Home / Guides / Best Holster for a Glock 43: The Slim Single-Stack, Set Up Right
The Glock 43 is 1.02 inches wide. Whatever you put it in should not double that. Most holster mistakes with a slim single stack are the same mistake: adding back all the bulk the gun was designed to remove.
The 43 carries a 3.41-inch barrel, a six-round flush magazine, and a slim polymer frame. It is the thinnest Glock you can buy, and it is shorter than a 26 in overall length. It was built for one job: concealment first.
That changes the holster requirements. A 43 does not need a huge body to be safe — it needs a precisely formed body and a thin backer. A thick pancake will conceal the gun from the outside but give away its footprint against your shirt.
Rule of thumb: total carry width at the waistband should stay near 1.5 to 1.75 inches, including the holster. A leather-lined or heavily padded holster on a 1-inch gun defeats the purpose.
A 3.41-inch slide gives the holster less to grip. Retention has to come from the trigger guard and ejection port area, not just friction across a short slide flat. Test upside down.
Because the 43 rides low and light, a modest forward cant helps the grip lie flat against your side rather than poking out behind you. Zero cant for appendix, 15 degrees for strong-side hip.
A single wide clip is fine on a 43 — the gun is light enough not to need a dual clip. But the clip must grab a 1.5-inch belt and not slide around. Injection-molded clips that grip the belt rather than hang on it make the difference here.
All three use the same slide and barrel length. What changes is frame height and magazine compatibility.
| Model | Grip length | Magazine | Concealability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glock 43 | Shortest | 6 rounds flush | Best |
| Glock 43X | Full three-finger | 10 rounds | Very good |
| Glock 48 | Full three-finger | 10 rounds | Good |
The 43 holster is the shortest of the three and will not accept a 43X or 48 slide. If you are undecided between them, understand that the grip is what you are trading, not the barrel.
Plenty of people carry a 43 with a flush six-round mag and a spare. That is a deliberate choice, not a compromise — you are trading capacity for the most concealable Glock made. If six feels thin, a 43X with Shield Arms mags gets you ten rounds in the same slide length.
Yes. At 1.02 inches wide with a 3.41-inch slide it is one of the most concealable pistols on the market, and it has been genuinely reliable for most owners.
No. Same slide, but the 43X grip is taller, so the frame will not seat in a 43 holster and the magwell area will collide.
A thin, precisely formed Kydex IWB holster with a single belt clip. Bulk is the enemy of a 1-inch single stack — padded or leather-lined holsters undo what the gun gives you.
Less so than heavier pistols, but a real gun belt still helps. A sagging belt rotates the holster and changes your draw angle, which matters more than the gun's weight suggests.
Some people do in a dedicated pocket holster and loose-cut pants, but the 43 is larger than true pocket guns. Use a purpose-made pocket holster that fully covers the trigger guard or you risk a foreign object in the trigger.
Veteran-owned. IWB or OWB, left or right hand, red-dot ready. $98.99 with a fit guarantee.
Shop the Original Holster — $98.99