Breaking in a leather holster.

[fumanchu182 23]

I have a Tagua leather holster and I would like to soften it up a little bit.  Is just wearing it daily the best course of action to make the leather flexible?  Would leaving the weapon in the holster on a daily basis also help stretch out the leather?

[Arbelest 29]

I left my handgun in the holster 24/7 for about 5 days to help stretch the leather out.  Fits like a glove and snaps close easy now.   I'm curious to see what others do though.

[fumanchu182 23]

I'm going to leave in the holster for five days like yourself and see what happens.

[JTS1469 0]

I did one for a friend by putting the gun in a sandwich bag and then into the holster for a few days. Worked great

[checko 180]

When I got a Milt Sparks VMII for my Colt, the advice (from this forum, Pizza Bob I believe) was to take the plastic bag the gun came in, put the gun in the bag, and then push the gun into the holster for about 24 hours.  The slightly larger size with the bag in between gave it enough room to fit with enough tightness to retain the gun. 

[West Jersey 0]

I've always used wax paper with the wax side towards the holster.

[JohnnyB 4,325]

I just broke in a blue-stone holster for my Sig P220 which arrived just today! I could not even get the pistol in all the way.

The inside leather is more rough. I wet it with hot tap water then placed my Sig in a plastic gallon size food storage bag.

I waited a few minutes for the moisture to soak into the leather, then placed the bag covered Sig in the holster.

 

I left it in for 2 hours then let the holster dry, even used a blow dryer to speed the drying. I put the pistol back in and now it fits like a glove!

 

Try it!!!

 

PS.  My Son wanted to know why I would even buy a holster when I can't carry in the PRNJ....I responded, wishful thinking!!!

[One_crazy_dude 1]

I put my gun in a sock and then in the holster for a few days. Works well.

[fumanchu182 23]

PS.  My Son wanted to know why I would even buy a holster when I can't carry in the PRNJ....I responded, wishful thinking!!!

 

Haha, we are all wishfully thinking for this.  I'm going to leave it in the holster till I come home tonight and then I"m going to see if it stretched it out a little bit.  If not then I"m going to go get me a ziplock or wax paper and try that.

[Scrap 4]

DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than putting the gun in the holster and perhaps wearing it if you can, and drawing/re-holstering/drawing/re-holstering etc.

 

I made a huge huge mistake in summer 2011 - long story short, I took a Cabelas trip with my old man and wound up buying a Galco Sto-N-Go tuckable IWB holster for my Glock 23 - it wasn't very expensive, looked high quality, and I thought it was perfecr for carrying around the house etc. Since we can't carry every day / out and about in NJ.  It was extremely stiff leather and very tight with the G23 - and I thought it NEEDED to be conditioned or oiled etc.  The paperwork says not to, absolutely not, but I knew better than anyone else of course.

 

I applied it at night, some sort of leather conditioner product my old man had lying around for expensive Harley Davidson leather.  By the morning, the holster was so soft the gun would slide out easily and borderline worthless it was so soft and supple.

 

I have since bought several other Galco holsters, (and other holsters of course), in Florida I carry every day, just about all day everyday everywhere, and Galco is a quality and faultless brand with a reasonable price compared to others.  But I will say, having had to break in about 5 different holsters in the last year or two, you do NOT want to do anything other  than use it and wait.  Put the gun in, take it out, repeat etc. and wear it when you can, the body heat will hasten the process by warming up the leather oils and the drawing/reholstering will etch the leather and help mold to the features of your gun.

[checko 180]

DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than putting the gun in the holster and perhaps wearing it if you can, and drawing/re-holstering/drawing/re-holstering etc....

 

 

...But I will say, having had to break in about 5 different holsters in the last year or two, you do NOT want to do anything other than use it and wait. Put the gun in, take it out, repeat etc. and wear it when you can, the body heat will hasten the process by warming up the leather oils and the drawing/reholstering will etch the leather and help mold to the features of your gun.

Definitely agree with not using water, oils, etc but this actually came from milt sparks website.

 

http://www.miltsparks.com/Questions.htm#10

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Sota 1,191]

both my Ryan Grizzle holsters I've just stuck the gun in and let it sit for awhile, as well as wear the things.

[tj462nj 32]

I also put it in a plastic sandwich bag, then into holster, but also leave it in sunlight

[jgofnj 5]

I've always used wax paper with the wax side towards the holster.

I didn't know wax paper had a wax "side"

[fumanchu182 23]

I've been just letting the pistol sit in the holster.  I've also been wearing it around the house to break it in.  It's still rigid but I feel it getting softer.

[DeerSlayer 241]

At the RTSP concealed carry mindset class on Thursday evening, the instructor Dave had a method he uses to break in a leather holster. He told us to use a thin dress sock over the gun, and repeatedly slide the gun in and out for a couple days leaving the gun inside the holster still in the dress sock. He said it will keep the leather stiff but create a very tiny gap all the way around the gun the thickness of the dress sock. That will make it much easier to draw but not make the gun loose in the holster. I didn't try it myself yet.

[Vlad G 345]

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