high riding holsters for 1911s

[Venus Pax]

My dad bought Mars a high ride holster a year or two ago made by El Paso Saddlery. At first, it held the gun in position very well, but now the leather has stretched and the gun flops outward unless he tightens his belt really tightly. A tight belt is a real problem for his incision.

Does any manuafacurer make one of these holsters in kydex? I would like to order him one for Christmas.

TIA.

Venus

[NcongruNt]

My dad bought Mars a high ride holster a year or two ago made by El Paso Saddlery. At first, it held the gun in position very well, but now the leather has stretched and the gun flops outward unless he tightens his belt really tightly. A tight belt is a real problem for his incision.

Does any manuafacurer make one of these holsters in kydex? I would like to order him one for Christmas.

TIA.

Venus

I don't know about kydex, but I have a high-ride Galco Combat Master for my Hi-Power that has been my daily carry holster since May 2007, and is still nice and stiff.

http://www.usgalco.com/HolsterPG3.asp?P ... 5&GunID=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Does he have a proper gun belt? It makes a world of difference in holster stability.

[Animal Cop]

http://www.dmbullardleather.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Try David Bullard gun leather he has great holsters I have one for all of my guns.

[Excaliber]

My dad bought Mars a high ride holster a year or two ago made by El Paso Saddlery. At first, it held the gun in position very well, but now the leather has stretched and the gun flops outward unless he tightens his belt really tightly. A tight belt is a real problem for his incision.

Does any manuafacurer make one of these holsters in kydex? I would like to order him one for Christmas.

TIA.

Venus

The kydex Fist K2 rides even higher and is very comfortable. I highly recommend it. They have other designs you might be interested in as well.

[Mike1951]

Venus,

Is he running his belt through the slots and behind the holster?

If so, have him try feeding the belt from the backside of the holster so that the belt is on the outside.

That negates any flex the leather may have acquired and uses the belt to pull the gun in.

[srothstein]

Mike has a good suggestion if he likes that holster. For my 1911, I use the Blackhawk Serpa in Kydex. I also recommend the Safariland 6377. We are issuing it for the new Glocks (if the holsters ever come in - 8 weeks back ordered). The primary difference between the two holsters is the release method. The Serpa uses the trigger finger while the Safariland uses a thumb button.

[asleepatthereel]

My dad bought Mars a high ride holster a year or two ago made by El Paso Saddlery. At first, it held the gun in position very well, but now the leather has stretched and the gun flops outward unless he tightens his belt really tightly. A tight belt is a real problem for his incision.

Does any manuafacurer make one of these holsters in kydex? I would like to order him one for Christmas.

TIA.

Venus

I don't know about kydex, but I have a high-ride Galco Combat Master for my Hi-Power that has been my daily carry holster since May 2007, and is still nice and stiff.

http://www.usgalco.com/HolsterPG3.asp?P ... 5&GunID=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Does he have a proper gun belt? It makes a world of difference in holster stability.

Ditto on the Galco. If you want Kydex get the Blackhawk Serpa.

[Skiprr]

Another thought, if you decide to look at new holsters, might be the leather/Kydex Minotaur from our buddy Gregg at Comp-Tac. Been my fave for about a year now.

The second-generation version is more ride-adjustable than gen 1. My gen 1--still my primary carry with a 1911--has three adjustment holes on each clip for ride-height and cant; gen 2 has five adjustment holes. From the look of my gen 2 Minotaur for my XD(M), I could carry it high enough that the top of the belt would be about even with the lowermost edge of the trigger guard (I don't carry that high and didn't re-do the screws to test; that's just eyeballing it). The new version of the Minotaur gives you two full inches of adjustment on each Kydex clip.

[Venus Pax]

Venus,

Is he running his belt through the slots and behind the holster?

If so, have him try feeding the belt from the backside of the holster so that the belt is on the outside.

That negates any flex the leather may have acquired and uses the belt to pull the gun in.

Yes, he loops his belt through the beltloop between the holster's two loops, but it still gives too much. Again, he can't make his belt too tight because of the incision (major abdominal surgery in January left him pretty messed up).
He still wants to wear his gun like NCongruent, but wants it to remain close to his body.

NCongruent, do you have to make your belt really tight to get to to stay in one position? Also, does your Galco holster have a lot of boning in it to keep it sturdy? I think he would prefer a kydex if there is a good one to be found, but I'll get him a nice leather one with boning if kydex isn't available in a high rise.

He wants a new one for Christmas.

[Venus Pax]

Does that Minotaur Gladiator ride high and OWB like the Galco that NCongruent is wearing?

[NcongruNt]

Does that Minotaur Gladiator ride high and OWB like the Galco that NCongruent is wearing?

From the pictures on the website, it appears that it rides a bit lower. With mine, the trigger guard (except perhaps the very front of it) is above the belt. The Minotaur Glatiator appears (from the website pictures anyway) to have the trigger guard pretty much at belt level.



http://www.comp-tac.com/catalog/product ... cts_id=101" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Skiprr]

My bad. I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize you were looking for an OWB. I was referring to the Minotaur MTAC, an IWB. I started calling it a "Minotaur" when there was only one variant; now there are three.

On the Kydex front, here's an all-Kydex belt slide from Tucker that looks like it rides pretty high, and isn't expensive: http://rlcompanyusa.stores.yahoo.net/ky ... slide.html.

And Comp-Tac's Settable Cant holster can be adjusted for a fairly high ride (and they may even be willing to make you a custom back plate with an extra set of holes): http://www.comp-tac.com/catalog/product ... ucts_id=55. I have a couple of these and really like 'em...not strictly legal for IDPA, though, even if I've used 'em often before (shhh). When it's outercoat weather (about 11 total days each year in Houston, if we're lucky), I'll wear one of these as my carry rig.

IMHO, all-leather OWB pancake holsters, like NcongruNt's, do conceal much better than any OWB Kydex I've seen. They all have trade-offs. That's why I've settled on the hybrid Minotaur MTAC as the best IWB for me. Tucker Gunleather has another OWB hybrid, a new one called "Silent Thunder," that you might want to look at, though I doubt it will ride as high as Mars will need.