Holsters?

[visaveteran1 33]

I was thinking about holsters recently. First thought was...does Russia make everyday holsters? I know they have the old Makarov and Tokerov military holsters that aren't very impressive floating around the gun show and surplus markets. But do they make any good ones? I mean, they're putting out some nice guns...what about gun leather? Rifle/shotgun cases?

Second thought, I have a old Beretta M81 (known in the US as the Cheetah). Mine is the first model that dates to the late 70s and was an Israeli defense force weapon. It's a .32 cal and Americans usually sneer at this round...but in Europe, the middle east and Africa, the .32 is well respected, plus they make hotter ammo over there.

Anyway, the problem I'm having is finding a good CCW holster for it. The Cheetah is still being made but it's changed enough that holsters for the new guns won't work so well for my older gun. I did find one holster company, Ross Leather, that still makes good quality leather holsters for the older M81. The interesting thing is Ross is a South African company which explains why they still make a holster for my era Beretta. Those guns are still being used in Africa in large numbers...so there's a market. The holsters seem to have a good reputation and the cost would be around $70.00 for a nice OWB holster.

Anyone have any experience with Ross Leather? Any other recommendations or suggestions?

Edited January 28, 2012 by visaveteran1

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://www.nextag.com/beretta-M81-holster/products-html <----- might be a few on here worth looking at Edited January 28, 2012 by Why_Me

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I was thinking about holsters recently. First thought was...does Russia make everyday holsters? I know they have the old Makarov and Tokerov military holsters that aren't very impressive floating around the gun show and surplus markets. But do they make any good ones? I mean, they're putting out some nice guns...what about gun leather? Rifle/shotgun cases?

Second thought, I have a old Beretta M81 (known in the US as the Cheetah). Mine is the first model that dates to the late 70s and was an Israeli defense force weapon. It's a .32 cal and Americans usually sneer at this round...but in Europe, the middle east and Africa, the .32 is well respected, plus they make hotter ammo over there.

Anyway, the problem I'm having is finding a good CCW holster for it. The Cheetah is still being made but it's changed enough that holsters for the new guns won't work so well for my older gun. I did find one holster company, Ross Leather, that still makes good quality leather holsters for the older M81. The interesting thing is Ross is a South African company which explains why they still make a holster for my era Beretta. Those guns are still being used in Africa in large numbers...so there's a market. The holsters seem to have a good reputation and the cost would be around $70.00 for a nice OWB holster.

Anyone have any experience with Ross Leather? Any other recommendations or suggestions?

Some of the synthetic holsters (nylon) are fairly flexible in what they will take but maybe not the best for concealment. You may find a holster for another model that gives a good fit.

As for the .32 ACP I sometimes carry a Colt M1903 hammerless in .32 ACP. I would not comnsider it for law enforcement work or for situations where you are sent to confront bad guys. However for CC, why not? What are you going to do, rob me? Beat me up? Mug me? Really? You ever been shot? I have. If you live you lose interest in whatever else you were doing immediately. If someone thinks they will take my wallet or threaten my family I figure they would prefer to take the wallet of some guy who does not have a .32 ACP pistol. My guess is they are not going to actually hang around and find out what it is chambered for.

The Colt M1903 is a very slender pistol, thin. It is very easy to conceal under light clothes. You can even put it in the back pocket of a pair of jeans and it is unnoticeable

[visaveteran1 33]

http://www.nextag.com/beretta-M81-holster/products-html <----- might be a few on here worth looking at

Thanks Kip!

I just read where Fairbanks is having a very bad winter. Hang in there!

[visaveteran1 33]

Some of the synthetic holsters (nylon) are fairly flexible in what they will take but maybe not the best for concealment. You may find a holster for another model that gives a good fit.

As for the .32 ACP I sometimes carry a Colt M1903 hammerless in .32 ACP. I would not comnsider it for law enforcement work or for situations where you are sent to confront bad guys. However for CC, why not? What are you going to do, rob me? Beat me up? Mug me? Really? You ever been shot? I have. If you live you lose interest in whatever else you were doing immediately. If someone thinks they will take my wallet or threaten my family I figure they would prefer to take the wallet of some guy who does not have a .32 ACP pistol. My guess is they are not going to actually hang around and find out what it is chambered for.

The Colt M1903 is a very slender pistol, thin. It is very easy to conceal under light clothes. You can even put it in the back pocket of a pair of jeans and it is unnoticeable

Your Colt is a great gun from what I know about it. Right now I only have smaller caliber pistols to carry, but the 81 is very reliable and dead on accurate. And, importantly, it holds 12 plus 1 which means I have some firepower. I also like the design and looks of it. And, being a military/police surplus gun, it has some history.

Funny you mentioned nylon holsters because I've discovered there is a large "second tier holster" supply line. A lot of them can be found on EBAY and Amazon. They're mostly cheaper nylon or lower graded leather holsters. Some of these do make holsters for the 81. Maybe I'm a snob about holsters, but I like good leather or Kydex holsters. Not the crazy priced ones but a good solid brand like Galco or Safariland and Bianchi. I buy used if possible to further hold down the price.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Your Colt is a great gun from what I know about it. Right now I only have smaller caliber pistols to carry, but the 81 is very reliable and dead on accurate. And, importantly, it holds 12 plus 1 which means I have some firepower. I also like the design and looks of it. And, being a military/police surplus gun, it has some history.

Funny you mentioned nylon holsters because I've discovered there is a large "second tier holster" supply line. A lot of them can be found on EBAY and Amazon. They're mostly cheaper nylon or lower graded leather holsters. Some of these do make holsters for the 81. Maybe I'm a snob about holsters, but I like good leather or Kydex holsters. Not the crazy priced ones but a good solid brand like Galco or Safariland and Bianchi. I buy used if possible to further hold down the price.

I like leather myself and Galco is my favorite. For the Colt I bought a holster from the "box-o-holsters" at a local gun shop. I love the old time gun shops with lots of clutter and dusty stuff and collections of odds and ends. We have two of them here and I have to go every couple weeks to find what treasures are there. The holster is a brown leather basket weave of good quality but no name. I suspected it may be the perfect fit for the Colt and asked the guy to keep it for me, ran home and got the pistol. VOILA! Perfect fit! It is a pancake style hip holster with open bottom and no safety strap, my favorite! I prefer just a snug fit and no straps. It is concealed anyway so who is going to try and take it from me? If I had to walk around with a gun hanging out in the breeze like the cops do, I would get one that retains the gun better.

The Galco hip holster I have for the M1911 is made to fit the Kimber Ultra, 3" barrel but I can also slide the M1911 with 5" barrel in there and the muzzle pokes out. Sort of like one of those "belt slides"

The good thing about open bottom holsters is you can buy one for a frame size and use it for any barrel. My pancake holster for the S&W Centennial also fits the kit gun with a 4" barrel. I suspect the Colt holster would fit quite a few other similar size autos and barrel length wouldn't matter. Four holsters can easily accomodate 10-12 handguns

[visaveteran1 33]

I like leather myself and Galco is my favorite. For the Colt I bought a holster from the "box-o-holsters" at a local gun shop. I love the old time gun shops with lots of clutter and dusty stuff and collections of odds and ends. We have two of them here and I have to go every couple weeks to find what treasures are there. The holster is a brown leather basket weave of good quality but no name. I suspected it may be the perfect fit for the Colt and asked the guy to keep it for me, ran home and got the pistol. VOILA! Perfect fit! It is a pancake style hip holster with open bottom and no safety strap, my favorite! I prefer just a snug fit and no straps. It is concealed anyway so who is going to try and take it from me? If I had to walk around with a gun hanging out in the breeze like the cops do, I would get one that retains the gun better.

The Galco hip holster I have for the M1911 is made to fit the Kimber Ultra, 3" barrel but I can also slide the M1911 with 5" barrel in there and the muzzle pokes out. Sort of like one of those "belt slides"

The good thing about open bottom holsters is you can buy one for a frame size and use it for any barrel. My pancake holster for the S&W Centennial also fits the kit gun with a 4" barrel. I suspect the Colt holster would fit quite a few other similar size autos and barrel length wouldn't matter. Four holsters can easily accomodate 10-12 handguns

I wish I had such gun shops nearby. Most shops are just far enough away to keep me from doing drop-by visits. And the ones that are around are not good. I'd like to support gun shops, but around here they're greedy and forget a trade-in-...they want it for 25¢ on the dollar. The FFL charges have gotten greedy too. I think that should be a fixed fee. The range in fees is $25 to $50 for transfers The $25 guys are WAY down the road, so I have to way the lower fee against my time and gas.

I have had luck buying and selling holsters on EBAY but you have to know value to bid and factor in shipping charges. I've seen crazy bids go over the retail value. I don't like the thumb break holsters either. Maybe OK for the range or walking the woods but for CC I don't use those types.

[slim 1,525]

I like good leather or Kydex holsters.

We have a guy around here that custom molds Kydex and can make IWB, OWB, cross, whatever holsters for any kind of gun or other equipment. Pretty reasonable prices too. I bet you could email him and let him know what you're looking for and he could ship it to you.

His wesbite is shark tac dot com.

Especially the part of the guy talking with a Russian accent in English to help his fiancee.

I do that. Not so much to help her out but because I'm a big fan of dropping articles.

You want eat? You hungry, no? OK. I go store.

I have had luck buying and selling holsters on EBAY

We have a concealed carry forum here in Ohio. I bet you guys have something similar. People are always buying and selling stuff on there.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I do that. Not so much to help her out but because I'm a big fan of dropping articles.

You want eat? You hungry, no? OK. I go store.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Still laughing! Alla would give me this... And then try to bite me!

[visaveteran1 33]

We have a guy around here that custom molds Kydex and can make IWB, OWB, cross, whatever holsters for any kind of gun or other equipment. Pretty reasonable prices too. I bet you could email him and let him know what you're looking for and he could ship it to you.

His wesbite is shark tac dot com. Thanks. I'm on it!

I do that. Not so much to help her out but because I'm a big fan of dropping articles.

You want eat? You hungry, no? OK. I go store. Yeah, me too. I call it "Tarzan English."

We have a concealed carry forum here in Ohio. I bet you guys have something similar. People are always buying and selling stuff on there. We do. I've used them with success too. Mainly guns and ammo.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

crossbreed holsters - custom made for a specific gun.

[visaveteran1 33]

crossbreed holsters - custom made for a specific gun.

So, I tell them my gun, they make it up custom? I looked at their site once. It seemed they only made holsters for the the big sellers...maybe I missed something? I'll take another look.

[visaveteran1 33]

crossbreed holsters - custom made for a specific gun.

I went to their website. They make a holster for the Beretta 84 which usually also fits the 81. I would need to call about that but it might work.

I know a lot of people love these holsters.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

they're not cheap, but well worth it. i have one for my kahr .40 and it works great.