Jason Adams60 years of opinion yours to take or leave…

Breaking in a new holster and learning to drawfrom it…

This is some advice on breaking in a new holster then learning to draw from it. Since I have a lot of

experience with this I thought it might be helpful to share what I have learned about the topic.

Above are photos of two types of holsters covered in this posting. The �rst is what I call a hybrid holster in

that it is made from both leather and kydex and the other is a pancake style holster with strap attachments.

The pancake style will be the same process for the most part even if you have a slotted style pancake

apposed to a strap style.

First let us explore why a brand new holster will often need breaking in. Most of us holster makers use Ring’s

Blue Guns or Aluminum gun replicas. These replicas are really quite accurate but I have noticed that Blue

Guns often run a couple of thousandths smaller then the real gun in some cases. I know this sounds anal

when considering you are working with leather but a slick draw is adjusted in 3 to 5 thousandths of clearance

in the holster. Another reason, especially for Kydex is Kydex will contract when cooled from the molding

process and leather will shrink from excess moisture leaving it after the dyeing and �nishing process.

We as holster makers are aware of this and do things to minimize the e�ects of this but variations in the

holster purchaser’s gun can even a�ect the �t a little. We as holster makers will prefer a snug �t that can be

loosened by the end user over too loose a �t that cannot be easily �xed without re-blocking (re-molding) the

holster.

Now that we understand why a holster may need breaking in let’s examine how we can accomplish this.

There are often many ways of getting something done in life and this is no exception. I have tried countless

ways of breaking in and slicking up a holster only to keep coming back to the same simple approach.

Obviously the best way is to simply put the gun in the holster and wear it day in and day out for a week or

two drawing it every hour several times. Sounds like a PITA (Pain In The Ass) well it is and especially if the

holster needs to go into duty immediately.

Another point that I will cover more in detail is the way you draw from a holster is often incorrect and it is

mistaken for a poorly �tting holster. A level one retention holster is typically not tolerant to twist when

drawing from it. So let’s make certain you even need to �t the holster in the �rst place. When drawing from

any holster it is absolutely necessary to pull without twisting the gun. I don’t care if you have a $300 dollar

Alessi, Milt Sparks holster or one of my $100 holsters it will not draw correctly if you twist the handgun in the

holster while drawing from it. Often when practicing drawing from a holster especially a conceal carry holster

that is behind your back it will require you to twist your arm or wrist to reach back and draw. Often this twist

is translated to the gun before it has cleared the holster. If this is the case it will bind in the draw. What you

need to do is slowly and consciously get a purchase on your �rearm and draw it slowly straight up without

canting it forward or backward. The key is to keep it as inline as possible until the muzzle has cleared the

holster. I am going to assume you are not a candidate for the Darwin Awards and will do this in a safe

manner. This is something that you need to practice daily until you have developed the muscle memory to

repeat without thinking about. If when drawing in this practiced manner you still need to loosen up your

holster the following will help.

Now let’s get a new holster �tted up over night or even sometimes in an hour or two. Lets say you buy one

of my all leather holsters. I will cover the Kydex hybrid holster later. My holsters will come in a 12×12 3mil

bag. This is a 3 thousandths inch thick plastic bag that most handguns will �t into like shown in the images

below.

By placing the gun in the bag and stu�ng it into the new holster it will stretch the leather to loosen the �t.

Make certain to fully seat the gun in the holster with the bag on it. Often this will only need to be done for a

couple of hours if worn on the belt with the bag on the gun. Sitting with the holster helps in �tting the belt

attachments too so don’t hesitate to couch potato out and watch a movie or something while wearing the

holster like this. If after a few hours the holster still seems too tight then let it sit over night in the bag and in

the holster.

The above technique can be aided even further if you have a real stubborn holster by LIGHTLY misting the

inside of the holster with a spray bottle of water before inserting the gun in the bag. This should be avoided

unless it is absolutely necessary as moisture can a�ect the holster �nish and appearance. So keep it lightly

misted if you need to go this far with it.

Now for Kydex hybrid holsters. These holsters are typically IWB (Inside The Waistband) holsters and are

greatly a�ected by belt tension on the holster. I cannot speak for other holster makers but my IWB hybrid

holsters use the trigger guard area for retention. I always test draw every holster I make before it goes into

stock so you will most likely will not need to adjust this style of holster. But if you have one from another

maker and cannot get them to address a �tment issue I will pass on the techniques I use to adjust these

holsters in the following paragraph.

I have seen on some models of handguns that these holsters will draw �ne when not being worn but after

they are put on and under belt pressure can literally be impossible to draw. This is usually due to too deep of

an impression inside the trigger guard area. This is usually caused by this idiotic idea that a holster should

hold the gun when turned upside down. This is a stupid way to rate an IWB holster so don’t buy into it.

Things change when a holster is worn and especially an IWB holster. Sometimes, and this is the only time

twisting a gun in a holster prior to drawing it that can actually help the draw.

If by twisting the butt of the gun into your back essentially pulling the trigger guard in away from the Kydex

scabbard thus releasing it enough for an upward movement. If then you can draw the gun from the holster

this con�rms this is where the hang up is. The trigger area.

This is where personal preference can come into play here. To some this may seem to be a feature yet in my

opinion it is a defect. This can be viewed as a retention lock and an assailant would not be able to draw your

weapon while you knowing that by twisting the gun it can be drawn from the holster. For me it is not so

important to worry about someone disarming me with an IWB holster as it is to be able to draw my weapon

under stress and forgetting to twist the gun to release it.

Another point of hangup on this type of holster is the ejection port on a semi-auto handgun. This is a right

hand issue as the left handed holsters have the ejection port side towards the leather. But as most,

approximately two thirds of the human race, are right handed it is a common hangup point. I doubt you will

ever have this issue with one of my holsters as I design around it but other makers may not. If this is your

issue or some other protrusion on the �rearm is hanging up in an indentation in the Kydex that following

can be applied to this area instead.

Ok, now that we understand where the hang up in drawing is it is a simple matter of re-warming the Kydex in

the area of the trigger guard or other area and removing some of the indentation or sharp internal edges

created from the molding process. This can be done with a heat gun or hair dryer. I typically use a hair dryer

if I have the time as my heat gun is very very hot and if not careful you can over do it very quickly. If using a

hair dryer I warm the area up to about 200 plus degrees trying to be a s careful as possible not to warm

anymore than just the trigger guard area. While heating it I am constantly sliding the gun in and out of the

holster watching the indentation for change. another approach is the twist the trigger guard into the Kydex

widening the distance of it and the leather backing that the scabbard is mounted on. If you remove too

much retention you can add more by pressing in on the indentation and increasing it. REMEMBER!!! Make

little changes and try the holster on and check it.

If you own one of my holsters just send it in and I will �x it free of charge but give it a try with a hair dryer

�rst if you don’t want the hassle of shipping and all.

Now let’s examine some drawing techniques. This is a very subjective topic and there are as many variations

on this as there are on sight picture, stance, and other techniques for shooting accurately and fast. I can only

share what works for me and it even varies from holster to holster a little and gun to gun. Yes, all guns do not

draw the same. My Beretta M9 draws the best of all my handguns hands down. My 1911 is the stickiest of all

my handguns. The S&W 645 is somewhere between the two. I compensate with the holster retention

accordingly but intend to do a smoothing and rounding on the 1911 someday when I dig out my bluing

crystals and set up to re-blue the gun after the polishing. But until then I just loosen up the holster a little

more for it.

But getting back to draw techniques I use. On most of my holsters I have found that a little pressure bringing

the slide or top of the gun against the leading edge of the holster will smooth the draw up a little and this

aids in rotating to presentation position as the muzzle clears the top of the holster. By doing this I am bring

the gun up the straight edge of the holster up the sight channel sort of like trying to wipe the front sight and

top of the pistol on the holster. This works in most of my holsters real well. Something else that may work for

you is to grab the gun with only the second �nger and wrapping your thumb around the grip. Below is a

picture of what I mean by this.

By avoiding a full grip until the muzzle has cleared the holster I don’t apply twist to the gun while drawing it.

As soon as I feel it clear the holster I then close my hand on it as I move it to presentation. I do not like this as

much as just sliding it up the sight channel with a full grip but it works well if practiced.

These may not work for you as well as they do for me but one thing I can assure you is if you twist the gun in

the holster it will not draw worth a shit and I don’t care who you are.

Muscle memory is the real trick to a fast drawing from concealment and repetition is the only way I know of

to build it. Consistency is a key factor. Things like carrying in the same location in the same holster will help at

�rst. After many years of carrying in all di�erent locations with di�erent guns I have gotten fairly good at

being able to switch up but for the �rst day or two after switching up carry pieces I am constantly reaching

for the carry piece to build up the muscle memory for the new carry. Like a bicycle once learned it will be

much easier to relearn for changes.

Sometimes it ain’t so good to have a bunch of di�erent holsters and guns especially when switching to

shoulder holsters from belt holsters. In another post I will cover shoulder holsters and my advice on them.

They have a place too in this world of concealed carry and I often switch over to them as well.

I hope this brought you some useful tips that will make you better and more con�dent when carrying your

handgun.

This entry was posted in Advice, CCW, Uncategorized on August 18, 2014

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