Safariland 6005 after rain maintenance

[That Guy]

My good luck with getting good training weather for my range trips continues - yesterday during our informal shooting groups monthly training session I spent about six hours standing around in the rain, exposing my Beretta PX4 and its Safariland holster to the elements. So today, as I'm taking care of various bits of gear that got soaking wet, I started wondering:

1) Yesterday my draws didn't seem too fluid, the gun felt like it stuck into the holster more than usual. This could be just poor technique by my part, my hands were pretty wet and cold during the pistol portion of our training session, but has anyone else noticed the suede lining in Safariland duty holsters becoming "stickier" during wet weather?

2) Are there any recommended maintenance procedures I should be doing to the holster after exposure to the elements? For example, should I put oil into the SLS locking mechanism, or is that just more likely to attract dirt and grime? One of the mounting screws of the holster looks to have gotten this lovely orange hue, I should probably put a tiny dab of oil on that at least...

[babypanther]

Anytime the SLS gets moisture on it, rust can start to appear. This will make the SLS feel gritty, and I notice the same thing with dirt, dust, etc. Blow out the debris if visible with a can of compressed air or air compressor, and then drop some oil (I just use a drop or two of whatever CLP is around) onto the metal hinge point and work the bail open and closed until it feels smooth again. Anytime I worked in the rain, once I clocked out the gun came out of the holster, paper toweled the gun dry after disassembly, same thing with the holster. Also my wife’s hair dryer would do a good job of drying the holster out as well.

I would go ahead and check the SLS part of the holster once a year anyway as part of gear maintenance.

I have heard of the suede liner absorbing moisture and feeling tighter getting the gun out. No fix for that other than going to the 7Ts series, but I am not a fan of those.


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[Erick Gelhaus]

After you dry out the suede liner - via room temp or slightly warmer airflow - hit it with a generous amount of silicone spray.