[RM]

I have a blued gun with a new leather holster, and I would like to use them for competition. Are there ways to protect the gun's finish from holster wear? Thanks.

[Old Fuff]

Probably not much that will work. The upside is that reblueing a handgun is relatively easy and inexpensive IF (big "if") there isn't any rust, pitting or gouges to contend with.

If it makes any difference, I've notice that the competitors who win usually have finish-worn guns. If that wear is from practice you'd better look out.

[CZ52GUY]

I would add, that Kydex is usually faster. If you are there with a daily carry rig because you want the experience, that's great. If you want to win...the higher scorers are generally using some type of Kydex set-up. I use this one from Blade-Tech for my CZ-75B.

http://www.blade-tech.com/frontend?command=ProductMatrix&iProductId=4682&iSectionId=4364

Holster wear has been much less on on this piece with this rig' then others with cheaper set-ups (e.g. Uncle Mike's or Fobus).

There are other good alternatives with differing availability depending on which piece you intend to compete with.

As Fuff mentioned, some amount of wear is likely and sort of "price of admission". A cheap holster or one with an exposed rivet or tension screw will really make a mess of your piece. You have to play the trade offs...and it won't always be obvious until you put in some hard practice at the range with your draws.

Finally, good tensioning of your holster and good technique both during your draw and re-holstering will help limit wear.

Good luck!

CZ52'

[NavajoNPaleFace]

Leather in holster making has always been a debated issue.

Most top notch holster companies use bark or vegetable tanned leather whereas 'cheaper' holsters may well be made with a very harsh chemical process with chemicals such as chromium, etc. Bark or vegetable tanned leather is considered far more gun friendly than chrome (chromium) tanned leather and the like.

Those harsher chemicals are widely believed to assist in the wear and breakdown of some gun finishes.

But, all leather is much more abrasive to a finish, in the long run, when compared to materials such as nylon and the compound polymers out there.

[ted murphy]

FWIW, competition can be a little tough on a guns finish, but it is honest wear . Lots of folks feel a gun that is well holster worn is the sign of a shooter who is pretty serious about his craft.

Ted

[faustulus]

ooh don't worry about holster wear. Just wait till you bang it on your first barricade or fumble it praticing draws or break the extractor slamming that mag in or ...

[solo17]

keep your holster clean. leather is the worsed with this traps dirt and scratches gun also the chemicals used to tan leather get reactivated with heat , humidity and sweat so this too weakens the finish and tends to lead to more wear. i use a comp-tac locking paddle and a c-tac iwb holster i have over 5000 holster presentations with my g-19 and i also have a sig 226 with maybe less than 250 holster presentations with more wear. as for injection molded holster (ie. uncle mike and fobus )they are not made right and a generally too tight or too loose which cause alot of wear either way

chris

[RandolH]

Would getting a liner made of some sort of cloth be a viable or competition-legal option?

[Ankeny]

When the blue is worn on the high spots the gun has character. When it's worn on the flats it looks like you know what you are doing. When it is so ugly it looks abused, get it hardchromed.

[esheato]

Ankeny,

Truer words were never spoken.

(Owner of a butt ugly but dead reliable gun that shoots Master Class in IDPA)

:p

Ed

[dukeofurl]

Another vote for "wear shows character"

If you want something that works and dosent look too bad after a while go with a brushed or a matte stainless steel - then the "wear" really becomes hard to see unless you get out the loupe.