I have had this same holster for several years and have never had an issue with the leather getting "soft". I tried a few things to see if I could simulate the problem. I believe I know exactly how this "equipment failure" occurred.UpTheIrons wrote:WARNING: One of the photos shows a bullet graze wound on the gun owner's hip.
I saw this linked through one of the gun blogs today. I don't use this type of holster, and probably never will - this episode notwithstanding. The gist of it is that the leather got soft enough to encroach on the trigger when the gun was holstered.
http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/firea ... ischarges/
That's one way to ruin your day - I'm glad it wasn't more serious.
Whenever I arm or disarm (for extended periods) my glock remains holstered. In other words, I do not put on the holster and then slide in the glock nor do I unholster the glock and then remove the holster unless I am putting both up in the safe for the evening.
I believe our friend wore his empty holster for extended periods of time. Perhaps he could not carry at work and would simply unholster his glock and put it in the glove box. I would also suggest that when doing so he would then tighten his belt causing the crease in the holster. Overtime the leather would be "trained" to maintain the crease much the same way we would train our baseball gloves when getting them to properly fit our hand/ball.
I do not blame the gun or the holster for this malfunction. I believe the blame falls solely on the shoulders of the owner. Had he properly maintained and handled his equipment I do not believe this would have ever happened.
As for those who do not believe they have the ability to safely handle a glock .... the answer is simple, DON'T. I have seen many NDs with 1911s which were handled improperly. Don't blame the tool for the user’s incompetence.