G30 Holster Problems

[particle]

I recently shipped out a pair of Glock 30 holsters to the same customer. After trying for several days to get the holsters to fit his Glock, he contacted me for further advice. I suggested he wrap the gun in thick freezer-grade zip-lock bags and let it set overnight. He said it helped a little, but it was still way too tight. I also suggested he try spraying a little Remington Dri Lube teflon spray inside to help break the friction - he happened to have some on-hand, but said it didn't really make a difference. I asked him to ship the holsters back to me so I could take a look and remake if necessary.

I received the holsters today and tried each one on with my Rings G30 dummy. Frankly, I think both holsters are perfect - they draw very easily. The holsters are tight enough that the dummy won't fall out with the shake-test, but I can still draw them with very little effort. Is it possible my G30 is considerably undersized to the point my holsters are too small for the actual gun, even after the bagged break-in procedure? What about the Gen 4 vs Gen 3 differences? It's my understanding the Gen 4 is dimensionally the same where it matters (for holsters) with the only notable difference being the grip angle and grip texture.

At this point, I'm debating just bumping my stitch lines out 1/16" in each direction and remaking them...

[mlapaglia]

I recently shipped out a pair of Glock 30 holsters to the same customer. After trying for several days to get the holsters to fit his Glock, he contacted me for further advice. I suggested he wrap the gun in thick freezer-grade zip-lock bags and let it set overnight. He said it helped a little, but it was still way too tight. I also suggested he try spraying a little Remington Dri Lube teflon spray inside to help break the friction - he happened to have some on-hand, but said it didn't really make a difference. I asked him to ship the holsters back to me so I could take a look and remake if necessary.

I received the holsters today and tried each one on with my Rings G30 dummy. Frankly, I think both holsters are perfect - they draw very easily. The holsters are tight enough that the dummy won't fall out with the shake-test, but I can still draw them with very little effort. Is it possible my G30 is considerably undersized to the point my holsters are too small for the actual gun, even after the bagged break-in procedure? What about the Gen 4 vs Gen 3 differences? It's my understanding the Gen 4 is dimensionally the same where it matters (for holsters) with the only notable difference being the grip angle and grip texture.

At this point, I'm debating just bumping my stitch lines out 1/16" in each direction and remaking them...

I have a pre-rail G30 if you want me to take any measurements. Is his with or without a rail?

Michael

[troop]

the biggest issues i have with complaints that my holsters are too tight are ALWAYS with Glocks. i think the fact that Glocks are so squared in their design may have something to do with how the holster grabs the gun when using the traditional stitch line measurements i use with any other gun. i have found that if i loosen it 1/16th of an inch it does help. with the 9 adn 40 cal glocks i force a glock 45 in it to stretch after its complete. that helps too. also try to not make such a heavy forward cant with the glock. again i think because of its shape too much of a forward angle makes it grab the gun

Tony

[Shooter McGavin]

Double bag them for a couple of days and then see if a friend has a G29 or G30 you can borrow. I think the rings guns for the Glocks are undersized. I made a thumb break holster for a G26 and while perfect on the dummy gun, I was 3/4 of a snap away from closing up on the real deal. Luckily my customer was local and patient with me.

Nice holster BTW. Im going to try my first VM2 inspired IWB here shortly. Any pointers you care to share would be appreciated.

[glockanator]

Double bag them for a couple of days and then see if a friend has a G29 or G30 you can borrow. I think the rings guns for the Glocks are undersized. I made a thumb break holster for a G26 and while perfect on the dummy gun, I was 3/4 of a snap away from closing up on the real deal. Luckily my customer was local and patient with me.

Nice holster BTW. Im going to try my first VM2 inspired IWB here shortly. Any pointers you care to share would be appreciated.

If it was me I would take them into your local gun store and try them out. Worse case is you get to spend sometime in your favorite gun store.

[joshk]

it sounds to me that your model is slightly out of spec and is a bit smaller than it should be.... I actually had the same exact issue a while back with a Ring's G30 model too.... all the holsters fit the model perfect but were just too tight for the users.... I wound up ordering another model and the problem was solved with no issues since.... if I would have had a mic I would've measured them both to see what the actual difference was....

[Denster]

Nice looking holsters Eric. If your customer could get his gun in the holster with a freezer strength bag on it then it isn't a problem with your holster design or fit. May be with his expectations. Also both of those designs will put tension on the weapon when worn and they do need to be worn for a few hours with the weapon in to allow a comfortable draw. You can speed this up with a spray of pure silicone oil. That is a tidbit I got from Red Nichols the reitred designer for Bianchi on another forum and it really does work.

[katsass]

Particle; One problem that has occurred infrequently to me, but that HAS reared it's ugly head once in a while, is that a customer may want a certain cant on the holster BUT that cant does not fit the customer. In other words, with the holster riding as the customer THINKS he wants it, his physical ergo-dynamics (how's that for a fancy word?) cause him to actually jamb the gun in the holster as he attempts to draw. The angle of his arm movement doesn't fit the angle of the holster. Just a thought. Mike

Edited April 6, 2012 by katsass

[JoelR]

Rings blue guns for Glocks are notoriously under-sized. I've seen them fall out of molded Kydex holsters. Last gun I did for a Glock 37, I wrapped the blue gun in 6mil plastic and the fit was just slightly tight but was able to break-in in a few days - I'll use two layers of 6mil next time. Same holster had the same issue that Shooter mentioned with the retention strap. Had to stretch it when I delivered it and had the owner put a piece of cardboard over the end of the slide and let it stretch for a few extra days. As soon as I got home, I added a piece of .93 Kydex to the back of the slide so it would not happen again.

[Haystacker]

I always have the same problems with glocks. a couple of other things I have tried is use a sock instead of the freezer bag and rub a little clear shoe polish on the inside of the holster.

Good luck.

[BigRiverLeather]

A while back I had some issues with a large multiple order with the holsters being too tight. Bagging wouldn't work. If it did, it wasn't for long and it seemed they shrunk back.

That was when I first tried LeatherKote. I got if from Brownell's. Create your account as a manufacturer and you will get a good discount. I bought the small jar and shipped it to the customer. It immediately solved their problem. I keep some on hand now and use it frequently. It really slicks up the draw and any holsters that come out tight are no longer an issue.

ETA: last time I went to buy some (spilled my jar, normally will last a LONG time) Brownells was out and I was able to get it from Midway.

http://www.brownells...ct/LEATHER-KOTE

Edited April 9, 2012 by BigRiverLeather

[Mike Craw]

I go with the undersized Blue gun. I have a Rings 1911A1 and it's a good 1/10 under in the width of the slide.

Mike

[particle]

Thank you everyone for the excellent feedback! That Leather-Kote looks interesting. I wonder how that differs from the Remington Dri Lube I've been using (comes in a spray can)?

Before I remake the holsters, I am giving the sock method a try... I inserted the gun in a gym sock, then bagged it in a thin ziplock bag wrapped around the slide/trigger guard, then holstered it. It's sitting on my bench stretching right now. My hope is the dummy will practically fall out of the holster when turned upside down. I'll ship one of the holsters back to the customer once it's stretched a while for his review, and if he's happy with it, I'll repeat the procedure on the other holster.

If this sock method works, I may just keep building holsters with the same un-modified dummies and update my break-in procedure with this "if all else fails" method, but will suggest the customer start with a thinner dress sock before moving on to thicker gym socks. This sock method will hopefully allow me to continue detail molding the holsters (will be hard to detail mold a holster that's wrapped in a bag during forming), but will provide an option for the customer to take a more drastic method of break-in than a normal plastic bag allows.

I'll keep you updated on my progress...

[J Hayes]

FWIW I"ve done a few Glock 23,19 holsters, the first few were super tight. The ejection port was the culprit, I molded from my actual Glock and went a bit to far pushing in the ejection port area. The next ones were pushed in just enough to get a nice outline and that seemed to help. the stich lines were tight on mine, had to force them in when wet molding, and I used one layer of cling wrap or nothing. Just a thought and something I ran into.

Nice looking rigs by the way!!

Jeremy

[Viking]

The other consideration that complicates issues for the holster maker is that GLOCK models 29,30 and 20,21 are now available in a different frame size. It is called the GLOCK 30 SF which stands for "Short Frame" where the frame dimensions are slightly smaller. They do however, retain identical slide dimensions. It is possible that Ring's G 30 blue gun model is crafted in either G30 SF or G30 - causing confusion for the maker & customer.

I know this is heresy on this board - but when making any GLOCK holster, I have found that Kydex is the superior material for the blocky shape of any GLOCK. I use a kydex holster for tactical pistol competition for my GLOCK 21 SF. When I make a leather holster for a GLOCK I stick to a very tapered loose mouthed pankace-type. The stiching has to be just right because of the square slide.

[joshk]

The other consideration that complicates issues for the holster maker is that GLOCK models 29,30 and 20,21 are now available in a different frame size. It is called the GLOCK 30 SF which stands for "Short Frame" where the frame dimensions are slightly smaller. They do however, retain identical slide dimensions. It is possible that Ring's G 30 blue gun model is crafted in either G30 SF or G30 - causing confusion for the maker & customer.

the dimensional differences between a 30 and a 30SF will have zero affect on fit/function of a holster.... the only place there is an actual difference in any dimension is the backstrap of the grip only.... the slide and rest of the frame are exactly the same dimensionally.... the same is also true for the 20 and 29....

where it makes a difference in holsters is with the Glock 21 and the 21 SF only.... the 21 SF has an entirely different rail than the 21 that sticks out below the frame.... with these two models it's a case of a 21 will fit a 21 SF holster, but a 21 SF will not fit a 21 holster due to the rail difference....

Edited April 14, 2012 by joshk

[Shooter McGavin]

the dimensional differences between a 30 and a 30SF will have zero affect on fit/function of a holster.... the only place there is an actual difference in any dimension is the backstrap of the grip only.... the slide and rest of the frame are exactly the same dimensionally.... the same is also true for the 20 and 29....

where it makes a difference in holsters is with the Glock 21 and the 21 SF only.... the 21 SF has an entirely different rail than the 21 that sticks out below the frame.... with these two models it's a case of a 21 will fit a 21 SF holster, but a 21 SF will not fit a 21 holster due to the rail difference....

To make it more confusing, the 21SF comes in 2 versions, the Glock rail and the picatinny rail. The 20/21SF with the Glock rail should cause no fitment issues when using a standard 20/21 molding gun. The SF models with the picatinny rails are a whole other story.

[joshk]

Shooter.... the picatinny is the different rail I was referring to.... out of 20, 21, 29, 30, and the SF versions of those, the only one that will have an affect on holster fit is the 21SF because of the picatinny.... other than that, a SF version and non-SF version of the same gun are identical from a holster maker's point of view....

[Shooter McGavin]

I was trying to get across that not all of the 20/21 SF's have the picatinny rail. Some do, maybe even most, but not all. Some 20/21 SF's have the standard Glock rail

[Viking]

I have the G21 with the picatinny rail; I have been meaning to send it into Glock to have the frame exchanged (they do this for free) but I have too many aftermarket parts installed as it is my main competition pistol. The picatinny rail is a worthless feature - but the ambi-mag release is nice on a Glock.

[red3]

Does anyone have a real glock 17/22 that they can measure the slide width on before I try to make a holster from an undersized blue gun? I have micrometers to measure the blue gun but no real gun to test against.....if the blue gun is too undersized I was thinking I could put some tape on the slide to build it up.....

[J Hayes]

Does anyone have a real glock 17/22 that they can measure the slide width on before I try to make a holster from an undersized blue gun? I have micrometers to measure the blue gun but no real gun to test against.....if the blue gun is too undersized I was thinking I could put some tape on the slide to build it up.....

Per Glock Website 30mm/ 1.18", that's the frame just below slide. Slide on my G23 (40 compact) is1.010 if I remember how to read my vernier properly.

Jeremy

[mlapaglia]

Does anyone have a real glock 17/22 that they can measure the slide width on before I try to make a holster from an undersized blue gun? I have micrometers to measure the blue gun but no real gun to test against.....if the blue gun is too undersized I was thinking I could put some tape on the slide to build it up.....

1.0055 at the slide 1.1500 at the wide spot below the slide on the frame. This is on a Glock 17 Gen 4 25th anniversary issue. Let me know if you need any other measurements.

Michael

Edited April 20, 2012 by mlapaglia

[particle]

I forgot to post an update. The customer replied back a couple of days ago and said the fit is now perfect for both of his holsters without any additional chemical treatments/additives to the leather. I can't remember if I posted previously, but I inserted the dummy into a thick cotton gym sock, then inserted the sock'd dummy into a zip-lock bag, wrapped the bag around the trigger guard and slide, then holstered the dummy for a good 24 hours. The fit was pretty loose on the dummy after that, but not quite enough for the dummy to fall out without aggressive shaking.

That being said, I don't know what the customer's expectations are for how tight the retention should be. He may like overly loose fitting holsters, or perhaps he's just 'normal' and the dummies truly are that far undersized. I don't make a ton of holsters - only maybe 100+/- per year, but I've made a lot of Glock holsters and this is the first customer that's contacted me saying his holsters were way too tight.

Edited April 20, 2012 by particle

[red3]

1.0055 at the slide 1.1500 at the wide spot below the slide on the frame. This is on a Glock 17 Gen 4 25th anniversary issue. Let me know if you need any other measurements.

Michael

Thank you, thats exactly what I needed.....My Blue gun measured about 25 thou under on both dimensions...... I dont suppose you have access to a 21 for the same measurements?

Thanks again

Don