How much does holster wear really matter?

[Edwin]

I recently inherited my grandfather's Hi Power that I plan to run for the next year in heavy IDPA use in preparation for the 2015 IDPA World Championships in my home of Puerto Rico. But I'm kind of worried of destroying the finish on the gun with a kydex holster. How much of a worry is holster wear? Do certain types of holsters prevent wear and tear? I see recommendations for smoothed-inner holster, kangaroo leather, lined holsters, etc.

My other pistol is more of a tool and I don't particularly care if it gets dinged, but this I kind of do care. Am I worried over nothing or is there a holster I can get that I don't have to worry about the finish wearing off?

[JV_]

All holsters are going to wear the finish. If this gun has sentimental value, and holster wear would bother you, don't put it in a holster. If possible, I'd put the gun in the back of the safe and get something that's wear resistant - like a Glock.


This may help you too:
http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?7472-Pistol-wear-and-leather-VS-kydex&p=125361&viewfull=1#post125361

[Edwin]

Thanks for the link, I didn't find it in my search.

[JHC]

I won't miss the opp to say holster wear looks awesome on a gun. But leather friction wear on a blued gun looks way cooler than kydex wear on a finish. But you gotta change with the times I guess.


I just wish the Glocks I use for so many thousands draws would show more of it.

[JV_]

I just wish the Glocks I use for so many thousands draws would show more of it.At least it helps with the resale. I can put 20K through a Gen4 Glock the barrel hood looks like the old Gen3 guns at 5K.

[ToddG]

I guess it depends on just how sensitive you are to sand in your... holster.

If you don't want to wear the finish on a gun, don't put it in a holster. Kydex wears edges quickly. Leather wears larger areas more slowly but more noticeably over time. If a gun has sentimental value I wouldn't recommend it as a competition gun or carry gun, or for any other purpose that could stress it, increase the odds of it being lost, stolen, confiscated, etc.

[Edwin]

I'll just have to live with what happens then.

I feel like I have to use this Hi Power. It has some history to it and the fact that this was my granddad's sidearm in PR for many years, it seems more than fitting that I train and shoot for the 2015 match in PR with this Hi Power. It'll be a homecoming for me and the Hi Power.

[JeffJ]

I inherited a very nice, very expensive Colt Commander from an uncle of mine. I know that I honor that gift more by using it than letting it sit in the safe.

[luckyman]

Kitten. I guess from the discussion above the wear in the attached pic is abnormal? It's a glock 19 that is less than a year old. I use a raven holster with it.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/28/u5e2ypy5.jpg

[Chuck Haggard]

^Yup^, looks pretty normal to me.

My duty G17 is all kinds of torn up looking from being in various kydex and synthaleather holsters over the past 8 years.

[Edwin]

My P-01 has wear marks in about the same areas. Using a Blade-Tech IDPA kit.

[GardoneVT]

Am I crazy for thinking carry wear looks GOOD on a gun?

My 92FS has some left wide wear marks from being carried, and ironically I like it more that way. Sense of pride knowing it's been places and all.

[Chuck Haggard]

I like the looks of a gun with honest wear.

[SecondsCount]

My carry pistol has lots of character. I just noticed the other day that the light rail has a slight bevel worn into it from rubbing in the holster.

On the other hand, the 70 series Colt Gold Cup with the nearly pristine bluing, stays in the safe. It is a target pistol and not reliable enough for carry the way it is setup anyway.

[Suvorov]

I would imagine your Grandfather would want you to shoot the snot out of his old blaster!

If you plan on selling it down the road as an investment piece - then I wouldn't shoot it much or at all. But if you are like me and have a mental block whenever it comes to selling a gun passed down to you from your ancestors, then I doubt very much you are looking at turning a buck on the gun.

Wear it, shoot it, and when the finish looks too raggedy for your likings, get it re-finished and begin the cycle again.

Your Grandfather would like it that way.

[Edwin]

Yeah, never selling this Hi Power. I love it too much. I am doing some work to get it ready for IDPA ESP though. Got me a Cylinder & Slide wide trigger (with magazine disconnect removed), wide/extended safety, recoil buffer, Wilson Combat spring kit, C&S No Bite Hammer kit and the Blade Tech IDPA pack. I should be running this in the next week in the Seattle area IDPA.

[ragnar_d]

^Yup^, looks pretty normal to me.

My duty G17 is all kinds of torn up looking from being in various kydex and synthaleather holsters over the past 8 years.
My G19 looks similar as well after riding in a RCS for 5 years. The X300 looks like it got the worst of the wear though.

[luckyman]

My G19 looks similar as well after riding in a RCS for 5 years. The X300 looks like it got the worst of the wear though.

Ok cool. Glad to hear mine doesn't look abnormal. From earlier comments I was getting the impression I shouldn't see that much wear in the first year. I don't mind the look at all, as long as it is not a sign of a bigger problem.

[BoppaBear]

OP, I commend you for wanting run the pistol! I have an FN Hi-Power brought back from WWII, as well as a WWII-era Rem Rand R1. Both have significant sentimental value to me, and thus get nice, soft, temp-controlled storage.

As has been said, all holsters will wear. It's just a matter of what you can accept, and what type of use and holster the gun will have. It will happen with use...regardless.

Good luck!

[ragnar_d]

Ok cool. Glad to hear mine doesn't look abnormal. From earlier comments I was getting the impression I shouldn't see that much wear in the first year. I don't mind the look at all, as long as it is not a sign of a bigger problem.
Nope. My G34 (rides in a G17 Blade Tech holster) and G19 are both a little thin around the muzzle. No issues, even in the Florida humidity:
http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad201/ragnar_d/34_Holster_Wear-Copy_zps48f5182d.jpg

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad201/ragnar_d/19_Hollster_Wear-Copy_zps0c41af4c.jpg

[Tamara]

You know what makes me lift an eyebrow? Serious fighting pistols with high-dollar price tags that have obviously never been used for anything but holding down the carpet on the gun safe shelf. Colt Gunsites and Les Baer Thunder Ranch Specials that have obviously never been to Gunsite or Thunder Ranch; HK USP Tacticals with the "Hostile Environment Finish" that have never been exposed to an environment more hostile than the trip from the car trunk to the indoor range.

I mean, I get wanting to not ding up an antique with a fragile blued finish, but a cerakote'd 1911 clone or an HK USP? For real?

(Conversely, I have no kidding sat in a room at a Type 07 and participated in a discussion about the feasibility of offering a sort of "stone-washed" finish. I mean, if you can buy an Italian Peacemaker clone with an "antiqued" finish that's supposed to make it look like a survivor of the Old West for the SASS crowd, why not a railed 1911 that looks like it's been in the $#!+? You know they'd sell.)

[Drang]

...(Conversely, I have no kidding sat in a room at a Type 07 and participated in a discussion about the feasibility of offering a sort of "stone-washed" finish. I mean, if you can buy an Italian Peacemaker clone with an "antiqued" finish that's supposed to make it look like a survivor of the Old West for the SASS crowd, why not a railed 1911 that looks like it's been in the $#!+? You know they'd sell.)
Well, you know, once dad's Buick had that first scratch on it, he didn't worry about letting me drive it. So a 1911 or 226 or whatever that looked like it had been through two or three tours in the 'Stans, well, I wouldn't worry so much about maybe fumbling it in the dirt at the range...
...Of course, it would lead to all kinds of Cletii amping up the stories about how "The Navy let me keep it, it's the one I used to cap Bin Laden."

[BobLoblaw]

I love the stonewashed finish on ZT blades. Stonewashed slides? If there are no serious drawbacks over most other finishes, why not? Only Cletus makes Cletus run his mouth, not the finish of the blaster...

[Lester Polfus]

You know they'd sell.

They already do it with guitars (http://www.fender.com/custom-shop/series/time-machine/1956-heavy-relic-stratocaster-1-piece-maple-fingerboard-black/).

[GardoneVT]

You know what makes me lift an eyebrow? Serious fighting pistols with high-dollar price tags that have obviously never been used for anything but holding down the carpet on the gun safe shelf. Colt Gunsites and Les Baer Thunder Ranch Specials that have obviously never been to Gunsite or Thunder Ranch; HK USP Tacticals with the "Hostile Environment Finish" that have never been exposed to an environment more hostile than the trip from the car trunk to the indoor range.


Their money, their choice. Some people collect baseball cards. Others collect fighting pistols and carry .380s. Each to their own.

[Tamara]

Their money, their choice. Some people collect baseball cards. Others collect fighting pistols and carry .380s. Each to their own.

I didn't say I want to ban it, just that I don't get it.

There're a lot of things that make me lift an eyebrow, believe me. Like people who make chin-stroking quasi-philosophical responses to throwaway comments, for instance.

[BLR]

.... an Italian Peacemaker clone with an "antiqued" finish that's supposed to make it look like a survivor of the Old West for the SASS crowd...

That's a thing?

[NETim]

My dings=my memories.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~netim/cqbvz2.jpg

The small area of buffed out AT on the trigger guard is a reminder of the three days shooting support side at a TR TH2 class using some kind of kydex loaner from Mr. Smith. I had just finished a two day tutorial with him. He told me to shoot the TH2 from my other side for the experience. And it was. :)

[Tamara]

That's a thing?

Google "uberti old west finish".

[Malamute]

I guess it depends on just how sensitive you are to sand in your... holster.

If you don't want to wear the finish on a gun, don't put it in a holster.


I havent figured out how to keep them looking pretty when carrying them much. The two areas I've lived most of my life both have crazy amounts of fine dust that permeates everything. Leather holsters seem to collect it like a sponge and apply it to the finish on your guns. Even the dust on my bedside table is stupid abrasive. My 24 was the main bedside gun for some time, it has some nasty abrasion on the points that touch the table. From 10 years of off and on carry its getting a bit shiny around the edges, not as bad as the 29 though. The g-19 is a little scuffed from mainly pocket carry. Once in a while I forget about the change or pocket knife in the back pocket. The finish on them is pretty tough.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5851_zps2b603637.jpg

The Ruger 45 was only cold blued where I took all the writing off the barrel. It's been blued once since I've had it, but not after removing all the junk on the barrel. It was my main carry for several years after the hand injury when I couldnt shoot a DA with heavy loads.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5857_zps2fe24328.jpg

Another favorite carry gun. It's held up OK, but hasnt had as much carry time. The "color case finish" doesnt hold up very well. Nothing like true color case hardening.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_1064.jpg

[Tamara]

They already do it with guitars (http://www.fender.com/custom-shop/series/time-machine/1956-heavy-relic-stratocaster-1-piece-maple-fingerboard-black/).

If you hit the stage with a pre-battered Strat wearing pre-ripped jeans, isn't there a law that says you can only play cover tunes? :D

[Casual Friday]

I didn't say I want to ban it, just that I don't get it.

There're a lot of things that make me lift an eyebrow, believe me. Like people who make chin-stroking quasi-philosophical responses to throwaway comments, for instance.

Tam wins the thread.

To the topic, the other night while putting my 2 month old Sig Pro in my nightstand safe, I noticed some holster wear starting to show around the muzzle and along portions of the slide and control levers and I couldn't help but smile, like a proud father watching his child learn to ride a bike or tie their shoes.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[Lester Polfus]

If you hit the stage with a pre-battered Strat wearing pre-ripped jeans, isn't there a law that says you can only play cover tunes? :D

Indeed. And I think a certain percentage of them have to be SRV tunes to boot.

[Lester Polfus]

If you hit the stage with a pre-battered Strat wearing pre-ripped jeans, isn't there a law that says you can only play cover tunes? :D

And as an aside, I find those Strats very offensive. Unless you've spent the time playing, getting ripped off by bar owners, and nearly getting stabbed by a drunk cowboy outside the Luckenbach, Texes dance hall, you ought not be playing a guitar that looks like that.

Guess I feel the same way about the guns...

[TheTrevor]

How much does holster wear really matter?

I'm sure others have a more nuanced view on this, but to me, guns only fall into three categories:
* high-value museum/collector/art pieces which will (generally) never be fired by anyone
* semi-retired heirloom/BBQ guns which should be kept in good working order but only shot on special occasions
* working guns

All of the firearms I currently own are working guns, even the inherited guns with sentimental value. I have no illusions that my most recent acquisition (an HK P30) will show Kydex wear and breechface discoloration before the year is out, if not sooner.

My Winchester 9422 and Ruger Mark II will likely pick up the odd ding or scrape as well, as I use them when I take my kids shooting, and when I'm teaching new shooter(s). That's their best and highest use, as the sentimental value comes from the fact that my grandfather took me shooting with these guns.

I'm with Tam in that I'm more likely to silently judge someone for babying a gun that should be run hard, and bear the honorable wear marks of a working gun.

[BobLoblaw]

I only have working guns but not by preference. Buying only black poly means my wife has no clue how many guns I've acquired.

[Tamara]

Indeed. And I think a certain percentage of them have to be SRV tunes to boot.

Yet again lamenting absence of a "Like" button. :D

[Jack Ryan]

They may be beauty marks and character now but try to sell a 1911 with an "idiot scratch".

[Tamara]

Different rules apply to ballistic baseball cards for duffers to coo over at the Indy 1500, obviously. I don't like scratches on my unfired 19th Century nickel Top-Breaks, either.

I'm talking about guns that get used.

[GardoneVT]

They may be beauty marks and character now but try to sell a 1911 with an "idiot scratch".

1911 with use and carry wear = Corvette ZR1 with track oil on the fenders.

1911 with an idiot scratch = Corvette ZR1 with a crinckled fender.

[MichaelD]

I havent figured out how to keep them looking pretty when carrying them much. The two areas I've lived most of my life both have crazy amounts of fine dust that permeates everything. Leather holsters seem to collect it like a sponge and apply it to the finish on your guns. Even the dust on my bedside table is stupid abrasive. My 24 was the main bedside gun for some time, it has some nasty abrasion on the points that touch the table. From 10 years of off and on carry its getting a bit shiny around the edges, not as bad as the 29 though. The g-19 is a little scuffed from mainly pocket carry. Once in a while I forget about the change or pocket knife in the back pocket. The finish on them is pretty tough.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5851_zps2b603637.jpg

The Ruger 45 was only cold blued where I took all the writing off the barrel. It's been blued once since I've had it, but not after removing all the junk on the barrel. It was my main carry for several years after the hand injury when I couldnt shoot a DA with heavy loads.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5857_zps2fe24328.jpg

Another favorite carry gun. It's held up OK, but hasnt had as much carry time. The "color case finish" doesnt hold up very well. Nothing like true color case hardening.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_1064.jpg

Those are three of the prettiest revolvers I've ever seen. Well done!

[LSP552]

I havent figured out how to keep them looking pretty when carrying them much. The two areas I've lived most of my life both have crazy amounts of fine dust that permeates everything. Leather holsters seem to collect it like a sponge and apply it to the finish on your guns. Even the dust on my bedside table is stupid abrasive. My 24 was the main bedside gun for some time, it has some nasty abrasion on the points that touch the table. From 10 years of off and on carry its getting a bit shiny around the edges, not as bad as the 29 though. The g-19 is a little scuffed from mainly pocket carry. Once in a while I forget about the change or pocket knife in the back pocket. The finish on them is pretty tough.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5851_zps2b603637.jpg

The Ruger 45 was only cold blued where I took all the writing off the barrel. It's been blued once since I've had it, but not after removing all the junk on the barrel. It was my main carry for several years after the hand injury when I couldnt shoot a DA with heavy loads.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_5857_zps2fe24328.jpg

Another favorite carry gun. It's held up OK, but hasnt had as much carry time. The "color case finish" doesnt hold up very well. Nothing like true color case hardening.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_1064.jpg

I elk hunt with CO friends pretty regularly. The wind is always blowing, and that fine grit dust finds its way everywhere!

Having said that, I don't mind holster wear at all. Honest use lends character, IMO.

Ken

[Jack Ryan]

I buy 'em to use 'em but it's still not pretty to listen to when I notice a new scratch on one. I don't get nostalgic at all about one I've bought and worn.

The only holster wear I get fuzzy enough about to just look at and enjoy is on a couple guns I inherited.

[jetfire]

Having said that, I don't mind holster wear at all. Honest use lends character, IMO.

Ken

Gray hair is a crown of wisdom, and holster wear is the sign of a well-used gun.

[TCinVA]

(Conversely, I have no kidding sat in a room at a Type 07 and participated in a discussion about the feasibility of offering a sort of "stone-washed" finish. I mean, if you can buy an Italian Peacemaker clone with an "antiqued" finish that's supposed to make it look like a survivor of the Old West for the SASS crowd, why not a railed 1911 that looks like it's been in the $#!+? You know they'd sell.)

I throw mine down the driveway to give it that nice used look.

You'd love my Les Baer. She looks like Tina after Ike had been on a bit of a bender...


If you hit the stage with a pre-battered Strat wearing pre-ripped jeans, isn't there a law that says you can only play cover tunes? :D

It's been a while since I bought a guitar, but when I was last buying several years ago damn near everything was "distressed" or "antiqued" to the point it was driving me nuts. I wanted a Gibson 335 and you couldn't find one without the dingy off-white "cream" binding anywhere. I complained.

"But it looks Vintage!"

"Dude, it looks 'vintage' on Clapton's cherry 335 that he's been playing since the 1960's, and it's off-white because it's aged gracefully over decades of shows played when he wasn't busy with fast cars, heroin, and drunken hookups with loose women. I don't want my guitar to look like his does now, I want my guitar to be built the way his was in the 1960's."

They never did get it...so I bought a Heritage instead (probably built by the same people who built Clapton's axe in the 1960's) and the nice man at the factory told me they'd build it any way I wanted it.

The cost has gotten ridiculous, too. There are people at the Fender and Gibson custom shop beating guitars with bike chains so some douchebag with no talent in a worthless cover band can look like he has the chops while he tries to make time with divorcees in bad cocktail bars. He'll pay stupid money for that worn-in look. (Insert joke about the "worn-in-look" of the women he's trying to impress here.) That ain't rock 'n' roll.

[Tamara]

Gray hair is a crown of wisdom, and holster wear is the sign of a well-used gun.

I was looking at Malamute's 24 and thinking "You don't **** with a man carries a gun looks like that." ;)

[jetfire]

I was looking at Malamute's 24 and thinking "You don't **** with a man carries a gun looks like that." ;)

I looked at the .45 New Model and I had to have a sit down. That gun is just...hrnnnfffff

[TheTrevor]

I looked at the .45 New Model and I had to have a sit down. That gun is just...hrnnnfffff

I'm not even a hardcore wheelgun guy, and every time Malamute posts pics like that I'm all "I'll be in my bunk"...

[Keltyke]

IHow much of a worry is holster wear? Do certain types of holsters prevent wear and tear?
No worry for me. Holster wear is character - a sign the gun is a working piece, not a seldom-shot safe queen. ANY holster will cause wear, some more than other, but all you're doing is wearing off the finish and polishing the metal underneath to a high shine. Don't sweat it.h

[Rich]

I recently inherited my grandfather's Hi Power that I plan to run for the next year in heavy IDPA use in preparation for the 2015 IDPA World Championships in my home of Puerto Rico. But I'm kind of worried of destroying the finish on the gun with a kydex holster. How much of a worry is holster wear? Do certain types of holsters prevent wear and tear? I see recommendations for smoothed-inner holster, kangaroo leather, lined holsters, etc.

My other pistol is more of a tool and I don't particularly care if it gets dinged, but this I kind of do care. Am I worried over nothing or is there a holster I can get that I don't have to worry about the finish wearing off?

I bet my bottom dollar your grandfather would love seeing you use it. And I bet he wouldn't care if it showed signs of heavy use.
I have my grandfather M37 that was made in the 30`s. Nothing special? But to me it is. I hunted with it until I moved to SWF in 2003.


I have 1 mark on my P229 using a older Bladetech IWB.

So Far Zero Marks on my P30S/ IWB NANO been using JM V3+Light IWB for a couple months now only mark is on the TLR-1 light.


In the long run I think kydex is a better option .