Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns I predict the new Glock 42 to be a FLOP

I just read the G&A article touting (of course) the new GLock model 42 in 380. When they got around to listing this new firearms wieght, length, width, hieght etc. the first thing I did was to retreive my Compact 380 and 9mm's and quickly learned that this supposed 'mouse gun' is larger than other 380's like my P3AT and is large enough to be out of the running as a pocket gun. In fact, it is as large as many 9mm's on the market including my wifes PF-9.

So, my thinking is this: If I am going to carry a gun the same size as many 9mm pistols, it is going to BE a 9mm or a 40 S&W.
I am certainly not going to buy a 380 that is so big it requires a belt holster. If I have to carry a pistol in a holster with a cover garment, it is going to be at LEAST a 9mm, and probably a darned sight bigger than even that.

So, I am going to predict this one fails to get much penetration ion the market. What do you think?

It's a Glock, it will sell. The diehards will tout it as the greatest .380 ever, everything else will be garbage, anyone who buys anything else will be a moron. The rest of us will look at it as you did, yawn & buy an LCP or simular.

LGS had a Solo in the case yesterday, it was cute. Not $800 cute though.

P.S. I'm not a Glock hater. I promise.

What I think is if it works out of the box then it will trump the similar Kel Tec offerings.

Your thinking makes sense to me too.

Being Glock it will have market it could be a good pistol for those who are a bit recoil sensitive the 380 in a bit larger then avarage pocket gun would be a very "easy" shooter

Might be a good little CCW for the ladies, 80 gr Barnes Tac-Hp's at 1000 fps will turn or stop a charging crackhead.

Gunner

People will still buy them, just because it's a Glock. Glock fanboys will tout it as the best .380 ever. Not a hater either, I used them for 15yrs and just found something I like better.

I agree. We sell a lot of Walther PK380's to women. The Glock seems to fill the same niche. That being said, it would have sold a lot more as a 9mm.

The Glock 380 has been a good seller in the European Counties and i'm glad Glock is finally bringing it to this country . Will be a great conceal carry weapon for recoil shy people and much more dependable than the line up of cheap made 380's selling here today in the country. I may buy one for the wife to play with . I personally wouldn't give my wife a pistol for self defense i wouldn't feel comfortable carrying myself .

the ladies usually do better with less recoil and a little bigger gun helps that. if its made by glock it will more then likely be a hot seller for a while. a thumb safety would make it alittle more wanted by the ladies.

9mm tends to make the 380 obsolete? Better performance with the same bullet and less expensive ammo. 9mm can be found in guns almost similar in size of the 380 now. Can't see getting/owning a 380 unless I already had one.

My concern would be the woman (or man) who simply loads it up and drops it into their purse. To mingle around with all the other crap. Think "chapstick jammed in the trigger guard" and the issues that may cause.

I can see a lot of ND/AD's taking place as it floats around the purse or as someone simply reaches in and grabs it out of the mess.

Theoretically that would happen with any Glock but I've yet to see someone carry a larger Glock in such a manner.

No way would I ever take a 380 when there are much better choices available. 380 = 9mm short and weak. No other way to slice it.

Kind of what I was thinking with my post. Why carry this when there are a plethora of 9mm's the same size?

I have a Kel Tec P3AT 380, and it runs perfect, but I only carry it when I have to have true pocket carry and cannot figure out a way to carry my 1911, and thses times are getting more rare as I add holsters to my 1911 holster collection and continue to modify my wardrobe.

RE the .380 round, when I carry it, it is stuffed with Buffalo Bore +P+ ammo. 4 rounds of 100gr FNHC that chronograph 1150 from my gun and 3 95gr HP's that chronograph a full 1225 from my tiny pistol. That is all she holds, and they are alternating in my gun/magazine. IMO, that stuff brings the 380 to a whole different level of effectiveness or 'nastiness'. Water jug testing and the NRA's testing bear this out. The Buffalo Bore FNHC'sd 100's blew through their (NRA's) entire gelatin blocks even after penetrating various things in front of it like denim etc. They smack my index finger first knuckle pretty badly in recoil, but for what this gun is for, I don't care about that in the least.

Yeah the Glock die hards might buy a few of these, but I cannot see someone comparing this pistol to others out there with an open mind and picking it over many better options in this size class. Meaning, plenty of really good 9mm's that are the same size, essentially, and that work just fine. And lots of good, reliable 380's that are truly pocket sized.

...until one realizes that it's a couple of tweaks away from a single stack, slim 9mm Glock

Add a .22 conversion (eventually from AA?) and it may well be 9 oz rimfire semi-auto also.

If they modify this pistol to be a full 9mm, and it looks like that should be do able, then I would see a real niche' for this gun.

Such a piece might even get my wife to trade off her Kel Tec PF-9 - that she likes a LOT - and seriously consider the Glock. As it stands now, the 9mm Glocks are just too phat and big for her 5'10" 120lbs self to carry and conceal well.

Are You insane this gun isn't going to be a flop. The Gun is under 14 0z with mag! !!!! I will predict they will not be able to make them fast enough. Its still .94 in width. Which is pretty slim. The other thing that's clear to me is this gun will be a 9mm before long. The other thing is those of you saying flop let me ask how many 380's have you owned. All the ones I owned were not that reliable. If thIs is glock reliable. I could see it really putting a hurt on the other 380's. Back to 9m m speculation. If this happens I am glad they are not trying to put a 40 in the same gun or worse yet a 45 like xd did.

I have a heluva time grasping the thought that the 380 kicks too much. Typical of a society where we give the same trophy to our losers as our winners, if you can't handle a 9 then carry something smaller just to carry something that you can "easily" handle. How about learning to shoot?

Reminds me of when I worked at at Donner Ski Ranch in the Sierras. We rented skis to people. Newbies would come through and we would issue a ski length proper for their height and weight. Well, they often would return shortly after with those skis in hand, saying that someone told them to get shorter skis because they couldn't steer the ones they had. A simple $12 beginning ski lesson would have taught them all they needed, but they would rather flail around on undersized boards because someone equally clueless gave them the "easy" way out.

Never seen a 380 that is in my opinion reliable in the terminal performance arena. If a 380 is all one can handle then it sure beats finger nails other wise it ain't much. At least in me experience.

I don't own a 380, and cannot make a good argument in favor of one. That said, they ARE wildly popular. So are Glocks. Hard to envision a Glock 380 not selling well, despite overall size being larger than some others.

As far as size goes, I've only shot a few 380s along the way, and my favorite by a huge margin was the 'large' Beretta 84, second was the Sig P230.

I'm not really a fan of tiny pistols though. Since I carry in a holster anyway, I just go straight to the Glock 17.