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Retention holster


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Pros:You dont drop a gun

Cons: slower draw

If that .5 seconds (very conservative) is worth a match DQ, go for the non retention holster. Personally, I'll give up the time because I have to pay for my matches. At a major, it can cost you $1000 easily when you add airfare, hotel, ammo, match fees, and missed prizes.

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A hood is not needed - you are only trying to keep the gun in the holster during vigorous movement (its not like a perp is trying to snatch your gun). There are several other retention designs out there that are fast and easy to learn. I like the Safariland GLS (very fast draw, acceptable retention for 3-Gun), and my son runs a Safariland ALS. I have also used the 5.11 Thumbdrive, and see many other options out there (SERPA etc.). Of course, finding one to fit your particular gun could be a challenge depending on its configuration. Good luck.

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How vigorous is your movement? I shoot with several guys that haul a$$ and do not use retention holsters. Unless your courses have lots of jumping and climbing then the extra retaining devices seem like overkill. I personally run a regular bladetech and just tighten the screws. 

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My son uses a Bladetech

3 minutes ago, usmc1094 said:

I'm not going home because my handgun fell out of my holster just because I wanted to save a few seconds.

My son uses a Bladetech WRS LVL II for his DVC 3-gun pistol and this is his 2nd one when he changed from a Glock Loves it. The fraction of a second to hit the release far outweighs the cost of going to a match and getting a DQ. Have seen several dropped guns due to forgetting to tighten set screws or retaining screws just loosening up.

gerritm

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think there are three options - hood (bladetech wrs, etc), something that locks on the trigger guard (like some open holsters, or the blackhawk serpa), and just a friction fit where you tighten the retaining screws (bladetech DOH).  the first two are nice in that once the retention is removed, there is no friction and thus you have a nice smooth draw.  but, you have to do something to release the retention and that can slow you down at least a little.

the WRS with the hood works pretty good for me with STI Edge and Eagle.  if you're starting with handgun, you don't need to engage the hood (unlike uspsa) so it's just a quick, frictionless draw.  otherwise most times you're running to another array and have time to flick the hood and draw so it doesn't cost you any time.  there are other 'hood' options including some where you press down with your thumb which is more natural than pressing the tab left with your thumb but i'm sticking with the WRS just because i have it and it works.

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4 hours ago, The Donald said:

A bunch of us local shooters have Safarilard ALS holsters. The retain a pistol well, but are a easy draw. The release is hit by you middle finger as you grip your pistol. They are also reasonably priced.

That is the GLS system. The ALS is activated by the thumb.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I just bought a gls for my tanfo and it doesn't seem to work very well. I can pull the gun out without hitting the lever with my finger and I can't re holster it because the retention lock doesn't flip out of the way.

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54 minutes ago, HawkMoney said:

I just bought a gls for my tanfo and it doesn't seem to work very well. I can pull the gun out without hitting the lever with my finger and I can't re holster it because the retention lock doesn't flip out of the way.

 

Did you insert the shim? It is needed for frames that have a narrow trigger guard. I had a gls when I had my SP01 and it worked very well.

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14 hours ago, mveto said:

 

Did you insert the shim? It is needed for frames that have a narrow trigger guard. I had a gls when I had my SP01 and it worked very well.

You need to use the shim on 2011's too.

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  • 5 months later...
On 12/2/2016 at 1:49 PM, Core3gunner said:

Ok, we one for and one against. What do the rest of y'all think?

I've struggled with this for a while...namely because I've never found a retention holster that I really like (except for the 5.11 holster for my G34, but I don't shoot glock anymore)

 

For me now, at rigorous matches i tend to use a retention holster....but for local matches with limited movement, I use my bladetech.

 

Non-retention holsters can have significant retention....with mine, I have two thumbscrews on mine and if the stage calls for it, I tighten them right now

 

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Picked up a Blackhawk omnivore to try out a light on a glock. The retention works well so far in dry fire. Plan to try it out in an outlaw match next weekend. They make a model for guns with just a pic rail (although you do have to mount a small adapter). Not sure if it is a 3 gun nation legal holster but so far has worked well in the garage. You can also cheat it a little at make ready and pre unlock if you don't push it all the way back down. 

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  • 10 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

get a GLS and mod it like the video shows below. my DVC limited fits great and has the retention on the grip so the second you go to draw it naturally releases retention. And its super cheap on amazon, I spent the extra $ on the invictus practical hanger with the safari land Y mount, awesome setup for huge value 

 

 

 

 

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