Happy New Year (the Gregorian calendar type anyway) to all of you. We hope this will be a prosperous and joyful year for all of you and your families.

Gonna’ jump right into this one, today is Part 2 of the replacement CCW update newsletter from last week. If you missed that issue you can read it on our newsletter website. The abridged version is the gun industry has provided enough tech improvements in gun, light, and sights (RDS) to warrant a workover of my current CCW setup. A workover in the form of an entirely new gun.

Please keep in mind this series is about the process, requirements, and philosophy, not about the specific hardware or brand choices I make. As always you do you; this is not a recommended solution - it is simply how I attacked the problem set based on requirements and personal preference. Your choices will differ from mine. These differences do not make one choice less valid - as long as the end user determined requirements are met. Please don’t get distracted by the specifics of the hardware solutions we talk about, focus on the thought process.

I have been able to get a couple of range sessions in with the new gun so far, it is still too early to commit fully though. I think the 43X it is going to work for me, but it will need additional range sessions and aftermarket additions, so I’ll keep driving on with the process unless data indicates otherwise.

Gun specific observations and general considerations (if you are considering a similar size gun). This is not a review of the 43X, so read this through the lens of considering any CCW firearm:

Recoil. As compared to the G19, G17, Sig 320, S&W M&P, etc offerings in that 4 plus inch 15 round guns the 43X is kinda’ snappy. Ok, it is really snappy. You will see and hear this take all over the socials and youtube, and it is true. However, it is not that bad and completely manageable. Compared to the standard Glock 43 the perceived recoil impulse is smoother due to the grip length and a little added weight. But this is not the full story. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the little gun settled back between each round even during faster strings of fire.

“Accuracy”. Quick reminder that I have not yet mounted a RDS for any of these range sessions, so this is pure iron sights for now. This will only get better once the optic is on board the slide. Accuracy in quotations because this is highly subjective for an enlightened hillbilly to measure without using a rest to lock in the gun. However…don’t think you will be shooting 25 yard B8 drills with a bone stock 43X unless you just want to feel bad about yourself and question your abilities as a shooter. The shorter sight radius and barrel coupled with all stock components presents a challenge for anything past 10 or even 15 yards (again this is written pre-RDS mounting). Groups were running 3+ inches plus at a meager 10 yards with both defensive ammo (147 HST) and good quality target ammo (115 FMJ). “Holy smokes man, you guys can’t shoot!” These results were from three really solid shooters, probably better than average compared to the community. No IDPA superstars or pro shooters, but a good comparison to the cross section of higher performing Citizen pistol shooters. It isn’t a G17 with a match barrel, but that isn’t really the purpose of the sub compact striker fired pistol. That being said I am NOT enamored with the groups out of the stock 43X, even at 10 yards it is not holding what I would like to see from a short pistol. But then again, this assessment is with a stock trigger, barrel, iron sights, etc. Performance on target from the stock gun is comparable to what I can get out of a small double action pocket revolver. I don’t want a carry gun that shoots groups that fall completely apart past 15 yards (reasonably past anyway). More comments to follow on accuracy next week.

Reliability. This is at the top of my requirements list for a CCW. We have 450 rounds of range ammo and 50 175gr HSTs through it so far. No issues to report. For the most part it has been 10 round OEM magazines, but we did shoot two mags worth through a single Shield Arms S15 mag. Again, no issues. Will talk mags in part 3. We have not swapped out the stock mag release to accommodate the metal S15 mags, so we have been using OEM Glock mags for the most part for the new CCW trial. I’m still on the fence about straying from the 10 round Glock mags for a carry gun, the 15 round options for the 43X / 48 are few - and all are known to have an issue or two to contend with.

As you can see, I am starting to have “issues” with the perceived requirements I am using. But am I? My statement of I don’t want a gun that is on the accuracy struggle bus past 15 yards. Other than pushing range ego, does this matter for a dedicated CCW? Do we have data to support a valid accuracy requirement past 10 yards? (the gun’s capability, not the shooter). FBI sources are often cited to make the case for 3/3/3. 3 yards, 3 seconds, 3 rounds was declared the “typical” engagement for a long time. This data was parroted in the gun training industry for years because it was the only ladder rung gun writers and CCW trainers could reach out and grab. We have a few more sources available to study now, but they are still limited. More importantly if we roll up all defensive engagements and then declare an “average” defensive shooting it is intellectually dishonest. There are too many variables and most data is LE based not Citizen defensive engagements. But for the most part the ones we can find are close range and limited round count. Then you have the outliers like the Indiana Mall shooting (Dicken, 8 out of 10 hits at 40 yards with his CCW) or Jack Wilson with an actual and exceedingly rare “one shot stop” from over 50 feet in a Texas church 5 years ago. One shot stop isn’t really a thing, but I digress.

Can you run the Dicken Drill and hit a B8 target 8 out of 10 times at 40 yards with your CCW in 15 seconds? But there is more to that one, Dicken’s lawyer described the engagement: he shot from 40 yards 4 times, 20 yards 4 times, and finally 20 to 25 feet 2 more times. His two missed shots were at the 40 yard mark. This drill is just another example of how the community will grab an incident and try to standardize the un-standardizable for a drill. The point in all this is you must be deliberate when determining the requirements you use - and be realistic. One unsolicited recommendation for data you can study is from Tom Givens at Rangemaster; he tracks former students reported CCW incidents and has a small but detailed data set that can help inform your CCW decision. For our purposes this is most likely the best data set and representation of a trained CCW holder engagement.

The gun. I’m staying with the 43X though a few more iterations of trial and error. COA2 (course of action 2) is go with a G48 to get a little more controllability and longer range capability. But that is not a foregone conclusion at this point; the benefits of the smaller (slightly shorter) 43X are still showing their worth for a carry gun. If you recall from Part 1 newsletter my current setup is an appendix carried G19 with an RDS - so anything in a smaller package is an improvement. The mental gymnastics of a gun that is carried a lot and shot a little (an old saying in the CCW community that should be challenged) vs the requirement to shoot and train with it are becoming decision criteria. We discussed this before; you should not choose a carry gun that you are loathe to shoot and practice with. We also cannot have a gun that is on the ragged edge of acceptable accuracy. I already have a J frame to fill a tangential requirement (see Part 1 newsletter), I don’t need or want what could be considered a semi auto version of that same gun (capability wise).

Sights. I don’t understand why Glock even puts sights on their guns other than placeholders / shipping protection until they can be replaced. Stock Glock sights are hot garbage. The sights will be replaced in a bit with something taller and better, but I want to get an RDS on it first. Remember this is not a carry gun yet, this is a process so things may be done out of order. The only place this gun is going is to the range until I deem it worthy of carry, so I’m comfortable with attacking the process out of order for some things. The decision becomes one of enclosed or open emitter. While a closed is far better for staying protected in the elements I am going to get an open emitter for the tiny little 43X. While there is not a lot of size difference between the open and enclosed, I want to keep the footprint and corners as small and tight as possible while keeping the RDS capability.

Fire Control and Barrel. This won’t come until later in the process, but I may do some upgrades using proven components to enhance the gun. Here is where we must use caution and keep an eye on that reliability requirement. And from a budget standpoint you can easily double or triple the original price of the gun by adding barrels and full replacement triggers. Is the juice worth the squeeze for a smoother trigger vs the known reliability of Glock OEM trigger? Add a Ramjet and Afterburner? I don’t know. Lengthening a 43X to essentially G48 length… just to make it shoot more like a G48? Maybe. But why not just go 48 at that point? You can see how this can become a tail-chasing exercise that would make even the most neurotic Malinois envious. More to follow on this as well. Stand by for Part 3.

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