but the pistol feels absolutely tiny in my hand ( I wear XL gloves ) and the abominations that are Glock OEM polymer sights didn’t help me any. I kept the range between 8-10 yards.
Once I figured out how to hold it my groups tightened up a great deal and I left the store thinking it has promise.
A couple days later and the 43 is wearing Ameriglo Protector sights, Galloway Traction Grips and Taran +1 baseplates. Once I’m not on-call I plan to take this little puke out to the desert with about 600 rounds and really wring it out and figure out if I’m keeping it long-term.
I decided I didn’t want to wait until next Saturday so I went to another indoor range and put 360 rounds of 124 gr. fmj handloads and 50 rounds of 124 gr HSTs through it.
All the dry firing I’ve been doing (and the improved sights) really helped and I’m quite happy with how it shoots. A pistol this small is a challenge for me and the improvements are rewarding to see. It was fun to soundly outshoot the guy in the next lane and he was shooting a full sized Ruger P series.
After 535 rounds I’m starting to suspect it is a keeper but I want to shoot around 1000 rounds through it and do some full speed mag dumps with carry ammo to know for sure.
After work today I went up into the National Forest behind my house and and put the following rounds through the 43:
50 Speer 124 Gold Dot +P
25 Hornady 135 Critical Duty +P
25 Winchester 124 PDX1 +P
25 Hornady 147 XTP
20 Federal 147 HST
Prior to the defensive rounds I also put another 220ish rounds of 124 gr handloads loaded with Unique to get the pistol good and dirty. Zero malfunctions, I did start to ride the slide lock towards the end of the shooting and kept the slide from locking back. Bad grip form on my part.
My first Dot Torture drill (5 yards) with the 43. MY weak hand shooting (dot 8) sucked. I shoot my larger pistols better, mostly because my hands are so cramped on the 43, but I really do like this pistol.
I really like that this gun seems to shoot anything I load into the magazine. You can see some finish wear already on the front of the slide from holster presentations. I think I’ll keep it. (and yes there is a 45 acp case in there)
I have noticed that I really have to concentrate on the basics when shooting the 43. I also believe that if I use a little more trigger finger, I get better results. I since put new sights on mine and when I took it to the range, the POI needed to be adjusted a bit.
Here are some 10 yard targets with a one second per shot tempo BEFORE the new sights were added…
Agreed, short sight radius + small size means more concentration. I have a hunch it will help as a training tool to make one a better pistol shot.
I’ll be taking a bit of a break but I can say after 900 rounds (in 10 days :p) it has earned a spot in my carry rotation. I also think the Taran +1 pads are worth the money to correct the dopey 6+1 capacity limit.
Zero malfunctions and they have been used for 775 rounds of the testing.
I thought I would be in the minority, but I had the exact same shooting experience as Sensei. The G43 just twists in my hands when shooting. I could not for the life of me get the rounds to group where I wanted at 7 yards. I have a G42 that I carry for back up and have none of the issues.
The G43 reminded me very much of my wife’s Kahr PM9 while shooting. I could not shoot her PM9 very well either. My 9mm shield is the perfect size for my hands as far as small frame single stack 9mm’s go. I think the extra grip length gives a hair bit more to hold onto. I shoot the Shield much better than the G43. I would like the opportunity to shoot both at the same time, but my initial seat of the pants gauge says the Shield shoots a hair softer.
This is my wife at 5 yards, 2 magazines (12 rounds), two handed grip, slow fire with the new G43 that she plans to conceal carry. Taking our time that day she only put ~100 rounds through it and there were no malfunctions with mostly Federal American Eagle and a few magazines of cheap Winchester JHP. I thought she’d have a malfunction or two because of her grip strength but I was happy to report none.
She’s got small hands and comparatively weak grip strength so the gun does appear to flip in her hands. We didn’t get a chance to do faster shooting drills as she’s still relatively new and we were working on the fundamentals.
I find it to be snappier than a G26, which isn’t really that bad to begin with, but noticeably softer shooting than a G27. I personally find it softer shooting than my duty G22. The trigger on this one is heavy, but surprisingly good. Very little over travel and very clean when it breaks. Much better than all of my Gen 4 Glocks. I wear medium sized gloves so I don’t find it too difficult to grab on to.
