Glock 42: First Impressions

It seems lately everyone has been asking me what I think of Glock’s new slim-frame .380. I didn’t shoot it at Media Day and I only handled it briefly at SHOT. Why? Because it’s a Glock. Imagine a slim-frame Glock .380. Congratulations, you now have an idea of what the Glock 42 is like. Everyone I spoke to who shot the gun said the same thing. Of course, a Glock-y Glock is far from a bad thing.

DSC03391For Glock fanboys who don’t mind the .380-ness of the .380, it’s going to be a good deep concealment option. For people who want to complain about .380 not being powerful enough, it’s a great opportunity for them to do so. For people who are blatantly unexcited that Toyota has released a compact Corolla, well, they can go back to swearing at race guns and 1911s.

DSC03394That being said, I do think the Glock 42 is going to be a good option for newer shooters who are looking for a concealed carry gun. Glocks are, by nature, incredibly easy to use, it’s very simple to find a larger range gun with the same feel and controls (the entire Glock line, for example), the .380 is going to keep the recoil manageable, and the size will make it easier to conceal. I think this is a huge market opportunity for Glock, I have seen a lot of people who are interested in the platform but have found their guns to be a little too big to fit their lifestyle. I have also seen a lot of these same people buy LCPs, P238s and other .380 pocket guns that don’t bear the Glock logo.

I am interested to see how the small changes in the internals (leaf springs swapped out for coil springs, that kind of minutia) will affect the gun. According the Glock serious testing has been done on the little firearm, but I don’t think I’ll be jumping at the first run of them personally. That being said, no issues have been reported yet that I have seen – from Media Day or elsewhere.

11 Comments

  1. From the size of it, to the thought of IDPA BUG matches, to getting my wife to shoot an easier-to-handle version of my full-size Glocks… this gun has a lot going for it. Plus, it gives a new shooter a chance at using a gun that is an exact replica of a full-size and full-power service weapon but without a lot of punishing recoil. I like the notion of starting out with a .22 pistol but many do not have a 9mm or .45 ACP version of their little .22 pistols to move into when it’s time.

    1. Well, I bought one. Cool little gun. It is what it is, no pretensions, and I like it–for what it is.

  2. Put me in the want one, but willing to wait category. The small Glock will no doubt be a big hit despite some folks contention the .380 craze has run it’s course. No matter the amount of testing new products often have teething problems and guns are one of those things you don’t want problems with if you can avoid them. A few months wait is not that big a deal at least to me.

  3. I didn’t even know this gun existed until yesterday when I shot one st the rangr. I definitely want one. I have a Glock 23 but its too big for me too carry, mainly in the summer time in shorts and a t-shirt, being as that I am a super skinny person. I think this gun would suit me nicely.

  4. I’ll stick with my LCP and 13 round Browning BDA 380. For those who are about to venture into the 380 world for the first time; take a look at the current availability of 380 ammo and the pricing. It appears to have gone sour again; hard to find and overpriced more often than not. Ammo for 380’s was hard to find 4 years ago and was expensive then too. It was about a year before it was readily available again and longer before pricing came down to a reasonable figure. I’ve been having a difficult time locating it again (especially for a reasonable price) for the past 6 months or so.

  5. Glock missed the pocket .380 craze by 3 years.
    Folks are beginning figure out that size really does matter in a gun fight.

    1. Which folks? Oh, you must mean gun-fighters. Got it. The .380 has been around for over 100 years, doing what it does, which is to provide personal protection that’s more effective than, say, ignorant statements frivolously spewed in defense of machismo.

  6. If your Horse eats OATS–feed it yourself. Creeping up on a Large Caliber is stupid. I already know the e-mail responce to this. Most people will flinch and blink their eyes on a small Cal. anyway. Get used to it and learn to shoot with both eyes open. Hand and wrist strength helps alot too. Get a spring loaded hand gripper and strengthen your hand and wrist. You’ll be glad you did. Lift a few weights, you might even lose a few pounds.

  7. I wonder how many people posting on here have actually been in a gunfight. Handgun rounds are ineffective and don’t work in most cases. If you know that going into a gunfight you’ll tend to focus more on shot placement and not worry about the caliber..

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