Compact vs Sub compact vs Micro
- Thread starter Keoni
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entropy
Member
Glocks would be a better way to describe them:
G19 is compact, shortened in grip and barrel vs. the G17. G26 is the subcompact, shortened in grip and barrel vs. the G19. G43 is the micro, basically between the G26 and 26 in grip and barrel, but single stack, resulting in a very small concealable 9mm. Some micros have double stacks, like the P365, Hellcat, and Gx4, for example. They are thinner than the G26, just barely thicker than the G43.
G19 is compact, shortened in grip and barrel vs. the G17. G26 is the subcompact, shortened in grip and barrel vs. the G19. G43 is the micro, basically between the G26 and 26 in grip and barrel, but single stack, resulting in a very small concealable 9mm. Some micros have double stacks, like the P365, Hellcat, and Gx4, for example. They are thinner than the G26, just barely thicker than the G43.
WrongHanded
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It's largely subjective as there's no standard across the industry. But I would offer that if the grip (not the magazine with extensions, but rather the frame) is design for the middle, ring, AND pinky fingers; it's a compact. Sub compact and micro don't allow for a full grip.
Just my opinion of course.
Just my opinion of course.
CapnMac
Member
Marketing hype, largely.
Probably, eventually, the interwebs, if out of sheer frustration, will gel some sort of working definition.
As a guess, it will be a matrix of how many fingers the grip is long, whether the mag needs an extension to get to "normal" round counts, and just how short a slide it has.
Like as not, there will be some brand-specificity in there, too. So if Brand X offers more than one barrel length, they will be ordered smallest to largest somehow.
As long as gunwriters are paid by the word--there will be no standard.
Probably, eventually, the interwebs, if out of sheer frustration, will gel some sort of working definition.
As a guess, it will be a matrix of how many fingers the grip is long, whether the mag needs an extension to get to "normal" round counts, and just how short a slide it has.
Like as not, there will be some brand-specificity in there, too. So if Brand X offers more than one barrel length, they will be ordered smallest to largest somehow.
As long as gunwriters are paid by the word--there will be no standard.
This is true. And it will also depend on the size of each shooter's hands too. I'll use the Glock G43 and G26 as examples. With the G43 I can get half of my pinky on the grip and flat mag floor plate. With the G26, my pinky does not fit onto the grip or flat mag floor plate. I shoot the G43 much better than the G26 but do not shoot either as well as a G19.
Alllen Bundy
Member
Looking at Sig's website, they call the 10 rd P365 a micro compact, and they also call the 12 rd P365XL a micro compact. But then they skipped sub compact and call the 17 rd P365 X-Macro a Compact. Seems like they should have called the P365XL a sub compact. I believe the rule is that marketing makes up the definitions as they go along and then bends that definition if it suits them.
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