Holster FAQ Author: Jason Adams Archangel Gun leather This is an attempt to answer some common questions that come up when looking for a holster for your gun
General Holster Questions Will XXX model gun fit in a YYY model holster? Probably not. You may be able to jam it in one but the fit will not be right unless it is one of the cheap nylon style holsters designed to fit many different guns. Can you make me a holster that straps to my kneecap that holds the gun pointed at my junk with no trigger guard cover? Yep but I won't. I have tried many more variations of holsters then is imaginable only to find out why they are not made by anyone else in the business. I still get requests for holsters that seem like a good idea but in reality are not. I am not saying that there is not some form of carry not discovered yet but keep in mind leather workers for over a hundred years have been trying to come up with the perfect carry. Even though everybody's tastes and interests are different and the act of carrying firearms is an individual thing, if you don't find your idea of a new holster design already available, it is highly likely it will not perform well. I have made several special request holsters only to have the owner of the idea wish they had not paid for their experiment. So if you wish to pay me to make something unusual then be prepared to suffer the expense of doing so. I will of course offer my advice but in the end I will not pay for your experimentation. We at Archangel Leather cater to CCW needs and are more than willing to spend the time with you to find an acceptable way for you to carry your firearm with as much comfort as possible.
General Holster Questions Continued What type of carry is right for me? This is a difficult question to answer as people and body shapes are all different. One thing that is almost universal is that it takes getting used to no matter what style you adopt. How long does it take to get used to CCW. This depends on how often you carry concealed. The more often the quicker it will become natural. On daily carry it usually takes a week or less if you have a good holster. Usually about the time the holster is broken in you will find you forget it is even there. OWB (outside the waistband) or IWB (inside the waist band) If deep concealment is necessary then inside the waistband but keep in mind that inside the waistband may mean having to keep two differnet waist sized pants and even a different belt may be required to allow for the extra space needed for the firearm. Note very little differences in slide width make major comfort differences in IWB carry. If you have a fairly wide slide or a revolver with a big cylinder OWB is most certainly the best choice. While OWB is often mistaken as harder to conceal in reallity it is not much of an issue. Cover garments even in the heat of the summer are easily aquired and will cover guns the size of bricks without much printing. It is all in the cover garment. Also it is important to note that too much attention is payed to printing (the act of a firearm showing through the cover garment). I have demonstrated wearing a shoulder holster with an FNP45 double stack (brick) under a dress vest. When the rig is a black color and wearing a black shirt it takes a trained eye looking for a concealed firearm to spot it. However if you are expecting to conceal from trained professionals trained in spotting concealed guns your best bet is the IWB choice but even then you will probably be spotted using profilng for tell tale signs that you could be armed.
Why do so few of your holsters have a retention strap? Most of the holsters we make are for CCW use. These holsters are tightly molded and have no need of a retention strap. Retention straps are needed mostly on open carry holsters and even there they do little to secure your gun from theft. If you can release it so can the thief. Law enforcement officers are required to wrestle with bad people or people misbehaving with a loaded gun on them. For them it makes a lot of sense to have a lot of barriers to releasing the firearm. For the CCW user they are only something that will get you killed. If they don't know you have a gun they won't be reaching for it. Hunters who are out in the bramble or likely to fall out of a tree or down a ravine will probably want a retention strap but if a bear charges you from the bushes you had better be quick in releasing it. When it is needed we put them on holsters. Due to the shape of revolvers that don't hold as well into some holsters not all but some they require a retention strap and when it is needed we builld them in. You have heard of how you shouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight well don't bring a retention strapped holster to one either if you don't have to. There are people who get all twisted in the knickers over built in locks on the newer firearms saying they could fail and lock up when it is not wanted. While being rather rare it is a valid point but I see these people often using a retention strap on their guns???
Smith & Wesson Will a M&P 9mm/40cal holster fit a SD 9mm pistol? Yes What does J,K,L,N,X Frame mean? These are frame size specifictions used by S&W. The J-Frame is typically a 2 snub nose 5 shot revolver. The K-Frame is an older small frame 6 shot typically 38 caliber but some were chambered in.357 magnum but this is rare The L-Frame is a heavier frame designed primarily for 357 magnum as in the model 686 but there are other chamberings like 45 acp that use the L-Frame. Note that a Ruger GP100 and S&W L-Frame will fit the same holster perfectly. The N-Frame was designed specifically for 44 magnum loads it is a bigger frame and was S&W's largest common frame until the X frame came out for 454 casul and 50 caliber magnum load. The X-Frame is the largest S&W revolver frame at this time. What does 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd generation mean in terms of S&W? These are earlier S&W all metal semi-auto pistols. First gen guns were all 9mm and had a 2 number model number like 59. Second gen guns included 45acp as well as 9mm and were 3 number models like 459. Third gen guns were minor inprovements on second gen guns and had 4 number model numbers. There were basically two slide sizes 9mm/40cal small and 45 acp larger slide There were also two frame sizes standard and compact. See chart on next page.
Ruger Sturm Ruger Sturm produce a large variety of revolvers and pistols. They are most notably known for their revolvers but make semi-auto pistols as well and even make a very fine 1911 clone. The single action revolvers come in two basic sizes the Blackhawk which is bigger and more heavy duty then the Single Action Army clones and the Vaquero which is a SSA clone. Plus the Ruger Single Six which is 22 cal and smaller than a SSA by a little bit. Depending on the holster type and the way it is built all three can fit to some extent in the same holster. But if a tightly molded holster is wanted then you will have to use a holster built for the frame size of the gun. The double action revolvers come in two main sizes the GP100 series which is an exact match holster wise with a S&W L-Frame. The Redhawk is a bigger framed gun and most will fit a S&W N-Frame holster. The old all metal P series guns will all fit the same holster as Ruger used the same slide and frame for many different chamberings. The newer polymer guns will need to be fitted for a holster on a model by model basis.
Browning Hi-Power The high power is a 9mm semi-auto 1911 style firearm but is smaller in frame and slide. While some 1911 holsters will work for it it is best to have a holster made for it as the typical holster and carry for these is in the area of CCW and typically a tightly molded holster.
Glock Glocks have some standard size frames and slides. Glock has designed two main double stack slides. One for bigger calibers like 10mm and 45 calibers, Glock 21...etc., and then a smaller slide size for 9mm and 40 S&W caliber Glock 17 etc. Glock slide lengths vary with the 34 and a model 17 target being the longest to the 26 which is the shortest size. The 19 is about a little more than 0.5 shorter than the 17 and is a middle length slide. The frames are all about the same size with a shorter grip on some of them but that has little to do with holster selection. The important part of the frame size is the trigger guard as far as holster selection goes which are all the same in the double stack Glock models. The single stack are guns are narrower and targeted to the CCW use. They will need to be fitted with a holster made for them. In short a Glock 19 will fit into a holster made for a 17 with only a very small amount of extra holster below the muzzle and will work fine for the person who has both a 17 and a 19. Likewise a Glock 34 holster will work for a 17 and a 19. You can even use a Glock 26 in any of its bigger siblings holsters but the length difference is a bit dramatic. But this is a functional option at the range for temporary holstering of several Glocks. NOTE!!! Never use a longer gun in a shorter holster as the front sight can get caught up on the end of the holster if it protrudes from the bottom of the holster. This is not a serious thing until your life depends on drawing your gun in a hurry.
Sig Sauer While Sig is a little less consistant on slide and frame size across different models of pistols there are some common enough to make holster selection for some models cross functional. The SP2022, P250, and P220 will all fit the same holster. The P226 will need a holster made for it and it should be noted that a holster made for one with an accessory rail will work for a P226 without the rail but it will not work the other way. The P320 has a whole new slide design so it will need a holster designed for that model. A Walther while owned by SIG the PPK which looks a lot like the SIG P230 the holsters are NOT interchangeable on a tightly molded holster.