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The drills during Forum Day were excellent -- in showing us where we were weakest. Holding close contact ready position away from the body (we both did the same thing; good thing we wore heavy shirts!), one 9mm brand vs. another (Wow!), the pitfalls of IWB nylon holsters, etc.

The first was taken care of that day. We are in the process of taking care of the second (requiring much more range time).


We handled the third in the last 24 hours for the 45's: Two Minotaur MTAC for carry, and two Blackhawk Sportsters for range work (and backup carry). We also think we know which bodies will work for the FNP's, since there's almost nothing made specifically for those (XD40 seemed to work OK), and will pick up some for those after we see how these all work. Hope to have them all for play this weekend.

Comments?

Update:
The MTAC's are still somewhere out in shipping land, to the local store. Two weeks as of tomorrow.

The Sportsters arrived yesterday (even with some sort of delay at MidwayUSA before they shipped). Beautiful fit for the G36 and XD45c.

The FNP's fit the XD Sportster, won't fall out, but are sloppy front-to-back. An interesting thing: There's a spot of the frame just under the muzzle on which the passive retention catches during the draw; rocking the pistol back during the draw avoids the problem. Blackhawk suggested one for the S&W M&P 45, removing the passive retention spring (I suspect to avoid the problem we noticed).

I believe you will enjoy the MTACs. In my opinion, the leather/Kydex combination is a wonderful trade-off between comfort, speed, and retention. And to the best of my knowledge, it was a Texas invention, with William Tucker of Tucker Gun Leather and Greg Garrett of Comp-Tac being the first to come up with the idea.

Once you get the MTACs, you'll want to experiment with settings for the belt clips. You can modify both the height at which they ride as well as the cant.

I don't have any experience with the Sportster, but I settled on the MTAC about three years ago as my daily carry, and have the holsters for two sizes of 1911, and for an XD(m) .40. If you ever have any issues with the MTAC, or need extra clips or related accessories, visit http://www.comp-tac.com/. Fast, responsive customer service, and they're located nearby you in Spring.

I've had good results carrying with my MTAC, and I have holster bodies to fit 3" and 5" 1911s, and a full sized M&P 45.... not to mention a no longer used holster body for a USP Compact (left handed). My only problem with the MTAC is that my pants have gotten too tight.



But I do really like the holster. Also, I just received a Blade-Tech Stingray kydex holster the other day for my M&P because I want to start shooting some matches with it. I pretty much like that holster. I had to wait 3 weeks to get it. It's not much for concealment (my body shape is the problem), but it is comfortable.
http://www.blade-tech.com/SRB-Sting-Ray ... r-939.html

The MTAC's came yesterday, just over two weeks since ordered (they had to be made). We received one for "XD45" and one for "XD40" (the latter to try with the FNP's).

First problem: Nothing on the holsters is marked! Once you take the holsters out of the bags, you're on your own as far as remembering which is which, and guess who immediately got them mixed up -- DynaBlue will never let me hear the end of it, since she was trying to keep them separated -- because they are identical! (Of course, I have no idea of the difference between the XD45 and XD40 pistols.) We spent the rest of the evening trying the XD45c, G36, and FNP9's in each, and could not see nor tell any difference.
There are no markings anywhere to identify them, and they're as alike as two peas....

Skiprr wrote:Fast, responsive customer service, and they're located nearby you in Spring.

They asked us to send a picture of the two so they can let us know which is which. Can't ask for more than that, except we would definitely recommend that they mark those bodies somehow, for those of us with similar profile pistols!

The great thing: The MTAC's turn out to be extremely versatile! All of those different firearms slid into each of them as if made for them (making the identification at once most difficult and most unnecessary). Every pistol slides and locks right into each holster as well as any of the other pistols, probably because of the half-Kydex-half-leather concept. Probably helps that they're all 4". So, we won't have to find any other bodies (including the G36, which would have been the next purchase).

Skiprr wrote:Once you get the MTACs, you'll want to experiment with settings for the belt clips. You can modify both the height at which they ride as well as the cant.

Agreed. Very flexible, and we'll have plenty of fun playing with positions!

Second problem: There's a nub on the body that (intentionally) catches in the trigger guard. When in the holster completely, it can take some serious pull to draw the pistol out. I suspect that's the newness, but a bit unnerving the first time, to be having to struggle with it while IWB....

We definitely like the ideas behind these. I'm not sure it's a good idea for competition (not that it would make much difference for me... ). These will certainly be our IWB holsters.

I think we covered the OWB Sportsters elsewhere (very nice fit for gun and handler, and definitely a nice price). The FNP's are a sloppy fit in the XD45 Serpa, so we have two of the Blackhawk-recommended S&W M&P 45 version coming (reportedly waiting at the door when we get home tonight).

OldSchool wrote:The FNP's fit the XD Sportster, won't fall out, but are sloppy front-to-back.

Try the fuzzy side of a thin piece of velcro.
My Serpa was the same way and a couple pieces of small, cut to size velcro fixed the slack back and forth within the holster.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I've had good results carrying with my MTAC, and I have holster bodies to fit 3" and 5" 1911s, and a full sized M&P 45.... not to mention a no longer used holster body for a USP Compact (left handed).

It would be nice if all makers had some sort of modular holster. If we're any indication (and we've only been at this less than a year!), most of us have the same problem of needing just a slight change in the holster for a new firearm.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Also, I just received a Blade-Tech Stingray kydex holster the other day for my M&P because I want to start shooting some matches with it. I pretty much like that holster. I had to wait 3 weeks to get it. It's not much for concealment (my body shape is the problem), but it is comfortable.
http://www.blade-tech.com/SRB-Sting-Ray ... r-939.html

Looks like a good option to the Serpa. My body shape requires the IWB, so that's why I'm just using the OWB for the range. Plus, it doesn't get cold enough around here for me to wear heavy jackets more than a couple days a year.

MedicMan218 wrote:

OldSchool wrote:The FNP's fit the XD Sportster, won't fall out, but are sloppy front-to-back.

Try the fuzzy side of a thin piece of velcro.
My Serpa was the same way and a couple pieces of small, cut to size velcro fixed the slack back and forth within the holster.

The front sight won't catch on it?

"I've had good results carrying with my MTAC, and I have holster bodies to fit 3" and 5" 1911s, and a full sized M&P 45.... not to mention a no longer used holster body for a USP Compact (left handed). My only problem with the MTAC is that my pants have gotten too tight."

Your pants have shrunk?

OldSchool wrote:

MedicMan218 wrote:

OldSchool wrote:The FNP's fit the XD Sportster, won't fall out, but are sloppy front-to-back.

Try the fuzzy side of a thin piece of velcro.
My Serpa was the same way and a couple pieces of small, cut to size velcro fixed the slack back and forth within the holster.

The front sight won't catch on it?

put it on either side of the sights, give me a minute and i'll try to send you a pic.

MedicMan218 wrote:

OldSchool wrote: The front sight won't catch on it?

put it on either side of the sights, give me a minute and i'll try to send you a pic.

OK, I understand now.

In the meantime, we received the new Blackhawk Serpa's for the S&W M&P 45, and they fit like a glove! As expected, the type 1 retention hangs up under the muzzle on the rail, but pulling the retention spring out allowed everything to come free. As Blackhawk recommended, we'll just leave the retention spring off. These also came with belt loops and paddles, both. So, plenty of options!

The saga continues!

DynaBlue is wearing the FNP9 with the CQC Serpa + paddle. OWB, rides much higher than is comfortable. I see that carrying high is recommended for OWB CC, but remember we're both compact. And, we wanted these for range use, with the MTAC's for CC.

For range use, we have a couple of Blackhawk duty belt loops coming to try, which look as if they'll drop the holster another inch. We've always been hot rodders (i.e., shade-tree mechanics), anyway....