Is This Glock Clone BETTER Than The 43X Out Of The Box?

When you start comparing things to Glock in the firearms world, many people get skeptical, and some folks get downright testy about it. And that’s fair. After all, Glock has an incredibly loyal fanbase for a reason.

But what if a company took Glock designs, shrunk them down a bit, and put them in a street price around $300? Would that make you curious?

If so, then, one company has a microcompact pistol out that may interest you. It’s based off a Glock design, and has some nice features, especially for its price point. Chris Eger writes,

Just to get it over with rather than beat around the bush and drop hints about it throughout the review, the STR-9 series is very Glock-like – something we touched on in our review of the larger STR-9SC in 2022. They take down for maintenance like a Glock, have Glock-style internals and operation, and a Glock-ish trigger (albeit typically better done). The STR-9MC continues this path, which is not illogical for a striker-fired polymer-framed 9mm pistol. However, it beats the specs of a Glock 43X by a bit, being shorter both in length and height while having a better magazine capacity. It can be argued that the Stoeger has a better trigger as well […].

It seems clear in the review that Eger likes the STR-9MC, but there were a few negatives, too. One of the two complaints was the lack of available holsters for this model. For the second complaint, we, again, hear from Eger:

Other, more minor complaints already addressed above include the shortness of the frame that can lead to magazine pinching if you have meaty paws and the use of soft flathead screws for the rear sight and optics plate.

Still, when it comes to balancing the pros and cons of the pistol, the STR-9MC remains a viable choice for those looking for an inexpensive and reliable micro 9 that Glock should have built but didn’t. 

You can see a video below to see this pistol in action, and, yes, he does also give the idea that this is the micro compact pistol that Glock should have built.

So, should you get a Stoeger STR-9MC? That, of course, depends on whether you’re in the market for a micro compact pistol. If you are, though, then, this may be one worth considering for your personal collection.