[bufford5]

Will these prevent or at least minimize the wear on finishes?

 

[Guest]

Bufford,
I have never never needed a holster that used a suede interior lining, although I have a few IWB with soft suede back sides as it keeps mine from being abraded and my personal finish (skin) seems to like it more as I often carry IWB with large frame guns.
No top name holster maker that I have every seen uses rough hide anywhere on thier rigs.
I once requested Mitch Rosen to use a soft deer skin lining on a custom HK shell corovan holster to protect a polished blue finish and I quickly killed the lining by shooting a practical match with the gun/holster in 90 degree heat as sweat softened the holster the lining creased and took a beating from my seriously poor/rough handling, I ended up rusting the finish that summer and gave up on bluing for a carry gun.

 

[Ronin]

Bufford,
Haven't experienced this myself but I read somewhere that suede tends to catch and hold grit which might in time build up enough to damage your finish.
Ronin

 

[Louis F. Alessi]

Ronin has it right. Suede will abrade the finish more than the naked interior of any good leather. Suede is a garment leather, and is rendered soft and suple by the use of chromic acids to break down the body of the leather. The chromic acid residue in the suede will eat the finish of the gun unless neutralized in some way, either by soaking in silicone, or by having an alkali applied by the tannery. Suede also attracts dirt and
powder residue from the gun, and the build up when dry, will act like sand paper on the finish. We prefer to have our leather finished smooth on the back side so as not to act like an abrasive on the gun finish.
The fact is that if you carry a gun on a daily basis, it will show finish wear eventually, no matter what the holster is made of. A good fitting holster will prolong this process. A slopy fit allows the gun to move around in the holster with your daily movements, and actually promotes finish wear from the constant friction, or movement of the gun in the holster.
Lou

_________________
Alessi Holsters, Inc.
You'll never know it's there, until you need it..

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Louis F. Alessi on 2001-04-10 00:00 ]</font>

 

[Ronin]

Slopy fit? Does that have anything to do with the angle of the holster,you know, like the FBI Cant?
Ronin

 

[Shane1911]

Ronin,
Angle or "cant" of the holster does not affect "fit" at all. Fit is determined by the leather-to-gun clearances only, not by the angle it sits on your belt. :smile:

 

[Louis F. Alessi]

Ronin,,Ha, you caught me! I meant sloppy fit, as in an ill fitting holster. One that allows movement of the gun while in the holster, caused by normal body movements, such as; bending, exiting a car, normal walking or running, etc..
My wife always tells me to proof read my writing, so I guess I deserved that one :grin:
Lou

 

[Ronin]

Lou,
Yeah,I'm like a leopard in a tree,lol.
Just picked up a P7 M13 so my PSP wouldn't be lonely. Whaddya think,a shoulder holster? No hurry,I'm stacked for months.
Ronin

 

[Louis F. Alessi]

Ronin, Actually the PSP is a better choice for the shoulder holster. It's lighter, and not so grip heavy.
Lou

 

[John Lawson]

I have a holster for my second model Woodsman, made to my order in 1949 by a now famous Idaho holstermaker (in 1949 he was all but unknown) that has never marked the finish of my pistol. I had him line the rig with chamois. It worked then and it still works now. Suede is a poor substitute for chamois.
If you want a non-marking holster, or one that is not rough on a blued finish, use a Kydex or Concealex holster. No problems there, either.
Before he became obcessed with
blocking", or heating and "forming" leather, I had Kramer make me a plain holsterl for my 1911 of horsehide. He made it from a piece of leather jacket material (front quarter) that was over 30 years old. Nevwer a problem with it, and the pistol draws like greased kilowatts.
My Kydex holsters are dead smooth and the pistol draws from them easily. My drawer full of top quality (Kramera) holsters that are formed are slightly slower and any advantage of a formed holster is "point of sale" (gee, it looks great!). Strangely, I always thought that the purpose of a holster was to remain concealed until the draw. Nobody should ever see the molding, forming, cooking or whatever. As far as retantion is concerned, I taught weapon retention in police science classes, and forming leather over a gun has nothing to do with it. If the holster is fitted with a proper catch, it will not let the pistol fall out when you do inside loops.
I'm afraid that most of the writeups of holsters in the gun mags are a result of the writer receiving a freebie, rather than an objective test. (At least this holds true for the gun writers I associate with.)
Years ago, several famous U.S. holstermakers
prodluced their premium holsters for professionals from front quarter horsehide. Many of these are still in daily use. None were ever formed and pressed over a gun's contours. Plastic holsters have brought the price down to $20, and these are injection molded and form fit; they fit better than leather. Each example has no defects.

 

[Weiser 878]

Holster wear? Sounds like y'al need to get a GLOCK with the new finish :smile:

But in all seriousness, I've found that the "furrier" te lining, i.e. suede or whatnot does wear more than just the smooth interior of finely finished leather.

Of course, I use Kydex holsters almsot exclusivly now, and I see no holster wear excpet on the trigger guard where the renention part holds the gun.

Interestingly enough, though, one of my favorite holsters (i'm wearing it now, in fact) a Kydex Safariland 0703 is suede lined, which I found kinda defeats the purpose of Kydex in the first place if you want it to not wear the finish...

Sorry if the above doesn't make too much sense, its 0440 here, so I'm a little tired :smile:

_________________
--Weis
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Desert Dog on 2001-04-25 06:22 ]</font>

 

[Mark4-45]

Thad Rybka in his catalog states the only way to eliminate holster wear on your handgun is to leave it in the box! IMHO the next best option is hard chrome.