[daehawc]

So I ordered a High Noon Under Armor for my Gemini Customs SP101 .357 yesterday and I'm not sure if I made a mistake. I failed to think about the fact that I have a bobbed hammer and now I'm not sure if the weapon would even stay in the holster. Does anyone have any similar experience with this shoulder holster that may know if it will work or not or should I call first thing Monday and hope I can cancel it before it ships?

[The Lone Haranguer]

This rig is a sort of "generic" fit and not tightly fitted or molded to the gun; the only retention is going to be via the thumb break, which normally needs a hammer to fasten over. How much of the hammer spur has been removed? If just the tip is shortened/rounded but some spur is remaining, the rig may still work. If it has been "bobbed" shorter than this or flush with the frame, there will be no retention.

[GunNut]

If it is a factory bobbed hammer you're going to have problems.

You really need to order a holster that is specifically fit to this gun and that does not rely upon a strap to hold the gun in place.

[daehawc]

The hammer is completely bobbed so it will likely be an issue. The only things that confuse me are that they sell the same holster for the S&W hammerless J frames like the 340pd. They also mention a tensioning screw, would that provide enough tension to secure the weapon? Lastly, are there any good shoulder holsters that would be specifically made for a bobbed 3" sp101"

[SAWBONES]

Lastly, are there any good shoulder holsters that would be specifically made for a bobbed 3" sp101

My recommendation, and this is for the 2.25" barrel SP101 with either bobbed or regular hammer, is Lou Alessi's Guardian shoulder rig. I'm wearing mine with said (bobbed-hammer) gun as I type this.

Like all of Lou's work, the design shows excellent understanding and intuition. The gun carries butt-down (and to the rear), muzzle up, and the topstrap sits at the very front of your offside shoulder, very high, basically just in front of the armpit. The holster uses a clever minimalist thumb-break that simply "runs into" your thumb when you reach to grab the pistol's grip, making release almost automatic, without the usual artificial and sometimes difficult thumb movement needed to release typical thumb breaks on typical horizontal rigs. No accidental dropping of the gun is possible, though, due to a second breakaway snap just beneath the barrel, which will only release the pistol when the butt is pulled; this fully releases the gun from the holster, and the entire draw takes a fraction of a second. The rig is eminently concealable.

Sorry I can't post a better pic than the one from R&F.

The harness is essentially identical to that of Lou's Bodyguard shoulder rig, which is widely regarded as perhaps the single best shoulder rig design available for most guns. Wide straps over the shoulders taper to narrower straps at points of attachment to the holster and to the offside ammo pouch/speedloader carriers (with a tie-down strap on that side), making it a "balanced" rig.

The Guardian seems to be a less well-known Alessi shoulder rig design than the Bodyguard, but I mention it here because it's particularly well-suited to (and in fact only available for) revolver carry, whereas the Bodyguard is made for both revolvers and semiautos.
I have one for the J-frame 649 and another for the 2.25" barrel SP101, and can't adequately convey in a post just how well they work.
Good luck.

[daehawc]

Any idea where I could get one sometime before 2009? Doesnt seem to be much out there as far as buying his rigs.

[The Lone Haranguer]

They also mention a tensioning screw, would that provide enough tension to secure the weapon?
IMO, no. In this case the tension screw is more for adjustability to fit different sizes of guns, not retention per se. This is similar to what they do with their magazine carriers - instead of molding a carrier to a particular magazine, they just make them in single and double-stack and let the user adjust them.

[daehawc]

Thanks for all the great advice. I sent them an email this morning detailing [I]MY[I] mistake and offering to still pay for the shipping and handling even if they could cancel before it shipped since they likely packaged it already. William wrote back a couple hours later (on his day off!) and offered to cancel for me. I hope I do find an opportunity to order through them as they seem very professional and helpful.

Again, any advice on finding an Alessi for a bobbed SP101? I'm not turning up much.