I'm not the guy that answers every question with "Glock." I answer very few questions with Glock, and when a Glock koolaid drinker rolls into a thread foaming at the mouth and raving about how awesome his brand of choice is, I'm usually one of the guys that picks apart some of their fallacious arguments. Glocks are generally very good guns, but they're highly over rated. My experience owning Glocks has been a bumpy ride, but that's a different story.

When the Glock 42 was first announced, there was butthurt everywhere, mostly because it was a .380 instead of a 9mm. I've never owned a .380, and I'm not a huge Glock fan, so my interest in the gun was negligible... Until I held one. The first time I played with one, I knew there was more to the story. The size of the gun is at an interesting happy medium. It's small and slim, but it's not so cartoonishly small that there's nothing to hold on to. It's easy to get a grip, and that Glock backstrap tumor I typically loath hits a nice point just inside the heel of my hand.

Another key advantage this gun had going for it is the trigger. If you exclude the big .380s like the CZ 83, Beretta 84, and Sig P232, most of what you have left is DAO offerings that don't have particularly good triggers. I guess I'd grade the average Glock trigger at a B-, which isn't all that great, but you can do much worse, and IMHO, many other guns in this size category do. I knew I was interested enough in the G42 that I wanted to shoot it.

Today, a guy I know was nice enough to loan me his for the evening. I picked up a box of PMC .380 and rolled out to the range. As usual, I warmed up with my 22/45, and for context, I burned a box with my G17. I then broke out the G42. Most of the little handguns guns I've shot are a bit obnoxious, and I guess that's what I was expecting. I flinched a little on the first trigger pull, and I was surprised by how much didn't happen. .380 isn't exactly a hot round, but the recoil on this thing is remarkably light for its size. The fact that it's not direct blowback helps, but I was still surprised. The sights are normal Glock sights, which I don't love, but like the trigger, they're more usable than the sights found on some competing guns.

The accuracy of the gun was at least decent. I wasn't on my A-game tonight, so it wouldn't be fair for me to criticize the gun for not drilling the bulls. In comparison to the G17, my groups did open up a little, and I found with the G42, I was about 1.5" to the left more than I wanted to be. This is from 10yds, so it's safe to say that it's more than adequate for a carry gun. The other thing that got me a bit was the slide stop. Every time I gripped it, I put my thumb knuckle on the rear of the raised area surrounding the slide stop with the tip of my thumb off towards my supporting hand. This only worked part of the time. The result, for me, is that the slide did not always lock open when empty. For my P226, this was a no go. I'm not pleased by it happening with this Glock, but it's more tolerable given the form factor of the gun.

If you're trying to help your wife or girlfriend find a carry gun, or if you want a smaller carry gun that doesn't have an aweful trigger, this one is worth a look.

I want one for pocket carry, just hope I don't Glock dick myself.

I would really like a 9mm.



In the meantime, I carry a Kimber Solo.

For the size and price, get the 9mm Walther PPS. It's a  much better gun and doesn't have the problems the 42 has been having.

Its not a bad gun.......should be a 9mm though

This.

PMC wouldn't run reliably in mine.  

Hornady Critical Defense, Remington, and Winchester all run perfect.    The PMC was noticeably weaker.

I like mine for pocket carry.

I think Glock is crazy for not building a small single stack 9mm to compete with the Shield, but I don't view the G42 as some kind of shortfall.

This gun is at a nice intersection of price, shootabiltiy, and lethality. Just about anyone who can competently fire a handgun can competently fire this handgun. That wouldn't be the case if it was a 9mm.

It's also worth mentioning that the G42 is a good bit smaller than the Shield.

First time I ever shot the G42 was at a GSSF competition last weekend.

My hands are too big to get a good grip on it.  My first shot every time would rock the gun back in my hands.  Maybe with practice, I could find a decent grip.

But otherwise, it worked well.  I shot 100gr RNFPs through it with no problems and a friend shot 95gr

I wish Glock would have made a 9mm version slightly bigger with same capacity.

Please describe the problems the G42 has been having.

They are hard to find in stock?

I was unbelievably pissed that it wasn't a 9mm.

Mine has lived in my front pocket for 6 months now I love the thing.

If Glock had released the 9mm first, and then the .380, they would sell far fewer .380's. I believe it was a marketing strategy.

More people seek out little .380s than you'd guess. Not everyone is an ice cold steely eyed tier one type.

I didn't mind the fact that it is .380, you can tell by looking at it that a 9mm version will have to be a little bigger and heavier. I'll buy one though if they make a 9 too.

This site does have  Glock forum, you know,.

I read your last sentence. Good enough

Make it in 9mm and then we'll talk. Springfield and S&W didn't have any problems making a single stack 9mm; why can't Glock do the same thing?

I thought 9mm was a weak, wimpy, compromise round?

Tell that to the POS XDS9 I bought that got recalled and turned into an absolute abortion I loved that thing before recall... Post recall, man they really fucked it up. I wouldnt mind getting a Shield now that they make it without the safety.

I carry an lcp as weak side iwb as a bug. I'm curious about the 42 mainly because it's slightly bigger and if it's iwb, I'm not worried about the size as much. If I like it I might trade in. I like my lcp, but it's not great... And I find the idea of a grenade on each side fairly amusing

 

Try a shield and get back to us.  If the shield didn't exist I'd be more interested in the 42, but man, take a look at the shield.  I own and like using glock products (and 1911s), but for a single stack slim cc gun that might go AIWB the shield meets and surpasses anything Glock makes IMO (optional manual safety when pointed at your junk ftw).

ETA G42 vs Shield pics and NOT my pic...from the series of pipes known as the interwebz

Geezuz, do a search, there's lots to read.  

Several functional problems.  Slides locking back randomly with certain or all ammos.  Redesigned slide stop lever, mags changed (at least 3 times, I think) frame appears to be different but nobody seems to know exactly what was changed there.  

Glock has fixed  some that were sent in for issues, but not all ran OK when they came back--guys were dumping early ones because they wouldn't run, etc.  It appears that they need really powerful ammo to be reliable judging from guys that I know that have them. Some buyers claim theirs has never had a malf.

I agree with others that it is a cool gun and came close to buying one.  If you buy one, get the most recent production that you can find--as in the past month or so--your chances will be better.      

I have three friends with them, and they work without a hiccup. Who knows.

I like it.  I have had smaller 380s but not one that shoot so nice.  It is still slim enough for pocket carry.

I was hitting a torso sized plate at 65 yards a few weeks ago, no problem.  I can also shoot significantly faster than I could with the last 380 I had (a S&W Guardian).

It basically does the same thing as the P3AT and the Ruger clone. Meh.

I got the XDS week 1 (same thing I did with the 42, I must not have learned ), and it was great. Sent it in for the recall, and it came back with a 12 pound, gritty, noisy trigger, and wouldn't cycle reliably. Springfield told me it was "in spec". Traded it in for the 42 actually. From what I've seen the latest redesigned XDS's are good now, but I won't try them again after that experience. Too bad too, because I like the new longslide XDS, would have been an awesome combo, the short XDS and the long XDS.

My fingers are too big to reload .380 and ammo is too pricey for the pipsqueak loads that they are.  

I will be waiting for the 9.  

My wife also likes the 9.  Guess she is tier 1.  

I just avoid any XD series handgun all together.

I hate grip safeties with a passion.

The comparison pics don't really do it justice. Handle the two side by side, and you'll see how significant the difference really is.

Did you wear a hat?

Good post

Well I can't speak for all glock 42s,  I had two failures to feed on the very first magazine.   Then for about 300 rounds of various brands, handloads of differing power and some cheap imported ammo, I have had ZERO problems.  I even ran a half box of prized surplus Spanish trunicated cone through it with ZERO problems.  I do think if they ditched the plastic covering off their magazine, another round could be made to fit.  It is accurate enough to hit pop can size targets at reasonable pistol ranges without needing both hands to pull the trigger back.

I shot a friend's 42 and I like the way it shoots; it shoots just like any of my other larger Glock's.





However; I already have a Kahr CW380 for hot summer days that is broken in, smaller, and shoots the softest/most comfortable of any 380 I've tried so far.





I think all of the 380's have teething problems in the beginning either due to the rush to market (just like AJ-DUAL mentioned above) or lack of proper testing with all varieties of ammo.





Some companies get it right soon after or some don't get it right at all.





I had a DB380 which was a POS even after a trip back to Diamondback. I have an LCP (the model before the latest updates) I bought before the CW380 that is reliable but it is jumpy in my hand, a pain to shoot, and I am not accurate enough with it.





I was about to give up on 380's before the CW380; which has been fine feeding most ammo after the recommended break-in. It didn't like PMC ammo either; but everything else including my carry CD ammo work fine.





I still might get a 42 for the heck of it anyway though!




 

Will do at the next fun show, but at the end of the day, we are comparing two small single stack cc guns (all are niche guns with compromises for concealability) with polymer frames of about the same size.  One has the option for a manual safety (again something I like for AIWB) and is 7 +1 in 9mm vs 6 + 1 in .380.  For me those two things really matter YMMV.

Not even close to the same size. The Shield is between a G26 and G19 in size.

For 10mm, Glock (20SF or 29SF) is the answer.

Otherwise, Glock is only the answer if someone prefers/performs best with Glock.
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It was my first and last XD experience; I wasn't a fan of the grip safety either, but it was the closest thing to a single stack G26 I'd ever seen

 

I was merely pointing out the fact that if Glock had released the same pistol in 9mm and then a few years later released it in  .380, sales would suffer  on the  .380.  Why would someone want to replace or add a pistol exactly like the one they already own in a smaller caliber?

I toyed with one at the local gun shop. It looked interesting and I'd love to shoot one.

Hated my G17 so I traded it for a G19 and then finally traded that for an M&P 9mm.

...then again, I already have a Shield 9mm too, so I don't know if it would be worth coming down to .380 even for the size.

All this.

Glock has had one official revision of the gun.

http://looserounds.com/2014/05/10/glock-appears-to-have-made-changes-to-the-g42/

There are also unofficial changes to mags and other stuff.

At this point there are several different versions floating around and you don't know what you're going to get.

The thing is a piece of shit. The wife wanted a birthday present and rented one from the range and had all sorts of malfs with Federal ammo.

If Glock fixes it, I'd like them to make a different model/generation so that I KNOW that I'm not buying one of the shitty first run guns.

The wife loves hers.  Of course she loves her G26 and G19 too.  She would carry her M&P 15 if she could fit it in her purse though!  My Glock distributor was saying the 9mm version is in the works.  Hope it gets released before next summer since I could use another 'shorts' gun.

The one I shot was the revised version