New Safariland 015 Competition Holster

[HI5-O]

1 hour ago, Bmans45 said:

Just ordered a red one . its a month to 50 days to fill order. middle of summer I should have some feed back 

I just ordered one too. I guess because it’s custom made for me it takes 35-50 days and special products may take longer (says that when you place order). 
 

Curious about how these various guns will fit. Only had one option that covered a few brands of pistols (Colt style 1911, STI, SVI, EAA).

[stock]

So today I got a lefty 015 to run in open next season.  I will say it will take a little bit to get used to the lever but all in all it's built nicely. My CK 2011 steel grip fits perfectly and the Dan Wesson Havok is a little loose but it stays locked till you trip the lever 

[rishii]

3 hours ago, stock said:

So today I got a lefty 015 to run in open next season.  I will say it will take a little bit to get used to the lever but all in all it's built nicely. My CK 2011 steel grip fits perfectly and the Dan Wesson Havok is a little loose but it stays locked till you trip the lever 

Question on the Havoc, i run caspian wide body's how is the retention with the holster  unlocked, any possibility of it falling out

[stock]

This holster is not like the 014.  You lock the gun in place and it stays that way till you draw the gun . Your middle finger actually is what trips the lock lever to release the gun as you pull it from the holster.  

[rishii]

interesting 

so it’s a retention holster with a release lever,  how easy is it to hit the release lever on the draw and does it automatically lock when you reholster.

thanks for the info, the safariland website other than having a pretty picture of it, kinda sucks on how it operates 

 

[stock]

You have to lock it with your thumb after  the gun is holstered and leave it locked till you draw the gun. It takes a little different action than what I would regularly do. Your middle finger hits the lever as you grab the gun and releases the lock . 

[stock]

I would say it's not the best choice for the thin trigger guard on a Caspian frame gun . My Edge fit nicely along with the CK open gun . It holds the Dan Wesson Havok but it isn't as locked in as the typical 2011 . That being said I will probably be using it as I'm thinking that I will use the Havok as my primary when I start shooting open .

[ahfox32]

Got my holster (Cheely E2 grip) yesterday & like it. Lock is secure and draw is very smooth. Only issue is the thigh pad digs into me unlike the Alpha which did not. Had an old Beretta gel comb pad laying around so I cut two circular pieces and put on the thigh pad. Seems to help. Anyone else that has this holster have any other thoughts/suggestions?

[Birdie]

will this fit a tanfoglio gold custom

[ahfox32]

Tried the holster on an Xtreme open and a Match Xtreme 6" limited gun. No go for either. The tanfos trigger guard is much larger that the Cheely E2. 

[avastcosmicarena]

On 5/4/2020 at 9:56 PM, Unregistered said:

 

All of them has something I don't like... The Safariland 014 had some wobble in the gun when holstered, and I don't like the muzzle support. Not able to get into some awkward positions that European matches love. The Everglades really jabbed me quite hard in the leg, but has a great holster body.

 

The Alpha-X is my current holster, but with my new Venom guns they hang up unless I have a perfectly vertical draw. The hanger on the Alpha-X is pretty awesome though.

 

Hopefully the 015 solves all the problems......

Did you ever do this comparison? I'm trying to decide which to order now.

[Unregistered]

16 hours ago, avastcosmicarena said:

Did you ever do this comparison? I'm trying to decide which to order now.

 

Only dryfire experience so far. I'll wait until I get to the range with the holster this weekend before I report back!

[Unregistered]

Alright... so I've had some dryfire time (~5 hours) and some livefire time (~10 hours) with this holster now. For your reference, I am using a SVI Signature metal grip. Shouldn't really matter, but it's their micropocket model with double undercut trigger guard. All my holster experiences have been with this grip. New guns are using a cheely XWF frame and the old gun was a CK Arms frame. 

 

I will be sticking with the 015 over my previous choice, the Alpha-X.

 

How'd I get here?

 

Started with a CR Speed. I dropped my gun from it, with the holster locked. Proper shims were installed. Apparently this is a feature.... Nope.

 

DAA Race Master - perfect up/down draw stroke needed, otherwise it catches/hangs up every so often. Not enough for it to really be replicated on demand, but enough that it was a problem. Tried adjusting/filing the block, no real success.

 

Manny Bragg Magnetic holster / Everglades - I have both. Great release from the holster with the ball design. Magnets were interesting, but added some resistance and took a bit away from the short "release" distance. Was the best gun release I had found so far, but I couldn't get the holster to fit nicely with or without the thigh pad. Something was always jabbing me in the thigh, and also stopped me from getting as low in a low port crouching situation. I'm fairly flexible and can often take  a knee and bend enough to not go prone... but this holster hindered that.

 

Safariland 014 - Very nice (though not as nice as the everglades) release in terms of how smooth the holster let the gun go, and how short of a distance. But even with the muzzle support, I still found the gun wobbling too much within the holster side-to-side. Shooting a steel challenge match with it, with all the hands above shoulders starts, really showed me that this wasn't going to work.

 

DAA Alpha-X - 3 season with this. Absolutely the best hanger I've had. The angled piece that takes the holster body away from the hanger is amazing. I've had the gun catch a few times here and there on a less than stellar draw, but was willing to live with it. Gun travels ~5-6mm before release, with a slight bit of resistance on the stroke. The gun can't start coming forward until this is cleared.

 

Safariland 015 - by far the best releasing holster I've used. The gun moves ~2mm before the retention is completely disengaged silently and without resistance. This allows the muzzle to start coming upwards towards the target before the trigger guard is even half-cleared of the holster block. I love it. The adjustment is great. The thigh pad while not contact-free like the Alpha-X is actually fairly tolerable. I am still getting used to this holster and to be fair, I have dropped my gun from it twice during dryfire. I find that I have to consciously press the gun to the rear of the holster before lowering into the retention mechanism. The lock does operate even if the retention system isn't engaged (unlike the DAA), so having the locking lever in the "locked" position is no guarantee of correct gun seating. I chalk this up to muscle memory from being able to just "drop" my gun into the Alpha-X built up over 3 seasons, so will be working on this.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Unregistered
Added some details on what grip etc I'm using

[Silverscooby27]

This is awesome. Thanks for taking the time to type this up. 

[ahfox32]

Great write-up. I've had my 015 for a week and really like it for my 2011 (Cheely E2 grip). Effortless going in the holster and very smooth coming out. Rock solid pistol retention when the lever is locked down. Only issue is the locking lever was hitting the extended mag release button. Removed the button and the stock mag release works fine. 

 

[avastcosmicarena]

I have one on order. They've been pretty slow so far. Should ship soon hopefully.

[Bmans45]

Mine is still on order . It’s been about a month now. Not sure how I am going to like having to hit the lever over the Everglades I already have . Hopefully I will get it soon. 

[HI5-O]

4 hours ago, Bmans45 said:

Mine is still on order . It’s been about a month now. Not sure how I am going to like having to hit the lever over the Everglades I already have . Hopefully I will get it soon. 

A couple days ago I received notification that my holster has been shipped. So it was about 30 days after I placed my order through Safariland.

 

 I’ll let you know about the lever lock. I believe the lock doesn’t have to be used all the time when drawing the gun. 

[Silverscooby27]

4 hours ago, HI5-O said:

A couple days ago I received notification that my holster has been shipped. So it was about 30 days after I placed my order through Safariland.

 

 I’ll let you know about the lever lock. I believe the lock doesn’t have to be used all the time when drawing the gun. 

It does not.

[Bmans45]

It came yesterday. I got in late so really have not had a lot of time to do anything but look at it . I do know I am not impressed by the customer service . When I was trying to order one there response to email was slow and unhelpful. Didn’t get a email it had shipped . Yes I looked in my trash and spam folder . 
 

First impression of the holster Is it’s very well made . I like the ability to take it apart for travel .

[Bmans45]

Well it’s a no go on my limited gun. Holds the gun just fine . The extended mag release With the Ed Brown button on it won’t let the lever lock without pushing the mag button and the mag popping out. Works good on my 1911’s 

[ahfox32]

I had this same issue with my Cheely grip gun. My solution was to get a Brazos Cyclone low profile mag button. Works perfectly and looks great.

[rmercado]

Got mine in for my Atlas, any concerns with leaving it unlocked when ready to start vs keeping it locked and sweeping the lock - been dry practicing, sometimes I miss the lock, sometimes I start pulling before it's fully unlocked.

[Unregistered]

I have yet to lock the holster with a loaded gun.

 

If a stage required significant movement before drawing, I would. Though in that case, I 99% would draw the gun before the movement anyways. Not many situations in IPSC matches that require the gun to be holstered for any duration after the beep.

[Robertwil18]

I got the Safarliand 015 holster on Wednesday and have been working with it during dry fire and yesterday at the range.  I'm using it with my Honcho with PT grip, and the retention is superb.  It is smooth enough either locked, or unlocked that the pistol is quickly released, and even unlocked, it is retained enough that movement is possible.  I am still getting used to the lever lock during the draw, but I would say i am about 99% of the way to being able to release it every time without issue.  With that said, after the Load and Make Ready command, I would not likely see the need in reengaging the lever lock.  So far, a great product, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it holds up.  I will advise it may be smart to put some blue loctite on ALL of the screws for the holster once you've got it where you want it.  The screw on the bottom of the holster began coming loose after about 1000 draw cycles and it began to intermittently not want to allow the grip to release.  I have since put a small amount of loctite on it and witness marked it to track if it is a consistent issue.