re-holstering after firing?

[Creedmoor]

Calm down, man. It’s just a conversation, man.
I think we’re even sharing the same bucket of popcorn by now.

LOL...


My kids use these for work and home, its one handed for them.
One ordered one for me, here it is.

Its two handed for me to use,
Im left handed. I have sads...

 

[BJHay]

I like the way my Gunsite instructor phrased it "reholster carefully and reluctantly"
I make it a point to always reholster slowly and in consistent matter.
I like thinking of it as a reluctant processes.

 

[bgcatty]

#1-Keep your trigger finger away from and off the trigger!!! And as said above reholster slowly and carefully and pay attention!

 

[bwframe]

I cannot think of a situation where a match RO will have a problem with someone using two hands to reholster and looking at it visually the whole time, as long as you don't get any portion of a finger in front of the muzzle even for a second.

Please keep in mind, however, that the RO is looking from a different angle than you, and his/her decision is final. If they think they saw you get a fingernail in front of the muzzle for a tenth of a second, you are gone. The "nice" ones will say something to you about it the first time if they're not sure, but still, food for thought.

Nothing messes up a match day for everyone involved like someone getting injured, so don't expect any tolerance on this. Practice it a hundred times before you go. All part of doing your homework.

Where the "competition will get you killed in the street," stuff transfers over is that the RO and other shooters are very cognizant of proper gun handling. Quite honestly, there would be no competition without all participants handing firearms safely.

In competition, we are all RO's to a degree. We can't afford to have folks being dangerous to themselves, let alone the rest of us.

On the reholstering, it's one thing to carefully move clothing or even belly fat out of the way to reholster. A whole other thing to actually have to physically touch the holster each time.

Honestly, touching the holster every reholstering is too close for competition RO's. Even if you can find someone that will work with you on it, the next RO might not. They are not wrong. If you are touching the holster as you are holstering, your support hand is just too close to the muzzle, with zero room for error.

This transfers over to daily carry in that, we cannot say for sure that we will never be holstering a pistol under some sort of mental pressure that will take our minds off of the focused mechanics of getting the gun secured, while the other hand is SO close to the muzzle.

 

[indyblue]

Note that I do not use my offhand to start the re-holstering process. I only use it to move the strap out of the way for the final quarter inch after the muzzle and trigger guard are well inside.

Perhaps I can retrain myself to move my thumb off of the hammer and over to the saftey area to do it one-handed. I only began using my other hand when I noticed the snap occasionally catches the safety.

It kind of sucks that the recommendation seems to be I cannot use a traditional holster and move to those terrible Kydex ones that have a million little plastic parts that can come loose or break. I’ll admit, I’m likely over reacting to the durability of the new holsters, I just know my experience with aged plastics is not good.

Those of you that have had Kydex holsters for many years, how have they held up? Do they tend to wear the finish or gouges on your pistols?

 

[ditcherman]

Note that I do not use my offhand to start the re-holstering process. I only use it to move the strap out of the way for the final quarter inch after the muzzle and trigger guard are well inside.

Perhaps I can retrain myself to move my thumb off of the hammer and over to the saftey area to do it one-handed. I only began using my other hand when I noticed the snap occasionally catches the safety.

It kind of sucks that the recommendation seems to be I cannot use a traditional holster and move to those terrible Kydex ones that have a million little plastic parts that can come loose or break. I’ll admit, I’m likely over reacting to the durability of the new holsters, I just know my experience with aged plastics is not good.

Those of you that have had Kydex holsters for many years, how have they held up? Do they tend to wear the finish or gouges on your pistols?

Safariland brand is good to go for a long long time. I don’t see how you would break one.
Their lined holsters are certainly not going to scratch your finish.

I have had finish wear from kydex. I prefer to call it ‘patina’.
The worst offenders are the Sig legion finishes and one of my Cerakote jobs seems to be wearing quickly. If you can’t tell it doesn’t really bug me.

 

[bwframe]

...Those of you that have had Kydex holsters for many years, how have they held up? Do they tend to wear the finish or gouges on your pistols?

I haven't carried in anything other than kydex since Mike at RCS sold me on them 15-ish years ago. All 1911's and Glocks.

Retention is solid with good brands of kydex and the like. I have fallen and rolled around on the floor a bit training and never had a hint a pistol coming out.

FOF fight training has caused a holster or two to crack and be replaced. I was upgraded to thicker kydex by RCS after that.

Kydex certainly has worn some finish, (the same as heavily used leather would.) It's just part of it.

The wear varies fron gun to gun. My 24/7 EDC Gen5 G19 MOS seems to have more wear from laying in my bed headboard at night or on the bathroom vanity rather than the holster? Whose to know for sure though? Might be each contibuting?

 

[mike4]

Re popcorn, very civil discussion all around which I appreciate. It's like we aren't even on the Internet.

ditcherman, as Trapper Jim expanded on, my first concern is that the holster itself is not demanding that you use two hands, or you are forced to do so regardless of what clothing options you are able to choose on any given day and situation.

I am able to draw rapidly from concealed carry with most clothing with one hand. When you need to draw there is a much higher than usual probability that you could be employing your off hand/arm to open a door, open a car door, herd or push a companion out of what is about to become a line of fire, trying to fend off an assailant while turning the strong side away from them for a clear draw, or fending off a dog with that offside arm for hopefully a very short time until you start dispensing rounds into it, etc. If I'm wearing something where I can't do that I recognize that I've made a compromise that reduces my capability and range of scenarios I can deal with successfully.

With unbuttoned shirt over a t-shirt I simply sweep the hand inside it from center to right (I'm right handed) and obtain a normal grip, then draw. Same thing with a jacket or coat, although if it's zipped I may be running the zipper to the bottom as the first step. For some pullovers or with an untucked shirt that is buttoned up, I would be pulling it up with my offhand if possible while reaching to draw with the strong hand, and I may do this to clear a shorter jacket if it's zipped up. But I also more often practice a one hand draw where I burrow the strong hand up my side until I've pulled the clothing higher than the pistol grip, then establish a grip and draw.

I agree with everyone that the draw is fast, but reholstering should be the focus of as much care and attention as the situation allows. I'd use two hands to reholster if that gets clothing more safely clear of the holster, which is typically necessary with pullovers or a jacket I did not unzip during the draw. Under stress/post-shooting I'm going to weigh the need to reholster and whether I have both hands free or how much attention I can divert, or whether I am better to just place the pistol on the ground to have empty hands when police approach (if that can be done outside the reach of any bad guys or bystanders), etc.

indyblue, don't depair! Just evaluate and make choices. You control some of the variables and others are just subject to the laws of physics, properties of materials, and designs available in the market place for given pistol models. If you prefer a leather holster I see nothing wrong with that, just please get rid of the crap thumb strap which was the focus of my criticism. Also you correctly recognize gun-grab retention is a good idea for open carry, while I note the thumb strap does little to accomplish that. So just change one of the variables under your control, do not open carry, and now you have few negatives in play with a well-fitting open top leather holster. That's how I carried 4 different semi-auto pistols for over 30 years. I still every day carry concealed, most of the time using a non-retention holster design*, but moving to Kydex to enable the fine features needed to fit and retain with my move to an attached pistol light for carry. (*There is no ALS option for my current pistol/light combination. I do have ALS for both my primary and rarely used secondary carry pistol if I pull the lights off.)

Like leather holsters, Kydex quality can run all over the map. I have a few holsters I use more rarely where I specifically selected thinner Kydex for IWB and I expect might crack after they have some miles on them, but I was willing to make that trade-off for thinner profile. Safariland quality does not run all over the map as long as they support what you want to carry, so if you go with ALS you are not making any kind of sacrifice in quality. It's just something to become accustomed to in terms of materials and construction if you want the retention features they offer. Just choose a path, or choose both; a well-fitting open top leather holster for concealed carry, or an ALS holster for concealed, open and outdoor carry.

It does not sound like you are as concerned about outdoor activities, but that's where I first started using Kydex holsters without and then with retention. If you are out in the boonies in all kinds of weather, out on the water, or intentionally or accidentally in the water you don't want to ruin a good leather holster. And that's where I more often want to be sure the pistol is mechanically blocked from coming out of the holster. Again, ALS just rose to the top for me for these applications once it was available since it adds so little bulk, adds zero steps to the reholstering, and adds only a very fast release action on the draw. (It's my own rambling-induced topic drift, but I really wish they would license the ALS system for the Kenai chest holsters.)

Research and try some options and train with them. Everyone ends up with a bin of unloved or superseded holsters. It's the inevitable result of evolving market options and the expansion and refinement of your knowledge and training.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Just a footnote though….. if you are concerned about your edc finish wear, one might want to rearrange priorities. Character marks are proof of use. Cylinder lines on revolvers, holster wear etc can be a skill set reveal. BBQ pieces exempt.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!!!!