Speed holsters

[Duffy1]

I've been shooting for less than 2 years and last summer I participated in 7 IPSC matches and 5 IDPA matches. Used a Kramer leather holster and mag holders. Nice holster but it isn't built for speed. There are many choices in holsters; Safariland 5012, 012, Ghost, CR... The list is extensive. I could use some help in defining what I should be looking for in a speed holster - the good, the bad and the ugly and what you folks would recommend and why. Specific examples would be greatly appreciated.

On another note; I've seen several folks do a "spray and pray" on a COF and they usually finish near the bottom. My thinking is that if you get your mind wired for accuracy speed will follow. Like everything else it's practice. Can you give me some ideas what I could be practicing to improve accuracy. BTW - I'm not a bad shot (if I say so myself) - at the range I can typically hit 2" clusters at 40 feet (sometimes tighter and sometimes...).

Thanks,

 

[HSMITH]

I use a Kydex holster with drop and offset from Blade-Tech for USPSA. At most I am giving up .2 seconds per draw compared to a race holster, the upside is that it was only $60 and the risk of a gun coming out of my holster unintentionally is much lower. I don't know much about the speed holsters but in my 10 month USPSA career I have seen at least a half dozen guns hit the deck unintentionally with speed holsters, User error? Probably, a lot more likely than holster problem. Lately I have been shooting solid B-class scores, an extra second or two at the end of the match isn't going to make it or break it for me. I am sticking with a simple secure holster for now, and working on my shooting instead. I can pick up far more ground on the guys that are beating me there than I can with a second or two gained from a holster change.

For IDPA I use a Kydex IWB holster from Blade-Tech. It is just as fast as anything else I have seen that is IDPA legal with the new rules.

Accuracy is DEFINATELY more important than speed in the beginning. Speed comes eventually but accuracy is something that you have to maintain no matter what.

If you are shooting 95% or more of the available target points you need to try going faster, try to see at what speed you start to lose control and points start dropping. Sometimes we can get hung up in our progress with a 'comfort level', we have a speed that we know the points will be great and we just shoot that speed all the time. This is the situation I was in early fall of last year, I had to push the speed up. In doing so I found that I can go a lot faster without dropping points, but there is a point where it all comes crashing down. Evaluating what I saw when it all came crashing down I found I was 'shooting brown', losing the front sight and yanking the trigger among other things. Now I am working on staying at the edge of my speed capability and making good shots. I press as hard as I can while still getting the target points, and I am picking up ground pretty quickly.

If you are not shooting 95% of the avialable target points accuracy on each shot is where you need to apply your focus, speed will come.

At our club matches I see guys that turn in incredible times, and place decently. If they shot just 90% of the points they would WIN some of the matches!! I am absolutely convinced that you can shoot a solid Alpha just as fast as you can shoot a miss, and I think those guys are as good as they are ever going to be unless they figure out how to shoot points. If they are happy with where they are at good for them, but I have passed some of them already and the rest will go by as well.

 

[RickB]

I prefer a holster that the gun is put IN, rather than ON. So many of the current crop leave the gun dangling out in the wind, and I don't think you get much of an advantage, for the risk of dinging-up the gun or sights. I've been using a Safariland 010 Tactical Option for years, and it is secure, and fast.
Traditional school of thought was accuracy first/speed follows, but that seems to be turning around. All of the local phenoms, in my area, started fast, and got their shots under control, later. Run-of-the-mill pudknockers, like myself, can show modest amounts of both speed and accuracy, and move up ploddingly. I was in each classification for two years, but expect to be "stuck" in A class for the duration.

 

[glockopop]

I've been using an Uncle Mike's Kydex holster for a while, and I like it. It's under $20 and reliable. I ordered a Blade-tech last night, they've got a deal on their website for their injection-molded holsters. Holster with belt and paddle attachment and a double mag holster for about $40. $10 shipping too. I'll tell you how it works out, but I'm pretty optimistic. Unfortunately it's only available for Glock, Beretta, and 1911 pistols.