My first introduction to the Glock 43x was a raving recommendation from a friend whose wife had actually bought one to be her carry gun. She loved it, and the more they shot it, the more they loved it. We decided we needed to see what all the fuss was about. If you've wondered, keep reading.

Let’s take a look at the FACTS behind the Glock 43x.

One of the first things that Glock (and many avid shooters) advertise about the 43X is how ideal it is for concealed carry. It is clearly designed to be small and compact. The 43X weighs in at one pound, six ounces, unloaded. And, it’s longest measurement is barely six inches.

Another thing they advertise is that the 43X is designed for comfort.

The beaver tail design on the grip seems to help snug your hand right into place. It also helps dissipate the amount of force you feel coming back into your thumb during the shot. Both of these things make shooting it very comfortable.

The lightly textured grip also seems to make gripping and shooting this gun easier on the hands.

You guys know that Adrian isn’t a fan of an aggressively textured grip. She says shooting is just not as fun when her hands hurt afterward (makes sense). The texture on the 43X is enough that it's easy to hold, but not so that it's rough and scratchy.

Another area of comfort is always recoil.

I would say that the amount of felt recoil on the 43X is a little more than some of our other pistols. But, that’s likely because those guns are bigger and heavier. As far as subcompact carry pistols shoot, recoil on this gun falls right in line.

Much like other Glock models, the 43X has an nDLC finish, which is meant to help resist the elements. It also has a slim rail on the front and, based on my quick research, it appears you have to buy accessories that are built for that type of rail. But, that's still a really neat feature.

FIT:

As far as the length of the grip, it actually fits both of us perfectly. For Adrian, she would prefer the grip size to be slightly larger and less flat. But for me, I would actually like it to be slightly smaller.  

The sides of the grip do seem to be flatter than I would want them to be. This doesn't allow the gun to just sink into the palm of my hand. I have to make an effort to grip the gun, instead of easily holding it.

You can see that the back of the grip has a little bit of a curve. That’s also part of what makes it not fit me quite as well. However, that’s one part that helps it fit Adrian's hand better.

Reaching the 43X trigger is really easy. With a trigger distance of 2 ¾ inches, it’s very comfortable. The slide release is positioned in just the right spot for us. And the mag release, while stiffer than Adrian likes, doesn’t take a lot of effort to drop the mag.

Trigger:

The 43X does have a trigger safety on which Adrian couldn’t ever seem to find the sweet spot. She had some trouble activating the trigger safety to allow firing at times. She also said it was too thick and uncomfortable.

Thankfully, I haven't had this difficulty while shooting.

But, when testing to see if we could re-create her problems, I was able to find just the right trigger finger placement to keep the safety from activating. This never directly stopped me from firing the gun, but it did her a few times.

When we tested the trigger weight, it averaged just under 6 pounds. We both agree, that’s a great resistance. It breaks at the ninety degree mark which helps us keep from pulling harder on the trigger and affecting accuracy.

Optics

Now the stock sights that come on it are pretty easy to line up, and we’ve both been accurate with them. While it would be nice for them to be Hi-vis, there’s plenty of aftermarket options to choose from if you want to switch them.

Now speaking of the sights, this is the Glock 43x MOS. That stands for Modular Optic System. Basically, that means there is a plate that comes on the slide, and when you remove that plate, it's now ready to accept a red dot.

Now, unlike the Glock 19, the 43X does not come with any adapter plates. By far, the easiest thing to do is get a red dot that's going to fit directly. It's cut for the Shield RMSc platform.

You don't have to get that exact red dot. A quick Google search while come up with plenty of options that fit that same pattern. We had a Sig Romeo Zero mounted to it which fit perfectly. But we quickly found out that we didn’t have the correct length screws. The ones that we were using initially were just a little bit too long, so the slide wouldn't actually go back all the way. Make sure you check all that before you go and shoot it.

Now I know you've heard us say this a lot, but using the red dot makes us a lot more accurate.

And feeling more accurate, also increases your confidence, which then makes you shoot better.

Now, if you don't have this MOS version, there's still a red dot option for you. We did a review on the Leupold DeltaPoint Micro recently which will easily fit this pistol. The one we have is the Smith and Wesson version, but they do also make one for Glock.

Shooting:

This specific Glock 43x was part of our 9mm testing, so nine different women shot it. We've had several other people shoot it and have put at least a thousand or more rounds through it with different types of ammo. So far we haven't had any issues. All rounds cycled and ejected cleanly. Speaking of clean(ing), we haven't cleaned it on purpose just to see how well it would hold up. It's been accurate, reliable, and recoil while shooting is fairly low. This gun has been a pleasure to shoot and has produced consistent groups on target.

Make sure you check out the Glock 43x when you’re on the search for your next carry pistol.

If you own or have shot a Glock 43x, please email us or comment on the video and let us know your experience. If you have another EDC and consider it to be the best on the market, please comment or email us so we can check it out!