Alien gear shapeshift holster questions

The Ruger SR1911 is simply a 5" 1911, or Government Model.

You'll almost never see any specific brand of 1911 listed on holster websites listing holster fit. There are just too many companies making 1911's for a holster maker to list all the manufacturers. You may get Colt listings, but in the 1911 world, it is typically listed by barrel length 5", 4.25", 4", 3.5", 3", and whether it has a rail or not.

In the generic regarding some hybrid holsters...

From the late Todd Green at pistol-training.com on Holster 101 http://pistol-training.com/archives/9692

Here is a GunTalkTV video with Gunsite's Ed Head where he describes the draw stroke early in this video. Beginning at around the :40 mark, note when he gets to the 1911 thumb safety during his draw stroke.

I returned my IWB alien gear holster. I didn't like a single thing about it. The backside which sits against my waist was not hard enough , and the material was too sticky. I carry at 3 oclock, and my gun wouldn't come out reliably. I was fighting the holster every draw. I honestly can't believe they don't get them all returned. A full Kydex shell is all that works for me, and I have several of those. No they are not as comfortable, but if I can't get my gun out the way I should then it's non-usable anyway. I think they are likely safer on a couple fronts too. I mostly buy We The People holsters for non-light bearing guns, and custom for light bearing. Alien gear is also twice the price as most good full kydex.

Also, do not buy a holster that is not made specifically for your gun model. If you need to spend the money for a custom holster, do it. Generic and non-hard shell holsters can present serious safety issues, for instance nylon. If it doesn't click, I won't use it.
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peeplwtchr said:

Also, do not buy a holster that is not made specifically for your gun model. If you need to spend the money for a custom holster, do it. Generic and non-hard shell holsters can present serious safety issues, for instance nylon. If it doesn't click, I won't use it.
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That generally good advice, but it ignores the “1911” part. 1911s are generic, so any holster for a 1911 is therefore generic. Holster makers will have variations for barrel length and rail/no rail, but even if they sell you a “model specific” holster, unless you send them your gun they are just shipping you a generic 1911 holster that hundreds of models from dozens of makers will fit just fine and they are perfectly safe to use. The most respected holster makers sell generic 1911 holsters and there isn’t a thing wrong with using one.

I second what peeplwtchr is saying about Alien gear holsters. I ordered an OWB from Alien and never got it to work despite numerous attempts to tighten or loosen the front to the back. I consider it a stupid design with a Kydex front and a leather backing. My pistol hung up continuously on the leather backing. If the holster was a full Kydex both front and back I'm sure it would have worked. Sent it back and I'm through with Alien forever!

peeplwtchr said:

I returned my IWB alien gear holster. I didn't like a single thing about it. The backside which sits against my waist was not hard enough , and the material was too sticky. I carry at 3 oclock, and my gun wouldn't come out reliably. I was fighting the holster every draw..

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While I'm not a fan of hybrid holsters in general, in their defense, most of them aren't designed to be worn at 3:00. They are typically designed for 3:30 - 4:30 where you'll have a large enough flat spot on your body for those large profile holsters to sit.

Wearing the holster at 3:00, at the point of the hip, will typically allow the leather backer to wrap around the hip, since it is flexible, but the kydex part isn't going to flex. This usually results in difficulty in drawing (as a couple of folks have commented), and also a shortened lifespan as the kydex tends to crack as it is being asked to flex, and it won't.

Ed Ames said:

That generally good advice, but it ignores the “1911” part. 1911s are generic, so any holster for a 1911 is therefore generic. Holster makers will have variations for barrel length and rail/no rail, but even if they sell you a “model specific” holster, unless you send them your gun they are just shipping you a generic 1911 holster that hundreds of models from dozens of makers will fit just fine and they are perfectly safe to use. The most respected holster makers sell generic 1911 holsters and there isn’t a thing wrong with using one.

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Yeah I was lumping all 1911s as a model.

peeplwtchr said:

Yeah I was lumping all 1911s as a model.

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Fair enough.

It’s relevant here because OP has a 1911 and was getting ambiguous info about a specific Ruger 1911 model, and the reason for that is that 1911s are generic and nobody makes model specific holsters, but 99% of the time the generic holsters work fine unless you have a feature mismatch like rail vs. no rail.

I’ve been trying to refrain from commenting on the holster OP was asking about but I guess the temptation is too much for me.

The ShapeShifter is an IWB OWB Apendix Paddle belt holster that uses one or two half shells, an array of back plates and clips and other fiddly bits to allow you to assemble a bunch of different types of holster. I’ve never seen/touched one in person, so this is not from direct experience, but I have messed about with the AG cloak and mod holsters.

I think the flexibility they offer is basically worthless. If there is a configuration the holster does really well, and you need that configuration, it would be an OK choice, but I haven’t heard anyone say they are excellent in any of their configurations. I think they appeal to people who don’t know what sort of holster they will need, but if you end up with something that is mediocre at everything how will you ever learn what types of holster would really work for you? You can’t judge all IWB holsters by a bad IWB holster for example.

That’s not general AG hate. I have my share of quibbles about the AG hybrid holsters, but overall I think they are more acceptable than many holsters in the same price range. I just don’t think the modular do-everything idea is a good match for something that needs to be very good at specific roles.

I'll echo what others have said. I bought a cloak tuck a few years ago, not one single thing to like about that holster, weird and sticky (grabby) , miserable and poorly made. Can't speak to the shapeshifter but if it's anything at all like the one I bought I'd say skip it.