At First Glance

A curb weight of 20.74 oz. is the factory-spec for an empty G48, which compares to 18.7 oz. for the G43 and 16.23 oz. for the original, short-butt G43. GLOCK lists the G48 as a Compact while the G43X — like the G43 — is a Subcompact. The G48 has a 6.85" slide enclosing a 4.17" barrel, which is a tad longer than the G19’s while the G43X has the same barrel and slide dimensions as the G43 — 3.41 and 6.06" respectively.

The company refers to these guns as “Silver Slides,” named for the Physical Vapor Deposition process providing an extremely thin, extraordinarily wear-resistant coating. Both the G43X and the G48 have additional grasping grooves at the front of the slide, a currently popular feature. This worries me, since manipulating the slide of a loaded pistol so close to the business end really doesn’t seem too smart. The solid grip-stippling pattern popularized by the G43 and the various Gen5 pistols feels good to the hand. It continues with the G48 and G43X.