Okay, so it's been right at 3 years since I bought and have been carrying and shooting the livin' crap out of my Glock 43. I really didn't have much trouble getting used to the gun's small size; I was worried a bit, at first, that the trigger reach would be too short for my big mitts, but really, it is a non-factor. Somewhat surprisingly, to me anyway, I shoot this little Glock just about as good as I do its bigger siblings, the Gen 4 19 and Gen 4 29, as long as it's at SD range, 5-10 yards. Now if we stretch it out beyond say... 15 yards, then yeah, the longer sight radius or whatever on the bigger guns gives me a bit of an advantage over the 43, but not much. I normally carry it IWB in either a RM Holsters "Low Rider" or a TT Gunleather "KX Lightweight" holster. But, I do have a nice OWB Pancake Holster for it too, it just rarely gets carried that way, but I have one in case I decide to go OWB on any given day. And, despite what you may have read or heard, the G43 is totally pocketable. It slips in a pair of slacks or cargo shorts quite easily, for me anyway. Now for you guys who wear those stylishly tight hipster jeans...you might want to re-think that whole pocket-carry thing.
It doesn't really care what ammo I feed it, it eats everything I have ran through it. For range ammo, I buy whatever cheap brass cased FMJ is at Wally World or Academy, or I order it online. (Ammo Seek and Gun Bot are both quite handy). For self-defense purposes, I use either Federal HST 124 gr or Gold Dots, also in the 124 gr flavor. And About every 6 months, I shoot up my old carry ammo and load the mags with fresh boolets. I shoot this gun almost every time I go to the range, usually to the tune of 50-100 rounds. I clean it after each range trip, I use Hoppes #9 and Breakfree CLP, as my Drill Instructor taught me to do years ago. Of course, it may someday fail me, but it dang sure won't malfunction on me because it was either dirty or dry! I keep my guns clean and lubed, as they are supposed to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, Glocks can run dirty, well, go ahead and runs yours dirty if you want, mine will be clean and properly lubed before I holster it. I also periodically clean the mags, not after each range trip mind you, but I at least Q-tip under the feed lips. Mags are a strong suit of the whole Glock design, they are tough, good magazines, but they too need to have a little PM done to them on occasion.
I did recently put a new recoil spring in it, even though it was still going strong, I figured why not, recoil springs are cheap. Why run the chance of it deciding to go tatas up when I might really need the thing? I'd hate to have a failure to feed happen in the middle of an unpleasant situation. The old one had thousands of rounds under it. A good calculation of preventive maintenance, IMO.
Anyway, nothing has really changed since my two-year review last year. I know a lot of folks like the Shield, or the Walther PPS, and the new Sig P365 sure looks good, so far anyway. But all things considered, I think Glock did a good job with this pistol. I do not plan on getting rid of mine. In fact, it's freshly cleaned, lubed, and going back in its IWB to go with me out to dinner this evening. I guess you could say I like this little gun, and am cool with it being 6+1. I trust it to go bang and to put the rounds where I want them to go.
It doesn't really care what ammo I feed it, it eats everything I have ran through it. For range ammo, I buy whatever cheap brass cased FMJ is at Wally World or Academy, or I order it online. (Ammo Seek and Gun Bot are both quite handy). For self-defense purposes, I use either Federal HST 124 gr or Gold Dots, also in the 124 gr flavor. And About every 6 months, I shoot up my old carry ammo and load the mags with fresh boolets. I shoot this gun almost every time I go to the range, usually to the tune of 50-100 rounds. I clean it after each range trip, I use Hoppes #9 and Breakfree CLP, as my Drill Instructor taught me to do years ago. Of course, it may someday fail me, but it dang sure won't malfunction on me because it was either dirty or dry! I keep my guns clean and lubed, as they are supposed to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, Glocks can run dirty, well, go ahead and runs yours dirty if you want, mine will be clean and properly lubed before I holster it. I also periodically clean the mags, not after each range trip mind you, but I at least Q-tip under the feed lips. Mags are a strong suit of the whole Glock design, they are tough, good magazines, but they too need to have a little PM done to them on occasion.
I did recently put a new recoil spring in it, even though it was still going strong, I figured why not, recoil springs are cheap. Why run the chance of it deciding to go tatas up when I might really need the thing? I'd hate to have a failure to feed happen in the middle of an unpleasant situation. The old one had thousands of rounds under it. A good calculation of preventive maintenance, IMO.
Anyway, nothing has really changed since my two-year review last year. I know a lot of folks like the Shield, or the Walther PPS, and the new Sig P365 sure looks good, so far anyway. But all things considered, I think Glock did a good job with this pistol. I do not plan on getting rid of mine. In fact, it's freshly cleaned, lubed, and going back in its IWB to go with me out to dinner this evening. I guess you could say I like this little gun, and am cool with it being 6+1. I trust it to go bang and to put the rounds where I want them to go.
