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Open Gun Holsters - Opinions Please!


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Guga Ribas. The lock lever has two positions; semi-locked and fully locked. The gun can't come out on either one, but the lever is easier to disengage on semi-locked for moving starts. You'd have to break something to get the gun to come out accidentally....like snap the trigger guard off!

The lock on the Ghost isn't nearly as secure...seems to need a much stronger spring. The lock lever on the Limcat is tiny.

The Ribas is the most adjustable since the holster body is attached via a ball joint....you can move it in any direction you want, and the hanger has multiple positions for height.

It's the most expensive, but I've owned or tried all the others and none of them are nearly as nice. It's also made out of all metal and takes a pretty good beating. R,

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Honestly? What's wrong w/ your 011? Can it be repaired? An 011 is at least as good as a CR Speed (assuming you're cranking down the tension when you're not shooting).

My experience w/ a Ghost is that its very solid when its locked, and not very solid when its unlocked. And... the locking mechanism and I don't get along, so I had a hard time doing locked starts with it. I didn't have a very good experience w/ a Ribas holster, and never even attempted to use it in competition - if they're all like the one I received, they practically aren't even holding the gun when unlocked, which requires a locked start for everything but the most standing still starts. And, semi-locked on the Ribas is fully locked, just easier to flip off - you can't draw through it...

I'm now shooting a CR Speed, if that tells you anything about my experiences w/ various race holsters... and its not perfect, either...

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I didn't have a very good experience w/ a Ribas holster, and never even attempted to use it in competition - if they're all like the one I received, they practically aren't even holding the gun when unlocked, which requires a locked start for everything but the most standing still starts.

I think they may have had a run of bad/weak springs in the locking mechanism at one point....which could explain it.

The other thing that I've seen people do is not realize that the tension knob works exactly opposite of what you'd think it does. It should go from having virtually no resistance at all to having a fair amount of tension...enough that it's very obviously holding the gun in. On my older model I can crank it down until it's quite hard to get the gun out. R,

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Honestly? What's wrong w/ your 011? Can it be repaired? An 011 is at least as good as a CR Speed (assuming you're cranking down the tension when you're not shooting).

My experience w/ a Ghost is that its very solid when its locked, and not very solid when its unlocked. And... the locking mechanism and I don't get along, so I had a hard time doing locked starts with it. I didn't have a very good experience w/ a Ribas holster, and never even attempted to use it in competition - if they're all like the one I received, they practically aren't even holding the gun when unlocked, which requires a locked start for everything but the most standing still starts. And, semi-locked on the Ribas is fully locked, just easier to flip off - you can't draw through it...

I'm now shooting a CR Speed, if that tells you anything about my experiences w/ various race holsters... and its not perfect, either...

Both my 011's have recently developed cracks / breaks along the portion of the holster that affixes to the belt. These cracks make it impossible to tighten the cant adjustment screw, so what I end up with is a holster that "flops" all over the place. The gun itself is secure in the holster, but the holster doesn't remain stable. I guess they could be repaired with new parts from Safariland, but I haven't pursued that option because I was so disappointed that both of them broke. I'd much prefer to find a good, durable, reliable holster with rock-solid retention.

From the responses here, it seems that the most popular choices are Ghost, Guga Ribas, and CR Speed, with Speedsec in the running too. The Guga is interesting, but the cheapest one I could find was damn near $400 and I won't pay that much for a holster. That leaves the Ghost, CR, and Speedsec. I'm looking to get a new holster pretty quickly - will be shooting Open at A2 and don't have much time to get this right. More opinions and discussion are certainly welcome - I'll take all the feedback into account and place an order on Monday.

Thanks again,

Doug

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Close to $400.00 wow :surprise: . I got mine early so I guess I'm lucky. But if it ever broke, I would pay for a new one.

Nothing wrong with the CR Speed except I did forget to unlock it on two occasions and pulled the gun out from the lock.

Sounds like you don't have much time to get used to the feel of a new holster either. Good luck in your search and A2.

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The other thing that I've seen people do is not realize that the tension knob works exactly opposite of what you'd think it does. It should go from having virtually no resistance at all to having a fair amount of tension...enough that it's very obviously holding the gun in.

This one was at least 3rd gen, and the gun could be easily knocked out at the tightest tension setting... With all the hype around the Ribas, I was quite disappointed :( The earlier ones were obviously better, but what's coming out now is apparently not the same design, anymore...

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I guess they could be repaired with new parts from Safariland, but I haven't pursued that option because I was so disappointed that both of them broke. I'd much prefer to find a good, durable, reliable holster with rock-solid retention.

Well, unfortunately, nothing's perfect. I'm not completely ready to ditch my Ghost, at this point, but I might sell it in the future. Not in the timeline you're looking for, though. Fact is, there just isn't a great option for Open, unfortunately. The market is ripe for someone to produce a holster that securely holds the gun, but lets it go when you want it to... Hmmm....

That leaves the Ghost, CR, and Speedsec. I'm looking to get a new holster pretty quickly - will be shooting Open at A2 and don't have much time to get this right. More opinions and discussion are certainly welcome - I'll take all the feedback into account and place an order on Monday.

I've been told the Speedsec is OK, but I haven't tried one, yet.

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The other thing that I've seen people do is not realize that the tension knob works exactly opposite of what you'd think it does. It should go from having virtually no resistance at all to having a fair amount of tension...enough that it's very obviously holding the gun in.

This one was at least 3rd gen, and the gun could be easily knocked out at the tightest tension setting... With all the hype around the Ribas, I was quite disappointed :( The earlier ones were obviously better, but what's coming out now is apparently not the same design, anymore...

My new Ribas is what I think is the third generation and while it won't go quite as heavy as my old one, it's more than secure enough. I've heard someone else talking about theirs not being really tight and that's why I think they may have gotten some bad springs (or the wrong spring).

I had to take mine almost entirely apart once when it got coated in dirt (don't ask). Turns out there's a 5/8" or so spring that the tension knob screw goes through and pushes on the back of the trigger block arm/hook thingy. If that spring is weak, it would prevent it from having enough tension...or if one of the washers got left out so the spring doesn't have the right surface to push on. Probably an easy fix, but you shouldn't have to do that on a brand new holster. A buddy of mine bought what's either a 3rd or 4th generation and it works perfectly as well. Too bad Dillon doesn't buy the Ribas patents and start cranking them out with aweseom quality control!

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Thanks for all the great responses and suggestions. In the end, I went with a CR Speed - primarily because I could get one quickly just down the road at Dawson's shop. Once I got it put together and adjusted, I did around 200 dry draws and it seems pretty nice. Good retention, good adjustability, pretty simple to operate. Just have to get used to the different "feel" of this holster but so far I'm pleased. Thanks again for your feedback.

Doug

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