Re-Inventing the Wheel
In Part I of this series, we discussed the birth of the breakfront holster with the Berns-Martin design, as well as the development of competing designs from popular police holster makers Hoyt and Safety Speed.
We now pick up the breakfront saga where we left off . . .
Continue reading “Fighting Leather: The Breakfront, Part II”
While some of the nation’s oldest uniformed police departments trace their roots back to the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until the early 20th Century that the majority of American police sidearms moved from tunic pockets to openly-carried duty holsters. The earliest rigs were generally substandard in materials and design, and it wasn’t long before the search for the perfect police duty holster occupied the minds of uniformed lawmen from coast to coast.
I’ve always treated my snub revolvers as pocket guns, but when the time came to review the Kimber K6s DC, there was something about it that screamed for a belt holster. It was probably the 6th round that got me thinking about it as a legitimate “belt gun,” but the excellent sights and trigger helped seal the deal. Even though it’s a small-frame gun, the K6s shoots like a medium-frame snub, and it deserved a good belt rig.
Continue reading “Kimber K6s Holster: The DeSantis L-Gat Slide”
There’s a whole lot of talented folks out there making gun leather these days, and a RevolverGuy could get dizzy trying to keep up with them. A lot of these are “mom and pop” shops manned by a single craftsman, or a small team of them. They make fine, beautiful, custom products to order, but this personal touch often comes at the cost of increased price and wait times. Continue reading “Galco Phoenix Belt Holster and SB5 Gun Belt”
Any RevolverGuy who grew up like I did, watching a steady diet of the 1970s police drama Adam-12, will certainly remember those Blue Knights, Malloy and Reed, each drawing a Combat Masterpiece revolver from a clamshell holster that sprung open like magic every time our heroes needed to draw down on some counterculture scumbag. The image of those great sixguns being drawn from the trick holsters was pure TV magic! Continue reading “Fighting Leather: The Clamshell Holster”
I recently had the opportunity to check out a pretty cool concept from Galco. The basic idea is one that I have had in mind for a while – a holster with an attached speedloader pouch along the topstrap. Since the cylinder of the holster creates a bit of a “gap” in the pants anyhow, why not use that space to throw in a speedloader? Continue reading “Galco Walkabout J-Frame Holster”
Is there anything sweeter to a RevolverGuy than packing a classic revolver in a classic holster made out of premium leather? I have to admit that I spend more time carrying guns (bottom feeders, no less!) in polymer holsters these days, but my revolvers all ride in cow or horse hide. I won’t deny that modern chemistry has given us some wonderful materials to make belts and holsters from, but my round guns will always get holstered in leather, thank you very much.
Luckily for me, Justin understands this quirk in my nature. He might pack his 640 Pro in a polymer holster worn on a nylon riggers belt, but he still gets the fact that custom leather rigs are special, and that some guns deserve them. Recently, in a wonderful, RevolverGuy type of gesture, he gave me a Jordan holster for my cherished Smith & Wesson Combat Magnum. It’s a beautiful rig, and I’d like to give you a tour of it. Continue reading “A Review of the Tex Shoemaker Jordan Rig”
The sands of time fall slowly through the neck of the hourglass at the border, and sometimes they stop entirely. Despite the progress made in other parts of the nation by the early part of the 20th Century, the border Southwest of the 1920s to 1940s looked virtually unchanged from the days before the Mexican-American War, almost a hundred years earlier (1846-48). The endless revolutions, bandit wars, cross-border raids, smuggling, looting, livestock theft, lynchings, military invasions, murder, and “normal” border violence disproved any notion that the days of the “Wild West” were over. Continue reading “Fighting Leather: The Jordan Holster”
Ok, guys, I have a confession. I’m one of those shifty, self-centered, good-for-nothing Gen-X’ers. It’s true. In addition to the other flaws inherent in this condition, I am also one of those guys that doesn’t really know leather. Sure I like the smell of it, but beyond that I’m pretty much lost. Take a look at the photo below. Does that look like a guy that knows the first thing about leather? Nope! So when Gene DeSantis offered to send me DeSantis Speed Scabbard, I said “sure!” but I knew I had to get smart on animal hide pretty quickly.
Continue reading “A Gen-X’ers Review of The DeSantis Speed Scabbard”
A while back I wrote about my troubles with the Dark Star Gear AIWB holster. I really liked the rig but it was incredibly uncomfortable to wear. I mentioned this to Nick of JOX Loader Pouches and he recommended a light, non-destructive mod I could make to the holster. So I gave it a go and I give you: the Revolver Guy Holster Comfort Modification! Continue reading “Dark Star Gear Holster Comfort Modification”
