Well I was looking for a little more gun than my J-frame to walk around with during the winter. I despise bulky, heavy guns for daily carry so I figured I would pick up a Glock 43. It is only a bit better than the J-frame with 7 vs 5 shots, but it is easier to shoot and reloads are obviously much better. So I found a TALO special edition at Barrow’s. As far as I can tell, all it has is Hackathorn sights, which I prefer. I took it out last week and ran 212 rounds through it. 100 brass, 100 steel and 12 147 grain gold dots. Ran great. So then I ordered the laser guard Pro and slapped it on. It was perfectly zeroed out of the box! Winning! Then I ran 200 rounds of Tula crap and that was fine…but then I had some ranger 147 and it jammed. Pissed me off because I now won’t trust the gun until it runs a crap load of hollow point which is $$. I know it is only one jam but I am picky. So I guess I will keep carrying the J-frame until I can confirm this was just a fluke or break in.
Other than that, the gun is great. Doing El Pres drills on my plates are easy peasy thanks to the awesome old man orange front sight and black U notch rear. It carries IWB in a blade tech and it is easy to forget it is there. Really, the only downside, other than safety (specifically pocket carry and re holstering during drills) is the fact than I can’t carry snake shot. I have a reasonably large piece of property I live on and we have a LOT of nasty snakes so I like to keep the first two shots as a shotshell.
I bought mine for the same reason… replace the J frame and occasional summer carry. Has been reliable with everything I’ve shot but never tried the Ranger 147. Ran fine with Ranger 127gr +p. But I’m still thinking of getting the new Shield 2.0 it has a slightly better (larger) grip and a few extra rounds
Sweet pistol isn’t it. My 6 actual just a few weeks ago picked one up to supplement her G19.
Our chosen carry load is RA9T, as it’s on DockGKR’s list, and it’s been locally available cheaply for a while. Put 50 rnds of ot through the G43, no problems at all.
We did have a FTF on round 3 (Blazer Brass 115grn), which we’re not sure was due to break-in, or limp-wristing from her not being used to the gun.
300 rnds down the pipe now, no malfunctions.
In the end, some guns just don’t like some ammo, which is why you’re doing the right thing, proofing it with a defensive load before you rely on it.
I followed up with 100 rounds of Tula and 30 rounds of 147 grain HST. Everything worked fine. Of course shooting it accurately after shooting 150 rounds through my Beretta G SD seemed like a chore. Then, I followed up with 50 reds through my J-frame which reminded me how good the Glock really does shoot!
No, but I did lock the slide back while shooting by riding up too high on the gun. That was my sloppy gun handling though. Larry had trouble with the HK45 trigger channel too, which I never did. He is jinxed!
I shoot and carry m G43 quite often. I have found that putting way more trigger finger than normal on the trigger helps with accuracy. I have a Talo G43 and the sights are hands down better than stock sights. I have had zero malfunctions with mine with a steady diet of 147 gr. HSTs and 147 gr American Eagle. Greg, I think your single malfunction was a freak thing.
I have owned zillions of Glocks!! I don’t hate Glocks, they hate me. You can see this one promptly jammed! Just kidding, I agree with Cory, just a fluke. I didn’t clean it and it is back in the fight.
I have to say we were blown away by how “shootable” the thing is. Much less felt recoil than I expected, and have experienced with similar size/weight pistols.
Also much more accurate than I’d expected.
Only upgrades it needs are some better sights and some Taran Tactical base pads/springs to increase capacity.
I have had great luck with my G43 as my EDC. I feed it 124gr HST for a steady diet and it likes it fine. I added some Trijicon HD “Lime” front night sights and a Houge “Handall Jr” that really helps with my grip and it just feels better in my hand. My holster of choice is the Vedder LightTuck w/claw, it carries so easily that I forget that I have it on. I too have been tempted with the new Shield 2.0, but every M&P I have tried had a sucky trigger, maybe just me. I tried three G43’s at my LGS before I picked the one that I have, there was a noticeable difference in the three.
Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
