Here's What You Need to Know: The Glock 48 was designed with concealed carry in mind. The low profile makes it easy to conceal without issues like printing.

The Glock 19 has become one of the most popular guns in the world for concealed carry. It’s relatively small, holds fifteen rounds in the magazine, and is pretty comfortable to shoot. It’s been this way for a while, but Glock has an array of offerings for anyone that wants something a little different. The Glock 48 offers a more concealable pistol without sacrificing too much.

Now Glock hasn’t been in my concealed carry rotation as much these days with handguns like the P-07 coming into my inventory. I have to wonder if the Glock 48 MOS is another gun for the safe or if it’s my newest carry gun. Read on to find out!

This little handgun has your typical Glock features with a polymer lower and textured grips as well as the metal slide as befits any decent pistol. We start seeing real differences when we take a look at the thickness of the firearm. The Glock 48 and Glock 19 have almost identical dimensions with one crucial difference: overall thickness. The Glock 48 is considerably slimmer, an exceptionally intelligent design that makes it a great candidate for concealed carry. Though I’m not sure size alone really gives that much of an edge, at least in its stock configuration.

The Glock 48 was designed with concealed carry in mind. The low profile makes it easy to conceal without issues like printing. It’s pretty similar to carrying a Glock 19, but much more comfortable due to the slimmer profile. It may seem like a small thing, but effective carrying is contingent on one thing: actually wanting to carry. When I was just getting started with carrying, I wasn’t carrying every day because my pistol at the time was just comfortable. The Glock 48 makes comfort not a problem. I don’t forget it’s there or anything, but it’s not an issue and it does feel better than a Glock 19.

I do have to mention that there really aren't that many situations where I would choose the Glock 48 over my Glock 43X. It’s smaller, more comfortable, and easier to conceal. The trade-off is the Glock 43X is a little more unwieldy, but I practice with it frequently and have become extremely comfortable with it.

It doesn’t suffer too much in magazine capacity, especially if you get a couple of aftermarket magazines. By default, the Glock 48 comes with ten-round magazines. That’s usually the lowest I’ll go when it comes to concealed carry. I ended up swapping the magazines for fifteen-round aftermarket magazines and they work just fine without increasing the overall size of the Glock 48.

The Glock 48 is an excellent firearm no doubt in my mind. It’s got great concealability, but I just don’t see it replacing my other carry pistols. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice though. It’s just not really my style, but if you want something a little more comfortable than a Glock 19, absolutely go for it.

Richard Douglas writes on firearms, defense, and security issues. He is the founder and editor of Scopes Field, and a columnist at The National Interest, 1945, Daily Caller, and other publications.

This article first appeared in October 2021 and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.