Glock's Slimline G48 puts a 4.17-inch barrel in a frame that measures just 1.1 inches wide. That longer barrel is the main reason to pick the G48 over the G43X, which shares the same slim frame but runs a 3.41-inch barrel. The extra 0.76 inches of barrel adds about 50 fps with defensive loads and stretches the sight radius to 5.98 inches. At 20.74 oz with 10 rounds, the G48 is one of the lighter options in the compact class. Owners who want Glock reliability in a package that vanishes under a T-shirt keep coming back to this gun.

The 10-round capacity is the obvious trade-off. The S&W Shield Plus fits 13 rounds in a frame that is the same 1.1 inches wide, and the Springfield Hellcat Pro holds 15. Shield Arms makes a 15-round steel magazine for the G48, though community reports on long-term reliability are mixed. The G48 does one thing better than any compact 9mm in its weight class: it combines a full-length 4.17-inch barrel with a genuinely slim single-stack profile that prints less than any double-stack, regardless of capacity claims.