Glock 48 vs 43x

The only real difference between the Glock 48 vs 43X is going to be the length of the slide.

Which will make a major difference in a lot of areas and depending on what you’re doing. It may or may not be an advantage. Today, we’re going to compare the Glock 48 vs 43X and see which one is the best for you. 

We’re going to go over all the pros and cons of these systems while also covering the general features. You might decide that neither of these guns is for you after reading the features. But you may decide you want them both. We’re here to help you get all that info in one trustworthy place.

Size

Glock 48 vs 43x Concealed Carry

When you look at these guns for concealed carry, you can see that their weight is a little bit different. The Glock 48 is almost two ounces heavier due to the extra length in the slide and barrel. But is that two extra ounces helpful or harmful when it comes to concealed carry? 

I will tell you this: it’s a disadvantage when you’re trying to carry the gun without a belt. At that weight difference, two ounces make a very big difference. If you’re trying to carry the gun with a belt, the Glock 48 is actually going to be a better concealed-carry firearm. That’s because those two extra ounces are moved more towards the muzzle of the gun.

Both the Glock 43X and 48 are top-heavy when you’re carrying them inside the waistband.

Glock 43X

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Comfort

If you think about the gun as it sits in the beltline, the majority of the weight is sitting above the belt. You have roughly half the slide as well as all the weight of the ammunition sitting above there. From there, your body presses into the gun and gravity also causes the gun to want to tip away from the body. 

With a shorter gun like the Glock 43X, the shorter muzzle is a major disadvantage. If you carry the gun in a longer holster, that’ll help a bit by distributing out the pressure and make it more comfortable without all the pressure of that weight and gravity pushing the gun away from you.

The Glock 48, with its two extra ounces, is going to carry just slightly better. This is not something you’ll notice if you only carry for shorter (e.g. 45-minute periods) of time, but if you carry all day long (i.e. 12-hour-plus days), then this is something you will likely notice as the day goes by.

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Both of these guns hold 10 rounds and even accept the same magazines, including the ability to accept the Shield Arms S15 magazines, which gets you an extra 5 rounds in a gun. Considering these guns are only one inch thick at the grip, this is a major advantage over other carry systems. These are in fact currently the highest capacity for the size in their class.

The SIG P365 is the highest capacity in its own class, but I’d say these guns are a size up.

Ergonomics overall

Ergonomics are a make or break for many people when it comes to choosing a gun. Many don’t like “Glock” ergonomics but these Slimline Glocks when it comes to ergonomics.

Frame

The ergonomics on these guns are obviously identical since the guns are identical. There’s no modularity built into the frame, so the grip you get is what you get. They both feel really good in the hand: they’re not too thick or too wide, yet they still seem to fill the hand up nicely. 

I think they work with a wide variety of hand sizes. I’ve talked to shooters that have massive hands that really liked the way they feel, and I’ve also talked to shooters that are much smaller in stature that really enjoy the feel of the grip on both the Glock 43X and the 48. The grip length itself is about perfect for most people.

It’s literally identical to a Glock 19 in grip length. If your Glock 19 works well for you as far as getting all your fingers on the grip of the gun, then the 48 will work as well.

Texture

The texture on these guns is a standard Gen4 Glock texturing. It’s aggressive enough to keep the gun in place if your hands get a little bit sweaty, but it’s not quite as aggressive as I would like. The upside of this is that you don’t have to worry about it chafing your skin. 

Slide

Now, the slides on these guns are slightly different. They are interchangeable, but you’re going to get a little more length with the Glock 48. The 48, in my opinion, is slightly easier to manipulate the slide just because your hand doesn’t get as close to the muzzle, which is a good safety feature.

If you like doing press checks or manipulating slides from the front of the gun, then you might want to check out the Glock 48 instead of the 43X.

Sights

Sights may or may not be important to you depending on the doctrine you follow. But it’s always nice to know what your options are.

Stock

Again, the sights on these guns are going to be identical. Both come from the factory with the standard Glock plastic slot fillers or AmeriGlo sights. If you don’t want to deal with adding aftermarket sights, I would suggest to just upgrade to the AmeriGlos right off the bat. It doesn’t cost a ton more and it makes the gun a lot more shootable fresh out of the box. 

Glock 48

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The AmeriGlo sights have a bright orange front and a blacked-out rear with three-dot tritium-style sights. During the daylight, there’ll be a blacked-out rear, but at night it will have two tritium vials going in the back — one in the rear sight and one in the front, which you will see in the center of your sight picture. These are really good sights from the factory.

Aftermarket

There are a ton of aftermarket sight options that’ll fit these guns, and you’re really not going to have any shortage of sights that you can’t find. Any Glock 43 pattern sight will fit these firearms. If it exists, you can likely find it for both guns. 

Red Dot Optics

Glock recently released their Glock 43X and 48 MOS guns. The MOS variants have two different features from the regular Glock 43X and 48: the light rail that’s been molded into the frame and the modular optic system added on.

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The light rail might be a downside if you don’t plan on mounting a light on the gun because it then won’t work with a lot of the holsters on the market. However, it will work with our Gen2 Singleton holsters and all of our Glock 43X and 48 holsters introduced after that.

The optics mounting system, on the other hand, is not the standard Glock modular mounting optic system, despite having the same name.

This mounting system is cut for a Shield RMSc. The Shield RMSc is a mini-red dot optic and has recoil bosses cut into the slide on the Glock that matches up with the RMSc.

The problem with these recoil bosses is that they are going to negatively impact your ability to mount other red dots onto this pistol. 

Glock 43X

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You will either have to buy an adapter plate that will make the dots much higher or you’ll have to mill the recoil bosses off the slide. Neither of those options are ideal, but it’s what Glock decided to do. I think that’s going to hurt them in the long run as the US market really wants to have the option to mount multiple red dot optics, not just the one that Glock’s partnered with.

Controls

Trigger

The trigger on these guns is identical. It’s somewhere between a Gen3 and Gen4 style trigger. These guns are technically considered Gen5, I believe, but their triggers are in no way similar to those on the Gen5s. Like any other Glock trigger, it’s going to have very light take-up before you reach a wall. From that wall, you’re going to begin to feel something of a rolling break that then has a very short reset. 

It’s not a complete rolling-break trigger, but it’s not a stiff wall either. It’s somewhat of a hybrid. If you’re used to shooting Glock 19s and you’ve shot with either a Gen3 and Gen4 model, then you’ll notice this sits somewhere in between those two.

It’s not a bad trigger, but it’s not a great trigger either.

Glock 43x vs 48 Slide Lock

The identical slide lock on these guns is unfortunately not ambidextrous. I guess Glock was trying to keep these guns as slim as possible. The lock is easy to reach and it’s fairly easy to drop the slide using your primary hand thumb. It’s an overall decent design, but just kind of typical for Glock. It could be extended or textured a little bit to make it more user-friendly. 

Magazine Release

The magazine release on these guns is reversible and is your standard Glock plastic magazine release. I personally don’t have any issue with it or see the need to change it, but it’s a part that’s widely available on the aftermarket if you want to upgrade. 

If you’re running the Shield Arms S15 magazines, they suggest running a metal release. This is so you don’t wear it out over time.

The Smith & Wesson M&P uses a polymer magazine release and I haven’t heard of anybody having issues with those wearing out. So I’m not sure how necessary it is, but I am running a metal magazine release on my 48 that runs Shield mags just to be sure.

Glock 43x vs 48 Magazine Well

The magazine well on these guns doesn’t have much of a bevel on the interior. It is enough of one that you’re not going to have any trouble inserting a magazine. These guns are very user-friendly to reload. Mostly due to the shape of the grip itself and the way my hand cups in, they seem to provide a natural funnel to reload.

Glock 43X

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I’ve always had really good luck on magazine reloads with both the Glock 43X and the Glock 48. I’ve been able to get fantastic times running these guns cold after not practicing reloads.

Quality

Quality on these guns is obviously going to be identical since they’re both completely interchangeable on all their parts. You can literally take a Glock 43X slide and throw it on a Glock 48 frame or vice versa. You obviously can’t switch a 43X barrel in a 48, but besides that, the guns are identical. 

Glock 43x vs 48 Aftermarket

Aftermarket-wise, the guns are identical here as well. There are a lot of options available for the Glock 43 that are also compatible with these guns as well as options like the Shield magazines that really bring these guns to the next level. 

Aesthetics

Aesthetically, I think the Glock 48 is a better-looking gun. It just appears to be more well-balanced. The Glock 43X just has a short muzzle, which I really don’t care for, whereas the Glock 48 just seems like a more balanced design. In a weird way,  it reminds me of a 1911. It definitely doesn’t look as elegant as a 1911 or has nice details, but the outline is similar in my opinion.

Glock 48 vs 43x Shooting

When shooting these guns, they each have their unique strong spots. Shooting at 25 yards with a decently slow pace of fire, the Glock 48 is going to reign supreme with a slightly longer sight radius. From 12 yards and in, I find that I actually shoot better with a short slide on the Glock 43X.

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You see less movement in your sights with a shorter slide. When you’re shooting under-speed, that becomes an advantage. You don’t find yourself playing mind games and second-guessing yourself. With the Glock 48, you might actually second-guess yourself a little more.

If you see this gun as something you would only use for reasonable accuracy inside 12 yards, then the Glock 43X might be the better choice from a shooting perspective. When f you want really precise shots with your gun, I would say going with a 48 would be a good idea.

Finally, if you’re going to run a dot on the gun, I would suggest getting the Glock 43X MOS and then mounting a compensator. That combination would probably give you the best of both worlds.

Price/Value

Prices are the same on these two guns. So the price isn’t going to be a deciding factor when comparing the Glock 43x vs. the 48.

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Related Articles

• Glock 43X Review
• Glock 43 vs 43X
• Taurus GX4 vs Sig P365
• Glock 43x vs P365
• Glock 43X Holster
• Springfield Hellcat vs Sig P365 SAS
• Glock 48 Review

Glock 48 vs 43x Pros/Cons

As we’ve gone over these guns have a lot of similarities but there are also major differences.

G43x Pros

• Shorter sight radius is advantageous for closer shots

Glock 43x Cons

• Not as shootable at distance due to sight radius

G48 Pros

• Sight radius for longer shots
• Slightly less recoil
• More weight in the bottom of the gun when carrying AIWB

Glock 48 Cons

• Not as quick to shoot at closer distances

This is an opinion piece, but I always aim to eliminate bias. Look, we’ve all read them before. Gun reviews that claim to be helpful, but they’re really thinly veiled hit pieces trying to get you to buy something before you’ve even started your research. Or, even worse, a review put together by a content writer who has never even held a gun.

I’ve trained with some of the best in the business to learn various shooting styles and ideologies to better serve our customers. I’ve purchased guns of all price points, calibers, and action types to build the best products for the market. I want you to walk away knowing you have the information you need to make a sound purchasing decision.