JJ Racaza holster...seen it?

[willowofwisp]

I'd like to see this holster reviewed by someone such as SouthNarc, Kyle Defoor, or any other instructor who has real CQB or ECQC experience...it appears to me that this holster would really only work in perfect situations, what if you only have one hand accessible to the firearm? or what if your hunched over? if your on your stomach on the ground (the same can be said of a AIWB holster, but they normally situate the grip above your belt level so you can still grib the pistol)? If you need to be 100% concealed this is an option....but I feel its a really really niche holster. Also How hard is a gun to deploy from this type of holster in a high stress situation?

Like I said this holster may serve specific roles, but I'm wondering how well it performs in these rolls.

[TGS]

If you need to be 100% concealed this is an option....but I feel its a really really niche holster. Also How hard is a gun to deploy from this type of holster in a high stress situation?

Like I said this holster may serve specific roles, but I'm wondering how well it performs in these rolls.

Probably performs better than not having a gun.

If Thunderwear or Smartcarry were considered a competitor, I think this would be a better option since with those two holsters you don't have the option of popping the gun out. If they're buried, you HAVE to go fishing for the gun, it's the only option.

Like you said, it's for a very specific situation. I don't think anyone is going to argue that the position doesn't have drawbacks.

[SecretNY]

I'm with Erik on that one. I'm concerned with a striker fired gun in my AIWB with no cover on the trigger guard! Interesting solution for those of us who have to sometimes wear a tucked in shirt.

[Jbird8228]

I actually have this holster and have used it as my every day carry holster for my XD9 for over a year. It definitely takes some time to adjust and get used to. Here's my thoughts:

Pros: Very easy to conceal any firearm that's not a revolver in any clothing.
With a good amount of practice draws, can have a very quick draw to presentation of firearm


Cons: Essentially need two hands to draw your weapon ( 1 hand to push up on the bottom of the barrel, 1 hand to draw the weapon)
I cant bring myself to carry with a round chambered due to the placement of the weapons barrel being pointed directly at my thigh. The holster basically holds the firearm against your body, and I just will not take the chance of clothing
snagging the trigger and having a accidental discharge.

I hope this helps!

[Super J]

I actually have this holster and have used it as my every day carry holster for my XD9 for over a year. It definitely takes some time to adjust and get used to. Here's my thoughts:

Pros: Very easy to conceal any firearm that's not a revolver in any clothing.
With a good amount of practice draws, can have a very quick draw to presentation of firearm


Cons: Essentially need two hands to draw your weapon ( 1 hand to push up on the bottom of the barrel, 1 hand to draw the weapon)
I cant bring myself to carry with a round chambered due to the placement of the weapons barrel being pointed directly at my thigh. The holster basically holds the firearm against your body, and I just will not take the chance of clothing
snagging the trigger and having a accidental discharge.

I hope this helps!

Thanks Jbird

[kdflyer]

Thanks Jbird

Where can you buy this holster?

[Super J]

Where can you buy this holster?

I just looked around the Racaza site and don't see it listed for sale anymore. Not sure where else to look for it

[fsilber]

Where can you buy this holster?

I just bought two of them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162025848063

[fsilber]

I just bought two of them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162025848063

kdflyer just asked via e-mail my experience with the JJ Racaza holster and its seller.

I ordered twice. The first took a couple of weeks because the seller he had not yet gotten his shipment from his supplier. The second arrived very quickly. (I ordered a second time to have a spare.)

Using it, my HK P7M13 is at the outer limit for grip-size:

http://world.guns.ru/userfiles/image...1287726079.jpg

Because of the unusual distance from front of frontstrap to back of the pistol, I actually had to whittle away part of the gun's support strut so the gun would drop down far enough to be covered by the holster shield. That weakened the holster a bit, but not too much, I think.

The holster conceals best with a gun whose grip does not reach the top of the holster shield. Otherwise, you have to raise the belt line above the holster a bit, or blouse your shirt over the gun's backstrap. (Until I whittled away part of the holster's gun support, my P7's grip and slide rose a half-inch above the top of the holster shield. Now they're just even.) I estimate that the grip of a Glock 17 or Sig Sauer 226 would just reach the top of the shield; a Glock 19 or Sig Sauer 228 would be a half-inch below it, which is ideal.

It is fastest if the shield is kept even with the belt line. Also, that's the only way to get a one-handed draw (push up with strong hand, then grab) in an emergency.

However, if the holster shield is even with the belt line, then the top edge of the holster shield could become visible, so, it is best with a mid-size gun, and with black pants and a black holster. (My holster arrived in tan. But it would be easy to get some plastic-model paint and change the color.)

So, with my gun that does reach the top of the tan shield, secure concealment requires wearing it a half-inch _below_ the beltline. Now, drawing one-handed (push up, then grab using same hand) is no longer possible. I can however, push up with my weak hand finger while pulling out a bit with my strong hand thumb and draw pretty fast none-the-less -- as fast as with a regular appendix holster and an untucked shirt (which also is done with two-hands). Maybe even faster. So this is still pretty good.

Considering that I've had this HK P7 M13 for 22 years and no way to effectively conceal it (the big fat grip would print horribly with any conventional belt holster), I am quite satisfied. With a more conventional gun it would be even faster.

Because of my HK P7's squeeze-cocker action, I feel no anxiety whatsoever about where the gun is pointed, or about covering my finger during the draw. (The P7 is unclocked and trigger disconnected until the front-strap is squeezed with an initial 20 pounds of force, yet with its single-action trigger it is lightening fast to an aimed first shot.)

The next most safe gun would be a conventional double action with a safety (e.g. a Taurus 92 or CZ 75) converted to Double Action Only.
With a striker-fired gun and no safety, like the Glock, I would use it in conjuction with the Glock SafeT block or the ClipDraw:

http://clipdraw.com/glock-trigger-safety-products/

I would tie the trigger protector so it pulls away during the draw, and reapply it manually before reholstering.

Or you could just be careful. :-)

One other caveat. You need to wear pants 2" wider to use this holster than you could squeeze into unarmed. They say this is true with any IWB holster, but I have never relied upon an IWB holster. (Until now I've relied on pocket carry of very small guns, or a camera-bag beltpack.)

Wearing the holster for long periods _without_ the gun might be uncomfortable, due to the gun support prong pushing against the abdomen. (With a gun, the pressure is spread over the whole gun.) So if I were going to wear the holster all day with the idea of dropping the gun in after work, I might get a plastic training dummy gun to put in the holster until I could replace it with the real gun.

[kdflyer]

fsilber,
Thank you for your quick and complete response. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. I think I'm going to try one of these instead of getting another smart carrt. (Should read "smart carry")