Holster For Xd + Laser/light

[Shooter McGavin]

I'm not so sure I can make a nice pancake holster with adequate retention for this pistol. What does the LW.Net mindhive have to say? Any pics of something similar youve seen or done?

Thanks

Dan

Sorry for the bad image quality... I upsized it from a very small cell phone photo.

[Rayban]

I'm working on one now, very same situation. I'll post a pic tomorrow on your thread if you don't mind.

While you won't be able to get "lock down" type retention in the trigger guard, I believe you can still get some, then some at the extraction port..........Plus, I believe that proper fit alone will give "adequate retention" on a pancake.

As my customer says, "my jumping over fences, and crawling on the ground days are over"........we both agree that a good fitting holster will do the job.

[Lobo]

Much of the retention quality of a pancake-style holster is provided by the belt tension applied fore-and-aft, pulling the holstered weapon into the body. A good sturdy belt is every bit as important as the holster that it is intended to support.

Retention qualities can be substantially increased by good fitting work, and boning of the major points (trigger guard, ejection port, etc) will contribute to the goal. If additional retention qualities are needed (or if the customer just requires additional peace of mind) a thumb-break might be considered.

Many of the tactical accessories (lasers, lights, etc) that I have looked at could cause some problems due to bulk, overall size, and widths exceeding those of the pistol to which they are to be mounted. These can make forming a holster a bit of a problem, since the requirement for the larger space is near the bottom of the holster so the upper portion and holster mouth may need to remain larger than the portions of the handgun they contain.

Another potential issue that I have seen with many of these accessory items is the materials of which they are made. Plastic laser and light modules will certainly be more subject to holster wear than any handgun part. Anodized aluminum mounts and housings are certain to display wear from friction very quickly. Exposed screw-heads on mounting brackets could tear grooves inside a leather holster during repeated use. Should any of these things occur you can be reasonably certain that the customer will blame the holster maker, not his "tacti-cool" accessories.

My thoughts, for what they may be worth.

[TwinOaks]

Heavy molding around the trigger and top of slide is all you've got available, unfortunately. Remember that you've got to leave a little wiggle room for the switch on the light otherwise you get unintended activation. The best option I've found is to oversize a channel for the light and get as tight as I can on the slide. The result still works out to 'less than what I want' in retention, so I always add a thumb break strap to those. If you plan a strap from the beginning, you can just make a 'box' holster for it, and wet mold the slide area.

[PHIPPS CRAFTED LEATHER]

I recently made this one for an XD 40 cal. It doesn't have the light attached but it may help some. I have had a request for one for a S&W 40 also with a light kit. Let us know how it works out.

[Sixer]

I just finished a holster for one of our local SWAT guys. He had an HK .45 with a TLR-2 on the rail.

I don't have any pics at the moment, but the holster is basically a "bucket" with a thumb break. The customer loved it. Personally I thought it was kind of ugly, but it was definitely functional. There was absolutely no molding around the trigger guard... any attempt at retention around the trigger would have made it hard / impossible to holster the weapon.

This is a pic of the holster I used as a reference... This is a Don Hume holster, not mine... but the one I made is almost exactly the same -

http://www.glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1307465

[Dwight]

I don't have a picture, . . . but we ran across this same problem in my last class.

The student wanted a pancake for his Glock with a laser light, . . . looked a lot like this one.

We wound up doing an Avenger style instead, . . . and he was delighted.

It looked a lot like the Don Hume in the post above, . . . just without the retention strap.

Since both are OWB style, . . . it worked out well for him.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited April 2, 2011 by Dwight

[Shooter McGavin]

So here is the outcome. I'm not 100% pleased with it but the customer seemed ecstatic.

[Reaper]

nice

Edited May 10, 2011 by Reaper

[RWP]

love how it came out!