Hello my name is Mike and I’m a Glock fanboy. I don’t believe that I have had a pistol made by Glock that wasn’t reliable and accurate. I was in search for a deep carry option, you know the gun when you can carry a gun. Something small enough that you almost forget you have it on. So when the rumblings of a small single stack Glock hit the internet I was excited to say the least, I thought finally a small single stack 9mm that will work. Well the Glock 42 didn’t turn out to be what I thought it would be.
Upon receiving the G42 and opening the black clamshell case I thought that maybe somebody had left a G17 out in the sun or put it in the dryer on high. That being said the gun fits the hand well and will conceal like a dream. The gun is insanely thin which will lend itself to being with you at all times, Having a gun at home when you need it with you serves no purpose. So on to the range session, I think where it went of track with me is that I wanted it to shoot just like my Glock 19’s. Well let me say this wasn’t fair to the G42 as it isn’t supposed to do so, it wasn’t designed to do so and no matter how I want it do, it just won’t be able to. This is a deep concealment pistol meant to be hidden until needed, not a full size fighting pistol. So I may have jaded my opinion from the get go.
Form Factor:
It is a Glock so it just looks and acts like a Glock. On a scale from 1 to 10 I give it a 10
Concealment:
This pistol as said before will hide like a ghost in a dark corner, practically disappearing under any garment including a t-shirt. This would be a gun I would take with me when I couldn’t have a gun it hides that well. The various holster makers have jumped onboard with getting quality carry options available. So on a 1 to 10 scale it gets a 10.
Reliability:
I hade one malfunctioning the first magazine, it was 100% good to go from there. Ran it 250 rounds from there without a bobble. So we will give it a 9.5
Shootability:
I was able to achieve a necessary level of comfort in engaging targets from concealment out to 15 yds. It was easy enough to engage multiple targets with reasonable speed. So it gets a 9 out of 10.
Accuracy:
Here is where I may have failed the Glock 42, I tried to run it thru the drills meant for a full-size fighting pistol. Shooting at extended ranges was difficult for me, we are talking 50-100yds. I found that I was pushing the gun to the left trying to squeeze out the accuracy I wanted. This platform and cartridge combination was never meant to perform at these ranges. The energy level at these ranges would almost leave it ineffective so this may be a mute point. so given that I was demanding more than I could have expected I will give it a 8.5 out of 10
Conclusion:
So let us add up the points. the Glock 42 will get a 96\100 which is impressive for a weapon that I was initially disappointed with, so did I keep to or trade it. Well I couldn’t see me over the long run wanting to keep it and having to amass yet another caliber of ammo, that is really the only reason. At the time of the review 380 ACP ammo wasn’t the easiest to find, now that I have been able to locate a less expensive source of ammo thru Detroit Bullet Works http://www.detroitbulletworks.com/380-acp-100-grain-rn/ and they also offer a ammo club subscription for auto shipment of quants of ammo to your door here is a link http://www.detroitbulletworks.com/380-acp-100-grain-rn/ with is option you have the choice of having 300 rounds a month or a quarter shipped this would allow me to train and increase my skill with the small gun.
You might see another one in the fold in the future.
allthingstactical 
Good article and great photography as always. Keep it up!