G42: Your experience

JONWILL said:

I have Fiocchi 95 grain JHP. It won’t feed at all
My Bersa CC and S&W Bodyguard both shoot it with no problem. Got rid of the 42

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I reload 380 ACP with 90 to 100 grain FMJ bullets at comparable velocities and energy as factory ammunition. I have eight other 380 ACP pistol brands/styles that all shoot the reloads reliably (Walther PPK, Colt Mustang, Colt 1908, Sig P238 Kimber Micro, Browning 1911-380, Beretta M84, Kel-Tec P3-AT).

Ejection of the spent case from the G42 has been the primary issue. Factory FMJ ammunition has been a bit more reliable in the G42 but I don't plan on buying tons of factory ammunition to practice with.

I'm happy with shooting FMJ ammunition in the 380 ACP. It generally has been 100% reliable in my 380 ACP pistols while hollow point "designer" ammunition tends to be hit or miss.

The G42 is a nice to shoot but I cannot rely on it in an emergency.

I also have a G17 and a G43 that have shot everything that I have loaded in them.

WrongHanded said:

Both shot a little low, but the Critical Defense more so.

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I’ve been using Critical Defense as well. It runs very well in my 42. Also, easy to find.

cfullgraf said:

My G42 is ammo sensitive as well. Not an acceptable trait in my opinion.

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Mine eats pretty much everything, a lot of my reloads. What brands doesn’t your 42 like?

I love mine. The top performing Hornady XTP rounds catch on the feed ramp some times when chambering the first round. I use Fiocchi 90 gr jhp marked "380APHP" which has a more rounded profile then the .XTP. This is not the same as Fiocchi extrema which has the xtp bullet. I have the 03 mag w pinky rest and I flat bottom mag in my pocket. Bladetech Klipt holster($24) goes IWB or pocket w no problem. Trijicon bright and tough night sights are on clearance now $70 or so and the rear is very low profile /snag proof. The accuracy will surprise you w the upgraded sights. The 42 is more intimidating than something like a Bodyguard or LCP. If you have feeding issues on the first round, start w the slide locked back and pull the slide all the way back from there for maximum spring compression.

cfullgraf said:

I reload 380 ACP with 90 to 100 grain FMJ bullet at comparable velocities and energy as factory ammunition. I have eight other 380 ACP pistol brands/styles that all shoot the reloads reliably (Walther PPK, Colt Mustang, Colt 1908, Sig P238 Kimber Micro, Browning 1911-380, Beretta M84, Kel-Tec P3-AT).

Ejection of the spent case from the G42 has been the primary issue. Factory FMJ ammunition has been a bit more reliable in the G42 but I don't plan on buying tons of factory ammunition to practice with.

I'm happy with shooting FMJ ammunition in the 380 ACP. It generally has been 100% reliable in my 380 SCP pistols while hollow point "designer" ammunition tends to be hit or miss.

The G42 is a nice to shoot but I cannot rely on it in an emergency.

I also have a G17 and a G43 that have shot everything that I have loaded in them.

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Same as my experience with the 43 and every other Glock. Just the 42. Not sure why they couldn’t get it right

I bought a G42 for pocket carry. It works very well for me in this role - I carry it in my right front pocket. The only modification I did to it was aftermarket sights. It recoils like a .22 LR so I have no need for a finger grip extension on the magazine to help manage recoil.

I also have a G43 but I carry it in OWB holster when I do carry it. With the G42 I just slip it in my front pocket and head out the door.

My G42 has been 100% reliable with any load I've fed it. My defense load is factory loaded Hornady XTP.

Good luck!

Mine had a few bobbles at first but runs fine now. My favorite .380, accurate and comfortable to shoot. I pocket carry it in a Boraii holster. Much better than an unreliable LCP I used to own, and a lot better sights than a Colt Mustang I sold.

My G42 has been pretty much flawless. It eats what it is fed. I carry the factory 90 gr. Hornady custom xtp's. For practice I mass reload; xtp's, sierra jhp's, some 95 gr winchesters i got on sale. (the best of the very best groups I've ever have gotten with this gun has been with reloaded 90 gr. sierra jhp (#8100). There is something about that long bearing surface the gun loves).

Carry it in a vedder iwb holster at the 5 o clock position. During winter, I slip it into whatever coat I'm wearing.

We got one for my wife when they were still pretty new. They had been out long enough to trust them, but the 43 wasn’t out yet... I’m guessing 3 years ago. It doesn’t fit my big fat hands well, but it fits hers, and she can shoot that gun better than anything else she has ever shot. Her hands are small. I can hit with it, but it’s awkward for me. At 10 yards she is easily in the 2 inch range on paper. On a golf ball though, she centers them and breaks them out to about 25. Bounces them around in the dirt to about 50. Uncanny accuracy for a gun built loose enough to function well. The sights are small but useful.

I found the GLOCK 42 to be my perfect carry gun for off duty. It is even easier to conceal than the WALTHER PPK I carried for the 18 months prior to getting my GLOCK 42. My wife has arthritis and cannot shoot most handguns anymore, but liked my GLOCK so much, I had to get her one. I have found the 9m.m. micro guns this size to be to uncomfortable and will stick with the GLOCK. I prefer a 9m.m., but I cannot find one that is as concealable and still be pleasant enough to shoot that I can get in at least 100 rounds through it when I go to the range.

Jim

WrongHanded said:

I'm considering picking one up. I know they're a little large compared to some of the other .380 chambered pistols on the market, but I'm more concerned with how it shoots and how reliable it is. I'd appreciate any info, good or bad.

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I am an experienced shooter who has owned countless pistols. In my opinion the G-42 is simple one of the best. I love it. I bought an earlier model and had a few hang ups, but after Glocks free updates it has been flawless. I would absolutely recommend this model.

On a side note, I recently purchased the ETS nine and twelve round magazines for it. I have yet to try them out, The nine round will actually still fit for pocket carry.

Hokkmike said:

On a side note, I recently purchased the ETI nine and twelve round magazines for it.

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Please pardon me for asking, but do you happen to mean ETS magazines? They have transparent bodies. If they are "ETI", is there a link to the manufacturer or seller?

l tried carrying the Glock 42 when they first came out. Totally small enough for both pocket and appendix carry (people keep saying that 'it's too large for pocket carry', but I did it just fine), but in drawing it from appendix carry the grip was a bit too thin to grab onto when drawing it and I'd usually get a poor grip on it. Even with a poor grip it never limp wristed or anything, but I always felt the need to re-adjust the thing in my hand by taking my left hand and pressing it further into my right using the slide or having to do sort of a gathering motion to get the G42 further into the web of my hand. I have kind of a large hand and it was just to small for me and I wanted a 9, so I sold it and bought a Walther PPS Mod 1 (which I had before) and I pocket carry that on occasion.

On the G42 with the 6 rd stock mag I could barely get two fingers on the grip.



I as a result for one mag I put on a single +1 rd finger extension and a +1 follower from Mag-Guts for an 8 rd carry mag (they won't lock back on the last rd like factory mags so you need to train around this) and a +3 Ghost extension and a +1 Mag-Guts follower (pictured above) for a 10 rd mag as a spare mag/reload.

zaitcev said:

Please pardon me for asking, but do you happen to mean ETS magazines? They have transparent bodies. If they are "ETI", is there a link to the manufacturer or seller?

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I stand corrected. Sorry. Memory is getting old. A gun store nearby had a GRAND OPENING and they had the 9 and 12 round on sale. Couldn't make up mind as to which to buy so I got them both. Since the G42 is a lifetime gun for me I feel OK about that. Now have the 2 magazines that came with the gun and these two from ETS. Thanks for the correction.

"On paper it is not much different than a g43, but in hand the difference is huge"

This^

I have a G43, my wife has a G42. Just looking at them, they appear to be similar size. But holding them, the G42 just feels so much smaller/lighter.

Anyway my observations of the single-stack glocks are as follows:

They are NOT pocket guns (unless you just have massive pockets?). I carry mine on my belt. My wife's is carried in her purse. This isn't a bad thing. They're much easier to shoot than a true pocket gun is. Even more so if you get the pinky extensions for the mags.

The factory sights SUCK. Ours wouldn't shoot to point of aim and the plastic rear sight on my G43 actually broke. After that we bought after market metal night sights for both pistols, was a HUGE improvement. Went with the Ameriglo brand with the thinner front sight, I would highly recommend that you check these out. Single best upgrade you can do to these pistols.

Regarding ammo choice... in our case at least I found that the G42 was a little picky on ammo but that G43 will eat anything I feed it. The G42 doesn't like light loads at all. For factory rounds it's worked best with the 90gr Hydra-Shoks and Remington Golden Sabre (102gr I think?) For reloads, I have to use 100gr bullets at what the book says is the max load to get it to cycle the slide reliably. Edited to add: I use those same 100gr bullets in my 9mm reloads for the G43, G43 works fine with light loads)

Overall I'm very happy with these pistols. I wish the G42 were a little less picky on ammo, but once you figure out what it likes, it works well. I hope Glock comes out with other single stack designs (maybe a .40 cal? Or something like a G43 but maybe with a slightly longer grip/barrel, almost like a skinny version of the G19)

Fire one Glock you have fired them all. That being said I bought a G42 at a price not even I could pass up on a never shot Glock. Fired one magazine through it and I was not impressed. Sold it for twice what I paid for it was the only win out of the bargain.

I've owned a glock 26 for a long time, that being said,I considered the Glock 42, but everyone seems to have issues with them, they are "quirky," "finicky "etc.
I have a S&W bodyguard380 , (had that way before glock started single stacks) and it's gone 2,000 rounds trouble free. I got a spare recoil spring set and I think I will be keeping it ?

My G42 has been utterly reliable. My only complaint is that it's not small enough for pocket carry.

mrmike7189 said:

I've owned a glock 26 for a long time, that being said,I considered the Glock 42, but everyone seems to have issues with them, they are "quirky," "finicky "etc.
I have a S&W bodyguard380 , (had that way before glock started single stacks) and it's gone 2,000 rounds trouble free. I got a spare recoil spring set and I think I will be keeping it ?

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I have had no trouble with mine "quirky"? Yes, I have to hold it differently than my kimber, other than that, no issues. Finicky? It shoots anything I put in it, from minimum loads to max loads and I have had no trouble with any factory ammunition

I must have huge pockets or something.

Browning said:

I must have huge pockets or something.

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Same. I pocket carry a PPS on the rare occasion. While noticeably a bulge it doesn't scream gun to the average lay person. I do have to be careful on pant selection as the grip can be visible to someone to my side or behind me in certain jeans. The G42 by comparison was very easy to pocket carry with for me.

herrwalther said:

Same. I pocket carry a PPS on the rare occasion. While noticeably a bulge it doesn't scream gun to the average lay person. I do have to be careful on pant selection as the grip can be visible to someone to my side or behind me in certain jeans. The G42 by comparison was very easy to pocket carry with for me.

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Same here. I pocket carry the exact same gun (Walther PPS M1 using a 7 rd mag and a DeSantis Nemesis). Those are larger than a G42. Same thing with a S&W Shield .40 S&W in a DeSantis Nemesis that I also own and used to occasionally carry.

I also used to own a Glock 42 and carried it the same way.

Currently I'm pretty settled into the rotation of either going with the Walther PPS M1 for pocket carry or a Glock 26 in a Galco Summer Comfort for belt carry.

I dunno, something isn't adding up here and I'm genuinely curious as to what the difference is why you and I and then all other pocket pistol carriers of single stack 9's and 40's that I know IRL aren't having a problem with it and others are having trouble with these.

I'm kinda tall (6'3, 236 lbs) and I generally dress in cargo pants, cargo shorts, Dickies and Carhart pants or Levi's. Maybe that makes my pockets larger? I don't know. I like my pants a little on the loose side ... a little loose, so I can breathe. Not hip hop or gangsta loose. I'm just not going for that Western skin tight country music with the big belt buckle look.

Is that it? The clothes? To me the Glock 42 was a little too small.

I mean if it's too large for pocket carry size wise then that's fine, whatever. Different strokes for different folks. I'm betting if we were all in a room together discussing this stuff the answer to this question would be apparent.

Nice gun, wish they had worked a bit on the Glock 43 to get it as "perfect" as my wife's
old G42.

The .380 ran fine with any and all ammo we could put through it.

Sold it and the other Glocks when the Nightmare Glock 43 arrived and
gave us a horror show of problems.

The G43 went back to my dealer, who then sold me a PPS.

I'd like to see what a Gen 5 Glock 26 is like, but scared that it will be a lemon.

Trust in Austria made Glocks only, and then about 50%.

I'm much happier with my PPS, PPS M2, and PPQs.

No dead triggers or even a jam from them.

Polymer perfection looks like this:


I can only hope to see a Sub-Compact .45 and a polymer .380 from Walther, in 2019.

A G42 (or smaller) polymer framed Walther, would be very nice.

Suddenly, I had a update from a couple of days ago. For whatever reason, I took my Glock 42 out to the desert instead of G19. And only 150 rounds in, it started FTF. It ran for more than 500 rounds without a single malfunction previously, but only on a indoor ranges.

I completed shooting by shaking and slapping the gun. When I had a chance, I took it apart and carefully cleaned both the gun and magazines (fortunately, I had my Leatherman tool with pliers that allowed to take magazines apart). I did another course after the break and went through some 200 rounds with no issues.

I didn't do anything too extreme, like crawling on my belly in the mud, and only ran around a little bit. The weather was warm and dry, with light winds and very little airborne dust.

Have you heard of Glock stopping to work only because of a little dust? But I do suspect that my RSA might be on its last legs, although it passes a pinch test. Only took 2500 rounds fired.

golden said:

I found the GLOCK 42 to be my perfect carry gun for off duty. It is even easier to conceal than the WALTHER PPK I carried for the 18 months prior to getting my GLOCK 42. My wife has arthritis and cannot shoot most handguns anymore, but liked my GLOCK so much, I had to get her one. I have found the 9m.m. micro guns this size to be to uncomfortable and will stick with the GLOCK. I prefer a 9m.m., but I cannot find one that is as concealable and still be pleasant enough to shoot that I can get in at least 100 rounds through it when I go to the range.

Jim

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Shootability is a big consideration, to me, I'm more likely to get rounds on target with my G42 than a micro nine. Thinner and much lighter than a Sig 365.

I have no problem pocket carrying my G42 with the Boraii holster, it looks like a phone or tablet in my pocket.

https://www.boraii.com/store/p5/GLOCK_42.html

Jackal said:

Mine was very ammo sensitive. It liked Remington FMJ, so thats what I stuck with. Half a dozen different commercial loads I tried would plug the lil Glock up. Never did 100% trust it. Traded it in on a 642 and never looked back. As for folks saying it isnt pocketable, thats just nonsense. I carried it in my right front pocket for a year. Now I carry a P365 in the same spot. Even the J frame Smith's are easily front pocket carried, even in my stretch jeans. I'm 6', 240 and wear normal clothes. The only person that notices a pistol printing in your pocket is yourself. No one else looks or cares.

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When you are half a foot shorter it is a little harder