M9 holster angle?

K

kaizo

Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
798
Hi everyone :)

So a mate of mine wants a holster for a M9 but I haven't tried making a holster yet. I'm thinking of making a holster in this style but what angle should the gun be from the horizontal axis?

Bullseye-Minimal-Holster-Kit-44454-00-1-600_430.jpg


Thank you for your help :)
 
Thats kind of a personal choice. There is no standard but if there were 15 degrees would be close to it. Some folks prefer straight up and down, some canted forwards and I've even made some that were about 15 degrees to the rear, (keeps loger barrels from catching on the cantle of the saddle). Ask your buddy to hold the gun in place on the belt as if it were in a holster and see whats most comfortable for him. On that style of holster pictured (I call that a slide holster) make sure your tabs are wide enough to accomodate a slot about 1/2" longer than the belt is wide. For instance I use a 2" punch for a 1.5" belt. With a heavier gun a stout belt helps. I'm not big on the slots canted in opposite directions either. Too much of a chance of not getting that right and having the belt make a "bump" behind the holster that won't lay flat.
 
Brilliant, thank you very much Dave! Exactly the info I needed :)

Oh in case you're wondering his is a model gun. As you know we don't generally have many guns in Britain but for some reason when I asked what he wanted for his birthday he said a holster instead of a sheath for his work knife. If I do make a pouch sheath for his Kershaw down the line I'll report back with the results as well!

Thanks again for your help Dave :)
 
I just checked my EDC that is similar to the shortcut slide shown above. It rings in right around 30 degrees. Checked with both iPhone app and sliding protractor. I started out making my holsters close to straight like your picture, but found the steeper cant more comfortable to tuck into my side. But as Horsewright says, it's very personal because no body shape (or posture) is identical. I've got a very large drawer full of past holsters before I landed on my comfort combination.

I also add a larger back to act as body shield ...for comfort. And do almost all molding on front, and keep the back/shield as flat as possible...again for comfort. Keeps hot points away from the body, which I found extremely important for all-day carry.

mbh8cx.jpg


24mwei8.jpg



________________________________________________________
People Are Strange, When You're a Stranger.
 
Thanks for the info :)

Yeah it seems like the best thing to do is to ask him to do a drawing motion. Thanks for letting me know about the back panel as well. I usually use latigo which is very soft so I might double up in layers there.

Thanks again :)
 
Dang it Bflying you always have the coolest pistolas in your posts! I need a bigger safe! Kaizo, Bflying brings up several great points. I offer the body shield on my holsters too. But ya know don't sell a bunch. Maybe one in four will have the body shield. So the point is so much of this is personal and what works for a specific person is not what somebody else wants. Quien sabe? No hard and fast rules I guess.
 
Thanks again Dave :) I think from the sounds of it it's best to ask my mate to see what he prefers. I was pondering on the idea of using a different gauge latigo for the back. So a thicker one for the back and thinner for the front as well.

Sorry one more thing are straps around the back of a grip a good idea? My shooting experience has only been down a range under supervision so I never had first hand experience of carrying them. Do most of your customers prefer the gun strapped down with snaps or without?

Thanks for your help again :)
 
Definitly way more without than with. I've only done two with a retaining strap in a long period of years. Here's the last one the holster on the right. Its for a Ruger LC9. The gal this was for rides horseback, a lot, in some rough country.

LtMXvRV.jpg
 
Last edited:
Dang Horsewright, I love seeing your work. Mine are nowhere near as pretty. Plus, that holster I posted has seen nearly daily wear for going on two years now.

As to the straps, as H say's above, very personal. If without and only for shooting range or BBQ use, pretty much anything goes. But if for daily/cc carry, make sure there is some good formed retention built in. You want the draw to require a very deliberate action. Most of my retention is from the detents of the slide port and trigger guard.

Also, if the gun is one that has multiple trigger positions (like a Glock before and after dry fire), make sure the trigger is in the forward position before molding around trigger. This is only if you are using the actual gun to form around. If using a blue gun like in H's pics above, no worries either way. You just don't want the leather tugging back on the trigger. ;) I don't make that many, so I just use actual guns inside plastic.
 
Fantastic thanks very much for your help Dave and bflying! I'll base my design around those. Thank you very much for telling me about the trigger I would definitely have missed that if I haven't been told about it beforehand :)

Dave I am especially loving your holster for the revolver :)

Thanks very much for the help again!
 
Thanks guys. I like making holsters. That revolver one is a crossdraw, worn on the left hip. made it for a guy in Alaska.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top