1911 Avenger

[glockanator]

So long story short, I made a 1911 avenger for a 4 inch Kimber. A coworkers husband ended up buying it from me. I have asked her a couple of times about how he liked and she would never give me a straight answer. Well I see him today for the first time and ask him about it. He tells me that he cant get his Colt or Sig 1911 in the holster. And that he has been stretching it with a flash light. I explained that if he wanted to bring the gun and the holster back I would stretch it by getting it wet and re molding the holster. He then said that is the wrong way to go about stretching a holster. I tried to explain to him that it was for a Kimber at which he said it shouldn't matter if it was Kimber or Colt it should still fit. I told him I would remake the holster but would need the other one back first.

I am kinda at a lose here. This is the first holster to be "returned". I guess my ego is more bruised than anything. Does anyone have an Avenger colt pattern they would be willing to share?

[Dwight]

When you have tried unsucessfully to keep someone from doing something stupid, . . . best thing is to leave em alone.

He obviously knows more than you do

He then said that is the wrong way to go about stretching a holster.

, or at least he thinks so.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Shooter McGavin]

Is he trying to put a commander sized Colt into the Kimber holster? Because if so, the Commander is a tad longer than the Kimber.

[camano ridge]

I would not let your ego be bruised. If he is willing to waist his time trying to make a gun fit that it was not made for he must be happy with the holster just not the fit. I would say it's his ego that is a little to big, and with all of his knowledge of holsters I am wondering why he didn't make his own.

[chiefjason]

Sig is in their own little design world. They have a larger slide on the top than your standard 1911. Heck, some purists refuse to call them 1911's. I built one recently from a customers Sig. My Colt blue gun would not fit the holster. And SM is right, the standard commander length is 4.25". So that's an issue too.

[George B]

I've had a couple with the same problem. In both cases the customer was good enough about it to bring me the 1911 and make a new one.

Fully formed and detailed Avengers and belt slots, I have to have the 1911 or the exact dummy gun to guaranty fit.

There are way too many variations on 1911s for a detailed one size fits all holster. In my humble opinion.

Since starting gun shows I now make Avengers with a tension screw and belt slots with a little more forgiveness in stitch line and barrel length.

For a detailed holster I do require the actual 1911.

Has cut down a little on that model sales but with a lot less stress and customer complaints. I can deal with that.

On the flip side, I always sell out of the "generic" 1911 holsters at each show.

You attempted to correct the problem for your buyer, that's all you can do in my opinion.

[glockanator]

I would normally have told him I would not warranty the holster since he stretched it with a mag light but since his wife is a good friend of mine I am going above and beyond. I will post pictures of the holster he returned a little later.

[mlapaglia]

Selling to relatives of friends is often a problem. Sounds like you have this under control. Get him to document how to stretch a holster and we can all learn the secret.

[glockanator]

[chiefjason]

Oh, now I see the problem. He obviously bought one of the new round 1911's.

[c2369zulu]

Did you wet form the flashlight properly before selling it to him ?

[ikewineb]

I'm sorry, but that's really funny. "yeah, it didn't fit, so i just crammed a flashlight in there to stretch it". Side note, I've got one of the Sig 1911's. Sig offers their standard 1911 and what they call a traditional with a normal size slide. You need to be sure which one the customer has. I could never get my Sig to fit in any holster I bought (before I started making my own). If I'd only known about the flashlight technique..

[glockanator]

He keep telling me "if its a 1911 holster than any 1911 should fit it." After the third time trying to explain it I gave up.told him I would make one for his commander. On a side not his wife told me this is his standard thing to do with holsters.

[SooperJake]

He keep telling me "if its a 1911 holster than any 1911 should fit it." After the third time trying to explain it I gave up.told him I would make one for his commander. On a side not his wife told me this is his standard thing to do with holsters.

I wouldn't make another one for him, once you rectify the first. Paid for or not. I would, however, ask him if he needs a holster for his flashlight

[malabar]

So a fellow calls me up one day and tells me he bought a 1911 holster from me and he put his 1911 into it and now he can't get it out. I tell him to stop by and he does....

He bought the IWB holster from a local gun shop that stocks a few of my holsters. It's clearly labeled for a standard 1911. The gun that is stuck in the holster is a railed SIG 1911. I ask him if he knew the difference, and he admits he does but says he thought the holster would stretch.

He told me it was pretty tight, so he figured he would just cram the gun into the holster and stretch it out. That's when I ask him why its cocked and locked. He blushes and says that's the proper way to carry it. So, I ask him, you figure shoving a cocked and locked pistol into a holster is a good way to stretch it?

I get my kid, he keeps the gun pointed in a safe direction, I use a piece of wire to decock the gun, and the two of use carefully wiggle the gun out of the holster.

The punchline to the story? The guy was a cop....

[PappyUSA]

So a fellow calls me up one day and tells me he bought a 1911 holster from me and he put his 1911 into it and now he can't get it out. I tell him to stop by and he does....

He bought the IWB holster from a local gun shop that stocks a few of my holsters. It's clearly labeled for a standard 1911. The gun that is stuck in the holster is a railed SIG 1911. I ask him if he knew the difference, and he admits he does but says he thought the holster would stretch.

He told me it was pretty tight, so he figured he would just cram the gun into the holster and stretch it out. That's when I ask him why its cocked and locked. He blushes and says that's the proper way to carry it. So, I ask him, you figure shoving a cocked and locked pistol into a holster is a good way to stretch it?

I get my kid, he keeps the gun pointed in a safe direction, I use a piece of wire to decock the gun, and the two of use carefully wiggle the gun out of the holster.

The punchline to the story? The guy was a cop....

Not all cops are gun savy. I have a Glock 23 with a stainless 22 upper and when my son showed it to a friend of his who is a local cop he didn’t recognize it as a Glock. Even tho the PD here uses Glocks!

[jackd942]

Not all cops are gun savy. I have a Glock 23 with a stainless 22 upper and when my son showed it to a friend of his who is a local cop he didn’t recognize it as a Glock. Even tho the PD here uses Glocks!

From my experience as an officer on a small dept, the majority of the officers were not gun savvy. We had about 20 officers plus reserves and only about 5 or 6 were enthusiasts. The rest only had basic instruction in the academy and qualified twice per year.

[PappyUSA]

From my experience as an officer on a small dept, the majority of the officers were not gun savvy. We had about 20 officers plus reserves and only about 5 or 6 were enthusiasts. The rest only had basic instruction in the academy and qualified twice per year.

After many years of selling holsters to LE I came to the conclusion that they come from all walks of life.

[glockanator]

Okay dumb question I have a scrap piece of 4-5 oz that I am going to do this holster from.do I need to double up the throat belt piece as well?