Glock 43 Holster Options

With nearly five years as the top handgun manufacturer, Glock at long last provided Gaston a glass of something and got their Glock 42 .380 model out on the market. The G42 was a top seller  by itself, but the Glock fans sought a 9mm, plus they pushed for it loudly. With the success of the G42, the G43 9mm followed in short order prepared to stand upon the status of the Glock brand.

The Glock 43 operational controls are classic Glock, through and through, with a focus on the Gen 4 design platform. The slide stop is located on the left, though one could contend its now just a authentic slide stop. Its positioning and smaller dimension are not conducive to a release. The magazine release is square and reversible for those shooting lefty. The rest is simply traditional “Glock” , from the feel of the polymer frame to the dull finish on the barrel and slide. The extractor pulls double duty as a loaded chamber indicator and the sights are standard Glock stock sights. Sadly, Glock opted not to equip the G43 with a picatinny rail.

The Glock 43 hits the scales at just under 18 ounces unloaded. It's all round length is 6.26" having a height of 4.25" at the rear sight with a factory flat-based magazine is installed. This firearm has technical specs as being 1.02"  wide, however, it looks as though the only location on it which is legitimately 1.02"  specifically at the slide lock. The slide itself is only 0.87" wide, even though the frame is between 0.90"  and 0.92"  depending on the measurement spot.

The sights are standard Glock layout with a front white dot and a rear u-shaped sight. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Glock standard sights, finding them challenging to quickly acquire in low-light conditions. I recommend replacing them out for something with night sights.

My one minor issue on the G43 is the same concern I've got with all the Glock pistols, only more so with the G43, and it's this: the absence of aggressive texturing on the grip. According to Glock“the aggressive texture of the grip lets the shooter more easily operate the pistol”. While I understand the marketing concepts behind the Glock line (of which, I am a big fan), for me personally, I find the grip texture sorely lacking. My opinion is that the G43 needs either an added rubber or adhesive grips, or a stipple job.

It’s a very “shootable” pistol, and I have spent a fair amount of time running drills and shooting steel plates. As with most Glock models, I have to slightly adjust my grip to the grip angle if I have been shooting other handgun brands.

Here are a few frequent holster associated questions that I have seen mentioned in various gun forums regarding the Glock 43:

#1 - Can I fit my G43 into the same gun holster as my Glock 43?

The short answer is no a G43 is not going to work with a gun holster made for a Glock 42. Even though they are similarly sized, the dimensions on the two handgun models are far too different.

#2 - Does anyone make a holster designed to fit a Glock 43 with a laser attached?

The reply to that question is dependent upon what laser model or laser light version is mounted on the Glock 43. At the moment, Glock isn't selling a Glock manufactured laser or light option so all the existing laser or light options for the G43 are aftermarket choices. The most popular aftermarket brands of lasers that are available for the G43 are Crimson Trace, LaserMax, and Laserlyte. Each of these brands provides a distinct laser and each one has unique dimensions so a quality holster will need to be specifically made to fit the Glock 43 and that specific laser to ensure a good fit. There's a link towards the bottom of this write-up that leads to an excelletn location to purchase these types of speciality holsters for the Glock 43.

Glock 43 IWB Holster