Open or closed muzzle holsters?

For my daily cary holsters, open bottom. For outdoors use, closed bottom. Sometimes an open bottom holster will allow dirt, mud, or leaves to pack into the bottom when sitting down in the woods.

Sunday thru Friday in town:



For hunting/outdoor season:





Bob Wright
 
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For both IWB and OWB carry, from experience I only use closed-end holsters. Closed holsters prevent muzzles from becoming damaged unnecessarily. It is also my experience that open-end holster promote rather than prevent the accumulation of crud inside of the barrel.
 
I alternate between a snubnose revolver in an "upside-down" shoulder rig and a full-size automatic in a horizontal shoulder rig.

The upside-down holster is closed, and everything stays nice and clean. I really like the upside-down setup, though it's not appropriate for most guns.

The horizontal holster is open at the muzzle end. That keeps the overall length shorter - the muzzle of the gun still prints slightly - but a truly amazing amount of "fluff" winds up inside the barrel, mostly fibers from my jacket lining, etc.
 
Bob Wright said it well . . . . :)

As an added note . . . I make custom holsters as a hobby and have made a lot of them for semis and revolvers. As far as I'm concerned . . an open toe should extend below the end of the muzzle. Why have a weapon you depend on for either SD or hunting, etc. exposed below the holster where crud can enter the bore if you sit down in the woods or where it could be bumped against something that could damage the crown?

If you carry in a closed toe . . make it a regular habit to clean the holster bucket out and get rid of any accumulated junk, lint, etc. Don't get lazy and say "I'll do it tomorrow". :rolleyes:
 
As to sitting down in the woods, I have often done that; intentionally or not!

And have on a number of occassions come down a steep bank in the sitting position!

Bob Wright
 
After using an open-muzzle IWB hybrid holster for about a year, I can attest to the following:

1. The exposed muzzle does occasionally bump on things. Sometimes, it bumps hard enough to disengage the pistol from its grip spot in the holster.

2. The exposed muzzle does sometimes bump hard on a hard surface. There is always a layer of pants in between and so far I don't have any noticeable damage but this does make me less than happy.

3. A lot of dust and fuzz does seem to accumulate on the muzzle end of the gun, including inside the barrel. It is worse with some pants fabric than others but still, this is a result of direct contact to the inside-the-pants area and could be avoided by a closed muzzle.

4. I don't care if you are an Eskimo sitting on an ice cub, the interior of your pants will always be a higher temperature with higher humidity than is ideal for gun storage. If you carry this way for 8+ hours a day, you might as well hang up your gun in the bayou. A closed muzzle will at least help to isolate the gun and its most important internal access point from the environment of inside your pants.

Having learned these lessons, I'll never buy another open-muzzle holster again.
 
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The holsters I make all have open muzzles...but I do make them so that the gun's muzzle is set back from the leather opening by 1/2" generally. I've never had a problem with anything plugging up the barrel...hell, I just watch what I'm sitting on...but do have a respect for Bob's comment about sliding down a bank. All of that notwithstanding, the few closed bottom holsters in the house, do seem to collect an assortment of crap in the well.

Here's my latest efforts...the problem was a new 5" barreled M29 Smith...I had a cpl of 6" holsters but not one for a 5. Too, I wanted it to ride high enough that the gun would be comfortable in any conveyance: tractor seat, horseback, ATV, wife's POS car, my truck and the new Jeep Wrangler I took delivery on a week ago.

I made it with a reinforcing flap that allows two positions for the belt; forward and the cant angle is reduced to almost vertical, or with the flap folded back it's a more forward tilting rig. I'm sitting in my barca as I type this with that big .44 strapped on...and in complete comfort, my friends!

Here are the pics....Best Regards, Rod



 
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rodfac:
I made it with a reinforcing flap that allows two positions for the belt; forward and the cant angle is reduced to almost vertical, or with the flap folded back it's a more forward tilting rig. I'm sitting in my barca as I type this with that big .44 strapped on...and in complete comfort, my friends!
Click to expand...

From your photos, I can't quite grasp what you are saying about the flap being folded back. Would you elucidate?

Bob Wright

and what's a "barca"?
 
Here's the explanation: The reinforcing piece is stitched vertically allowing about 1/2 of it free to hinge back along the top of the holster or fwd along the beltline. It changes the angle of drop slightly. Here's a cpl pics. And a Barca is my trusty lounger! (No Pic!) The first pic shows the flap positioned aft along the top line of the holster. The 2nd has it on the belt, and bent forwards for a more straight up and down ride. The 3rd shows it tab to the rear for more cant. The last one has the tab to the front.

The flap is out of 10 oz. skirting leather so I'm hoping it'll hold up, but for now it seems to be working out just fine...that Smith, BTW, weighs 49.3 oz fully loaded according to our postal scale! This was an experiment, to some extent, to see if I could get two positions of cant angle without cutting add'l belt slots. Esthetically, I'm not completely pleased with the holster mouth line...ie. straight across pretty much, fore and aft. Next time I'll add a little more curve as it approaches the trigger area, but still allowing full coverage of the trigger while the gun is holstered.

Best Regards, Rod


Tab to the rear along the top for more cant angle.



Tab fwd for a more vertical cant.


On the belt, tab to the rear.


On the belt, tab fwd.
 
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Rod, that's a great ideal you have on the holster and a fine looking holster also.
That's exactly what I need for my 5 inch S&W 625.

As for the question on this thread most of my holsters are open on the bottom but they are longer then the barrel length by at least a half inch.

Although I've never mudded a barrel on one of my pistols Bob Wright brings up a good point about slipping down a slick bank.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
rodfac:

Thank you for the detailed explanation. If you are the originator of that system, you are certainly to be congratulated.

As for unexpected downsittings, the woods where I hunted for many years was Tennessee bottom land. What often times looked like solid ground actually harbored a rotting tree limb or trunk below, and as soon as weight was placed upon it, gave way in a very quick manner.

Bob Wright
 
I carry almost exclusively IWB. I like that I can alternatively carry my full sized M&P and my compact M&P in the same, open-ended KingTuk.
 
I actually make kydex holsters so I thought I'd chime in. Each style has its merits, but I prefer the pass through or open ended styles. My main reason for this smaller is always better holster wise whether it's Kydex or leather. I don't think there would be to many guys that carry regularly that will debate that fact. I will say if you are going to be going rollover prone on a regular basis a closed holster may be better for you.
 
scoobydoo6906 wrote:

Each style has its merits, but I prefer the pass through or open ended styles. My main reason for this smaller is always better holster wise whether it's Kydex or leather. I don't think there would be to many guys that carry regularly that will debate that fact.
Click to expand...

Smaller is generally better but how much space are we really talking about here? It could matter on some types of holster, especially for those who mentioned liking extra closed-muzzle space. On a hybrid IWB that is specifically made for your gun, the difference is a relatively small piece of kydex that should be fitted to your muzzle anyway.
 
Well depending on the holster and the maker the difference could very little to a fair amount of material believe it or not Cosmodragoon. With Kydex at least a little can make a big difference. The shape you can achieve lends itself to being more comfortable too. It's all about what you want the holster for, and deciding if the trade offs are worth closing in the muzzle to you.
 
Many thanks for the compliments,....it's a work in progress...but seems to be working out ok so far....how it'll hold up is anybody's guess, but I'm just a hobbyist...and I don't carry the big N frames on an all day basis. I do like the way the aft belt slot pulls the butt of the gun in tight against my side, close, but still comfortable. But I'll submit that the old Tom Threepersons open top envelope style (with an open bottom!!!) is the best design ever produced for carrying a revolver for serious social engagements. That old cowboy knew a thing or two about duty rigs.

As to unexpected down-sittings, I once did a cpl summersaults down a Colorado scree slope....the Ruger I was carrying stayed in the holster thanks probably to the hammer thong, but the .35 Whelen I was carrying, had the front sight broken clean off. I'd mounted a Leupold 2-7x on it, which had a nickle size dent in the objective lens, but was still true when I got around to checking it with a shot at an aspen knot 75 yds away. I was ok but could have used a cpl stitches in my left wrist from the slide.

Best Regards, Rod
 
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