Building an ELS rig from scratch.

[quicky06]

So I've been borrowing gear for long enough and I need to build an ELS belt.

So I will be shooting a smith and Wesson M&P 40, versamax loading quads or twins, and a home built AR.

So please critique my buy list.

Safariland inner belt 03O 38" $20

Safariland outer belt 032 40" $56

Safariland ar mag pouch with els kit 774 x2 $71

Safariland pistol mag pouch 771 with els kit x2 $81

Safariland qls hit for holster $30

Now some questions

The only holster I have is a serpa. I've been looking at blade tech DOH, any better options?

Mag poches. I've never bought them before. Does right hand mean right hand shooter or right hand draw?

I plan on loading twins. I am leading towards carbon arms fsl12s 2 or 3 of them. But I haven't decided yet. The price is steep but I figure I can get them later at least I will have the belt setup for pistol and shotgun until they do another run or find something that I like better.

So I figure another 4 els kits for the shotshell holders. That will bring me up 8 els kits and 1 qls kit.

So what do you guys think?

[blu46and2]

This holster is the way to go. You can run like the wind and the gun won't come out. Which if that does happen it will cost you your match fee, pride and you get to go home early. Just the confidence that the gun won't come out will give you seconds back in time, it does me any way. Switched to this one from a blade tech DOH with no retention.

http://www.blade-tech.com/RH-WRS-DUTY-HOLSTER-DOH-ASR-pr-1153.html#product_images

[AustinWolv]

The only holster I have is a serpa. I've been looking at blade tech DOH, any better options?

Safariland ALS, just my opinion. Great retention, yet very fast and smooth to draw. Better than holsters with hoods.

Safariland ar mag pouch with els kit 774 x2 $71

My opinion is you only need 1. I've never needed to carry more than two AR mags during a stage.

Carbon Arms - I prefer the pinwheels. Easier to grab IMO.

Remember you don't need ELS receivers to match every ELS hook you have, as you can take items off your belt. Better to have more hooks obviously, one for each item you are going to attach. Off memory, I only have 6 ELS receivers on my belt.

You can get a pack of 4 ELS hooks without receivers I think, so you don't have to buy the ELS kit (1 hook + 1 receiver) for each item you intend to hang.

Edited March 27, 2013 by AustinWolv

[caz41]

Also look at Taccom for the SG loading gear.

[blairmckenzie1]

Ive never had any problems with the normal blade tech. just keep a philips screwdriver handy to adjust the retention. i just loosen it up for normal pistol matches.

[spd522]

This holster is the way to go. You can run like the wind and the gun won't come out. Which if that does happen it will cost you your match fee, pride and you get to go home early. Just the confidence that the gun won't come out will give you seconds back in time, it does me any way. Switched to this one from a blade tech DOH with no retention.

http://www.blade-tec...#product_images

This is what I use for 3 gun and love it. I have two of them. One for my M&P 9L I use for most matches and one for my P14 when I have to shoot major or 45. I don't have to hang onto my pistol when running or traversing obstacles. It won't accidentally get hooked by the butt of my rifle or shotgun and get flipped out. The thumbbreak is plenty quick enough and I feel I more than made up the time by not having to worry about it. 3 gun matches are not won by the split second advantage from an open holster vs this one. But the match can be lost by a dropped pistol.

Craig

[Religious Shooter]

Since you have an M&P check out the 5.11 thumb drive holster.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/511-thumb-drive-holster.html

I have the Blade-Tech WRS holster, 5.11 Thumb Drive, Safariland 63xx and Serpa. For 3Gun I prefer the 5.11 out of all of them.

I run 3 pistol mag pouches and 1 AR pouch.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/safariland-quick-attachment-systems.html

[USCSBarney]

My 2 cents. Safariland ALS holster with a Safariland Mid Ride UBL attachement. They make ALS holsters in a "concealment" holster that when put together give you a mid ride drop holster that is about the same price or cheaper than the non-retention Bladetech and much cheaper than the retention. I have used this set up for a while and it works great. The ALS provides a much more intuitive draw. I have switched all my gear, game and work, to it.

Look on the "police gear discount" web search pages and you can generally find it cheaper than Sarafiland direct.

http://www.safariland.com/DutyGear/product.aspx?pid=6378

http://www.copquest.com/23-2400.htm

Also, I would say take a look at Safariland's QLS mounts and forks for the AR pouch. I tried the ELS on and with anything other than a 20rd mag, they flop around if you have to run or move alot. The QLS works better with the 30 or higher round mags. Doesn't lend itself to the 032 but if you get the 832 2" Duty model it works great. For 3 gun I have found that a Duty type belt distributes the weight better and enables you to carry more without "bouncing out" your gear as you run. Again, years of buying too much for 3 Gun and for work. Take a look. It fits the ELS and QLS mounts.

http://www.copquest.com/23-3145.htm

And no I don't work for Safariland but have YEARS under my belt with thier products.

[quicky06]

Ok thanks for the help.

One last question that hadn't been answered.

If I shoot right handed what draw magazine do I need they list a right and left hand draw of the magazine pouches. It's kinda confusing which one I need.

[atvman400]

Usually when they say right handed it is all the gear for either a right handed shooter or a left handed so since your right handed I assume you need the right hand mag pouches. I haven't delt with the safariland stuff much but have been eyeing up the els system.

I second you only need 1 ar mag pouch for an oh s**t mag.

[LEGION53SHOOTER]

So I will be shooting a smith and Wesson M&P 40, versamax loading quads or twins, and a home built AR.

So please critique my buy list.

Safariland inner belt 03O 38" $20

Safariland outer belt 032 40" $56

Safariland ar mag pouch with els kit 774 x2 $71

Safariland pistol mag pouch 771 with els kit x2 $81

Safariland qls hit for holster $30

You are going through exactly where I was less than a month ago, I will do my best to help you out with your purchase list based off of where I purchased my equipment for the best price I could find.

1. Safariland 38" Competition Underbelt loop liner.....$11.97 and in stock

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00080030382

2. SafariLand ELS 40 Inch Competititon Belt.....$35.28 and in stock but low quantity

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000800324026

3. ELS Equipment Locking Kit Black, comes with 2 mounting brackets and 2 forks per kit...$20.48 and in stock...I bought two kits (4 total)

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00080ELSKIT12

4. As for your mag pouch selection....I use Comp-Tac kydex mag pouches, but you can browse Midsouth Shooter Supply, search Safariland and they have a bunch of mag pouch selections, just find the match for you...as for the left vs right hand, quick call to Safariland should clear that up...I honestly don't know.

5. Holster.....Personal preference...I just got myself a Comp-Tac International for my M&P Pro 9mm and mounted it to a QLS, seems to be working pretty well...except for the DOH attachment.....had some issues with that and mounting to a QLS Fork, ended up dropping the DOH attachment and mounted the holster straight to the QLS fork.

6. Shotgun Caddy selection...I went with 2 Carbon Arms SSLP6 Pinwheels for now and bought them from "The Shooters Source" at $60.00 each. I really like them and in less than 24 hours I was loading 8 rounds in under a 6 second par time on the timer. After quite a long time of trying to learn the weakhand load from a traditional caddy....I just suck at it. My next purchase is more than likely going to be an AP Customs 3x3 caddy to supplement the 12 rounds on the belt already bringing me to 18 rounds on the belt. Good enough for me for right now as I can semi-manage a 3 round weakhand reload decent enough.

http://shop.theshooterssource.com/Carbon-Arms-6-Round-SSL-Pinwheel-CA6PW.htm

Here is a few shots of my ELS setup as of right now...

[quicky06]

Just an update. I ordered everything the other night. Will let you guys see what I decided on once I get it all

[dghboy315]

Thanks for this thread. I had the same questions.

One question on sizing though when you get your kit - what pants size are you? How does everything fit?

Edited April 1, 2013 by dghboy315

[Jaxshooter]

I no longer shoot 3 gun due to leg and knee problems but I am using the Safariland ELS system for Open. At one time or another I have used very popular belt and holster combination on the market and the ELS system is the best available. The wide belt keeps all your mags and holster from leaning over due to the weight.

You will be very satidfied with your gear.

[quicky06]

Well this just turned weird. Has anyone ever ordered from www.holsters.com? Safarilands direct purchase site? I placed my order with everything through them because I was just easier to get it all through one place and not have to pay a half dozen shipping charges. Got a confirmation email with my order details. My card was charged but then a day later the charge disappeared.

I can not get their tracking system on their website to work on all 3 of my devices (iPhone, IPad, and laptop pc). So I sent them an email last night asking about the status of the order. It just seems funky. If I don't get an email tommorrow ( their website says it could take a day or two to reply) I will call them on Wednesday.

Anybody else ever ran into this?

[usmc1094]

A lot of places put the charge on to make sure its a good card and then it comes off tell they ship it out.

[t1nm4n]

^{I purchased the system a while ago and received it last week, finally got the time to piece it together, LOVE it. Feels secure and stable, like nothing will fall out of it unless you want it to come out of it's retainers. is there such thing as to many shotgun caddies?}

Edited April 3, 2013 by t1nm4n

[maverickps]

I wish I had seen this thread 2 months ago when I was doing the exact same thing. I too got confused on the pistol mags and ordered the wrong ones. I will call them next time and make sure on the phone that I am getting the right thing.

I am curious from other users though, about the velcro inner belt - are you supposed to put a buckle on it or something? It has a hole in the end, and if it is supposed to be the belt that holds up your pants then i imagine you would want the ability to get it pretty tight.

Post pics of yours when you get it all together.

[USCSBarney]

Safariland (aka holsters.com) more often then not takes 3 weeks to ship. They only seem to keep a few popular things n stock. Most things have to get ordered from their assembly facility in Mexico. It normally says so in the fine print when you order.

[t1nm4n]

I wish I had seen this thread 2 months ago when I was doing the exact same thing. I too got confused on the pistol mags and ordered the wrong ones. I will call them next time and make sure on the phone that I am getting the right thing.

I am curious from other users though, about the velcro inner belt - are you supposed to put a buckle on it or something? It has a hole in the end, and if it is supposed to be the belt that holds up your pants then i imagine you would want the ability to get it pretty tight.

Post pics of yours when you get it all together.

The inner belt doesn't need a buckle, it attaches to itself with Velcro, pretty decent hold by itself. Once you have your out-belt set-up the way you want it and go to put it on, get it nice and tight around your waist and it's clasping system with the two knobs and loop to hold the belt in place, it's not going anywhere. I put it on and walked around did some minimal movements like touching my toes and last crap like that, nothing got loose and don't think it will, might tighten up the AR mag holder some. My holster and pistol mag pouches were on back order and didn't come in with everything else, so any pictures I take will be kinda bland, that and ill have more mag pouches than anyone else in 3Gun as I just have a single stack 1911 for the time being. the joys of a bad economy and poor credit, lol.

[AustinWolv]

Make sure to use a belt keeper on the end of the outer belt, because it can pop free from the studs.

[quicky06]

Make sure to use a belt keeper on the end of the outer belt, because it can pop free from the studs.

Got a link to one?

[mlmiller1]

my beltkeeper came with the belt. If you didn't get one, you might holler at the place where you purchased to see if they will send you one. You definitely need it or at least I do.

[AustinWolv]

Yep, should have come with a velcro one. You can get snap ones from pretty much any retailer that has competition or LEO belt stuff.

http://search.freefind.com/find.html?si=98294661&pid=r&n=0&_charset_=UTF-8&bcd=%C3%B7&query=belt+keeper&search.x=-538&search.y=-158&search=Search

[triggerhound]

I really prefer the Blade-Tech AR Mag Pouches over the Safariland.