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

I'd keep that one...


Travis

P-7's shoot vey well in my experience

Well, Walther is obviously selling enough PPK's to keep them in production. That, to me, is a very oversized .380 but people buy them. So I really don't see the Glock's size being a detriment.

This is not new, Glock has made their downsized .380's for years.

With advances in ammunition and firearms' design, the .380 is much more viable than in years past. Yes, the 9mm is "better" but it also comes in a larger package. I have yet to see one I'd want in my pocket. A pocket .380 is an excellent choice when you don't want or need the bulk of a larger handgun. I carry my S&W Bodyguard .380 quite often, when a 1911 is not wanted or convenient. It easily slips into a coat or pants pocket and is much flatter than a J-frame. I've put probably 1000rds through it over the last two years and it shoots very well. Unlike a lot of pocket guns, the S&W has real sights, plus the integral laser. Paint can sized targets are easy prey at 25yds. I guarantee nobody wants to stand 50yds away and let me shoot at them.

People mainly buy them for James Bond nostalgia.

Any 380 no matter what the size thats on your person when you need it is better than 9,40,45 at home.
Wife aahs a bresa380 thunder that ia can ring 6" plates at 25 yrds with regularity

If I'm gonna carry a "mouse gun" (which I never will) it dang sure wouldn't be as big a Glock, too many much smaller pistols in .380 to carry a Glock...........Hb

Stated differently, if I'm going to carry something the size of a micro 9mm, I'm going to make it a 9mm and not a .380.

Perzzactly my thoughts on the matter when I started the thread.

The size difference might not be as much as some think. Every time we sell one of the micro 380's, people ask "Do you have the extended mags and the pinkie extensions?". Maybe with the Glock they won't have to.

I don't. I want a 380 to easily drop into a pocket and dissapear from sight and mind until called upon. That, and work when the trigger is pulled is all I ask of them. Lots of them do this, (hide out and shoot reliably) but IME adding the finger extension often takes them out of the drop into a pocket size range.

I tried the finger extension on my PF9. Took it back off after one range session. The only reason I can see having a .380 that is larger than a PF9, is if physical limitations of the shooter are involved.

I still think the G42 will sell well enough, though.

It will sell...... for no other reason than it's a Glock and many will buy...................Hb

i think so too. it will flop. I just see no reason for this gun with all of the other 380's out there. I also heard they are pre-selling for $570???? are you nuts? i can get a shield for about half that, same size and its a 9mm,. Walther, and ruger already make 380's the same size as the glock and for far less $$$

A Shield for less than $300?

This was the best I ever found.

359.00

"I have a heluva time grasping the thought that the 380 kicks too much."

I've owned a few .380's and it's NOT the kick, but most sure bite the hell out of your finger at the grip! I still own (3), two of which are Sig 238's, which are by far the best available IMO. I do think the Glock will be success & will lead to a single stack 9mm.

Now that might interest me.

grasping a 380 that kicks too much,

when I used to own a LCP touching that thing off with buffalo bore 100 grainers was like taking an a piece of steel pipe in your bare hand and wacking a piece of rail road track with it.

I agree that this gun doesn't really offer anything new and, on paper, shouldn't be a hot seller. However, I disagree with the notion that it will be a "flop." I think the gun will be as successful as any other micro .380, for the following reasons:

1. It's a Glock. Glock is the gold standard to some people. They will never say or listen to anything bad about Glock. Granted, Glock has earned much of its reputation, and when you put a Glock gun and a Glock fan in the same room, you'll only hear good things said. At a gun counter, right or wrong, that sells guns.

2. Glock Marketing. Glock could produce a spud gun and successfully market it as an excellent choice for home defense. Glock knows how to market.

3. Gun salesmen will sell them to women. Sales guys who have never owned or even shot a .380 will convince women that the .380 is a significant step down in recoil from a 9mm. "If you're scared to death of a 9mm, a .380 is the answer! You will shoot it accurately, and it's a cupcake!" The sub-compact .380 market proves that everyday. And I'm not being critical of the .380's abilities as a useful cartridge, I'm just saying that the reasons that people use to justify buying .380 are often flawed. Any woman (or man) who struggles to shoot a 9mm due to recoil, won't do better with a .380; and, anyone who shoots a .380 well, can easily step up to a 9mm.

4. Price. Most buyers will be influenced by price. That's where Glock marketing will come back into play. Glock could likely sell these for $350 MSRP and make money. However, like the rest of us, they want to sell their product for as much as the market will bear. If $500+ isn't selling enough guns for them, they'll come down until they find their price point.

Anyway, that's my two cents. For as long as America wants to buy .380's, I think Glock will continue to successfully sell them.

UPDATE:

I went to the local gun show this weekend. I got to handle a Glock 42. I'm no Glockaholic, but I liked it. A lot, actually. It's sleek (under 6" long and only .94" thick) and yet still feels like a real gun. It's got regular Glock sights and the trigger feels like any other Glock (be that a good thing or a bad thing for you).

For the Glock crowd especially, I think it's a nice choice. One of the things I wonder about when I talk carry guns with folks are the people who switch their EDC gun almost daily. Each gun has different features/controls. For many it's probably no big deal--they know all of their guns well, but for others (who shoot their guns once or twice a year) I wonder how well they will do in a stressful situation and they need to recall if their gun-of-the-day has a manual safety and where it's located. With the Glock 42, it feels like a shrunk down G19. There's nothing new to learn or remember.

I might get to shoot the G42 later this week. If so, I'll let you know my two cents on it. (I have no plans to buy it, but I'd still like to bang away with it just for giggles). My lingering criticism (of a gun I've never shot ) is why didn't they just chamber it for 9x19? A single stack 9mm would have been cool! They could have copied their own G26 design and just slimmed it down. It probably comes back to marketing: "Oh yeah, the .380 is so much more gentle in the recoil department!" Gun stores will sell them to ladies all day long.

Has anybody had the chance to own/shoot a G42? How do you like it?