Glock 42 Range Report

[sirgilligan]

I have been interesting in shooting the new 380 Glock for some time and when my wife says she wants a new firearm why would anyone wait for longer than a second.

We went down to the range and they have one for rent. Can't beat that.

Here are the results of the first five rounds fired, free standing, at 7 yards.



I found the gun very accurate and precise. My wife shot it well and commented on how it doesn't really "kick".

However, my wife had several failures to feed. She was holding it very tight, but I noticed she didn't have her hand as high as it could be and when we got her hand up high the failures stopped.

Well, that's it. Thanks.

 

[MedWheeler]

So, when's the range report on the one you bought?

 

[sirgilligan]

I didn't buy it. I would have to give it some more range time with different ammo before I would make a decision to buy.

 

[kokapelli]

Just baught one but won't be able to shoot until Thursday.

 

[sirgilligan]

Just baught one but won't be able to shoot until Thursday.

Let us know what you think about it.

 

[kokapelli]

Let us know what you think about it.

Will do. I have six different brands of ammo to test in it.

 

[Byron]

Bought one in January. It took a little break in but I write any problems off to Atlanta Arms.Mine fires all factory new ammo and my reloads in which i try and duplicate factory specs,no higher. Mine functions very well and pleased with the accuracy.Was at the range the other day and one man had just bought a new 42 and firing Atlanta Arms. Some jams and some lockbacks in his. Factory Critical Defense worked fine. I carry mine all the time.

 

[sirgilligan]

Bought one in January. It took a little break in but I write any problems off to Atlanta Arms.Mine fires all factory new ammo and my reloads in which i try and duplicate factory specs,no higher. Mine functions very well and pleased with the accuracy.Was at the range the other day and one man had just bought a new 42 and firing Atlanta Arms. Some jams and some lockbacks in his. Factory Critical Defense worked fine. I carry mine all the time.

Good to hear.

 

[Byron]

Just got back from the range and put about 75 rounds through it,reloads and Atlanta arms. It was flawless.

 

[kokapelli]

That's encouraging. I have both magazines loaded am all set for Thursday and with a bunch of ammo to test. I forgot that I also have some Magtech fmj and some Remington UMC fmj as well that I will test.

 

[sirgilligan]

That will be a good test suite of ammo.

 

[Wildbillz]

I just got back from range testing mine. With the little bit of Winchester 380acp ammo I had it ran great. With the Monarch (PPU) Academy store brand, not so good. It seemed like the Monarch was under powered and would not function the slide. Every third or fourth round I would have to hand eject the empty case out of the gun. There seemed to be a lot of un-burnt powder on the bench also. The Monarch runs fine in my LCP though. Last one I tried was some Hornaday Critical Defense. Fired and ejected fine. Printed a little higher then the other two ammos did. Range was about 30ft or so.

Anyone else tried Monarch or PPU ammo in a G42? If so did you have any issues or was it just me?

Thanks
WB

 

[kokapelli]

I have shot the PPU in my Bersa and it was fine. Will see how it works in G42 in two days.

 

[Byron]

I have shot PPU in my 42 and Sig P238 with no problems. reloading keeps me shooting a lot.

 

[kokapelli]

First trip to the range with my G42 today and these are the results.

Fired two magazines each of the following brands of ammo.

Remington jhp
Remington fmj
Winchester fmj/fp
Freedom fmj
PVRI Partisan jhp
Fiocchi fmj
PMC fmj
ARMSCOR fmj
Magtech fmj

I had only one problem when a Fiocchi round did not feed into the chamber in the first magazine of that brand. The second magazine of Fiocchi worked fine and I assume the problem with just that one round was due to the fact that the pistol is brand new.

The G42 is not a tack driver, but at seven yards all rounds were in center mass.

Recoil is very comfortable and about what I expected. All in all I am totally satisfied with the little pistol. I think a brand new little 380 that can handle that many brands of ammo with only one failure is pretty impressive.

 

[Byron]

I have put considerable amount of ammo down mine.It seems the more I shoot it, the more accuarte it is;maybe I am use to it now.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

My Wife's G42 *is* a tack driver in her hands....maybe cause her hands are smaller?

Anyway. Yeah we had a few problems with our G42 right out of the box but only a few and that was with reloaded (not by me) cheapo remanufactures. We actually had a squib... With 200 rounds of Winchester Train and Defend (100 rounds of each Train type and Defend type) and 200 rounds of Fiocchi and another 250 rounds of my reloads the only problem we have had is with some premature slide lock backs when the mag still had rounds.

I'm not certain now that we have solved that and may have been thumbing the slide lock during shooting. It has not occurred in the last 200 rounds of fairly hot .380 reloads. No doubt about it - we are in love with our G42 at this point. Especially my Wife as this really is a Soul Mate gun for her.

VooDoo

 

[sirgilligan]

First trip to the range with my G42 today and these are the results.

Fired two magazines each of the following brands of ammo.

Remington jhp
Remington fmj
Winchester fmj/fp
Freedom fmj
PVRI Partisan jhp
Fiocchi fmj
PMC fmj
ARMSCOR fmj
Magtech fmj

I had only one problem when a Fiocchi round did not feed into the chamber in the first magazine of that brand. The second magazine of Fiocchi worked fine and I assume the problem with just that one round was due to the fact that the pistol is brand new.

The G42 is not a tack driver, but at seven yards all rounds were in center mass.

Recoil is very comfortable and about what I expected. All in all I am totally satisfied with the little pistol. I think a brand new little 380 that can handle that many brands of ammo with only one failure is pretty impressive.

Thank you for the information. I appreciate range reports because they help guide my purchase decisions.

 

[sirgilligan]

My Wife's G42 *is* a tack driver in her hands....maybe cause her hands are smaller?

Anyway. Yeah we had a few problems with our G42 right out of the box but only a few and that was with reloaded (not by me) cheapo remanufactures. We actually had a squib... With 200 rounds of Winchester Train and Defend (100 rounds of each Train type and Defend type) and 200 rounds of Fiocchi and another 250 rounds of my reloads the only problem we have had is with some premature slide lock backs when the mag still had rounds.

I'm not certain now that we have solved that and may have been thumbing the slide lock during shooting. It has not occurred in the last 200 rounds of fairly hot .380 reloads. No doubt about it - we are in love with our G42 at this point. Especially my Wife as this really is a Soul Mate gun for her.

VooDoo

I have seen a few posts around the internet that show some correlation between hotter rounds and the slide locking back. Time will tell more of the story.

 

[sherman123]

I tried one for the first time earlier this week at the local range and the first failure was after I accidentally hit the mag release(I really like to choke up on handguns when I grip them) and then later had a ftf.

 

[OregonJohnny]

Here are the results with my G42 that has been back to Glock:

• First 50 rounds - Remington UMC - no failures
• Slide locked back on an empty mag and then would not release with or without a loaded or unloaded magazine in the gun. Had to drop mag, pull back on slide, and simultaneously force the slide catch down very hard to release the slide. Happened repeatedly, sent to Glock. They said they replaced a few "redesigned" parts and polished internals up a bit.
• Next 150 rounds - Remington UMC, PMC Bronze, Buffalo Bore FMJ flat nose - only 1 stovepipe on the first round of a mag around the 200 round mark
• Next 127 rounds - Remington UMC, CCI Blazer aluminum, Aguila FMJ - no failures with Remington or Blazer, multiple FTF and FTE with Aguila on every single magazine - this Aguila was the worst ammo I've ever experienced

So, in 327 rounds so far, the only major problems have been with Aguila ammo. And it does shoot very accurately for me, with hardly any felt recoil. Once I am able to get my hands on more of the Buffalo Bore standard pressure 95-grain FMJ flat nose to test, that's most likely what I'll carry.

 

[kokapelli]

Here are the results with my G42 that has been back to Glock:

• First 50 rounds - Remington UMC - no failures
• Slide locked back on an empty mag and then would not release with or without a loaded or unloaded magazine in the gun. Had to drop mag, pull back on slide, and simultaneously force the slide catch down very hard to release the slide. Happened repeatedly, sent to Glock. They said they replaced a few "redesigned" parts and polished internals up a bit.
• Next 150 rounds - Remington UMC, PMC Bronze, Buffalo Bore FMJ flat nose - only 1 stovepipe on the first round of a mag around the 200 round mark
• Next 127 rounds - Remington UMC, CCI Blazer aluminum, Aguila FMJ - no failures with Remington or Blazer, multiple FTF and FTE with Aguila on every single magazine - this Aguila was the worst ammo I've ever experienced

So, in 327 rounds so far, the only major problems have been with Aguila ammo. And it does shoot very accurately for me, with hardly any felt recoil. Once I am able to get my hands on more of the Buffalo Bore standard pressure 95-grain FMJ flat nose to test, that's most likely what I'll carry.

What made you decide to carry BB?

 

[kokapelli]

I just happened on this article that might be of interest.

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

 

[bodam]

I have one on hold at my LGS that I need to go pick up. Good info here, I will make sure it has the "1" stamped on the frame before I buy it...

 

[OregonJohnny]

What made you decide to carry BB?

Having put many different calibers and types of Buffalo Bore ammo over my chronograph, it has proven to be very consistent and always even with, or slightly above, Buffalo Bore's claimed velocities per barrel length. And their velocities are almost always higher than similar big name factory ammo.

As for the .380 in particular, I like FMJ flat nose or hard cast for maximum straight line penetration from the little cartridge, and I prefer standard pressure over their +P (as artificial as .380 +P is) in a tiny gun. So I settled on their 95-grain standard pressure FMJ flat nose bullet. It feeds well in the G42 so far.