New Andrews IWB Holster in the Mail!

[carnaby]

That was fast. It hasn't even been two weeks. I guess Andrews keeps a good stock of holsters for 1911's. I'll post my review when it arrives.

 

[rero360]

what one did you order? I ordered a Mcdaniel 2 back at the beginning of the month.

 

[carnaby]

Macdaniel 2 as well. I sorta got lucky in that he was right at the end of completing a batch. Yours is probably in that batch too, if it was for a 1911. If so, yours is probably in the mail too

 

[Lennyjoe]

I'm seriously concidering the McDaniel II as well. Let us know how it works out.

 

[carnaby]

Just got the MacDaniel II in the mail !!!

I just woke up and there it was on my porch. My wife and kids are outa town, so not only did I got to sleep in for once, awesome all by itself, and I got to wake up to gunleather

First impression: The Andrews MacDaniel II (notice not McDaniel) is a thing of beauty. The craftsmanship and the, Je ne sais quoi, is so far and above what I got with my Galco NSAII that I can barely believe that the two are at nearly the same price.

Ok, now I've got it on with gun in place. Real one handed holstering, yes The gun goes right in and right back out with no problems. Retention is excellent for a model without a thumbreak. It will take a little bit of break in as the leather is really tight. Good actually, since once it's broken in, the fit will be perfect. And it's only tight going in. Draw is still smooth anyway, that's kinda interesting. Retention is good even with the smooth draw. The Galco was a real pain to reholster, and I'd usually pit it on with the pistol in it.

The cant was a little too aggressive out of the box. No problem, just grabbed a flat-head screwdriver and now it's right about how I like. The body shield makes it comfortable to wear under a t-shirt, nice.

To be fair, it is a smidge bulkier than my Galco, what with the steel reinforced mount etc. But it actually holds its position on the belt very well, that is, the cant stays in one orientation and the gun does not rotate, since the belt loop fixes quite rigidly to the belt. The Galco, with the dumb J-hook would move all over the place.

The snap, just like with the Andrews mag pouch I got a while back, is super rigid and hard to close at first. I had to close the darn thing with a pair of pliers with some soft material inbetween to avoid scuffing the snap. From experience with the mag pouch, this will break in and all that. And while it's relatively easy to undo, it won't come apart until you want it to.

So here's a breif pro/con comparison of the two holsters:

Andrews Macdaniel II

Pros:
- Awesome quality and workmanship
- Smooth draw and one handed reholstering
- Excellent rigidity on the belt, holds cant angle
- Pulls butt of gun close to body
- Body shield very comfortable
- Price
- You can talk directly to Sam Andrews. Great guy.

Cons:
- Often shipping takes a long time if there aren't any in stock (not for me though, for 1911's stock is often good)
- Bulkier than the Galco - the bulk is noticed too. I think I'll have to wear it farther back, at around the far end of 3:30 instead of the far end of 3:00 like I do with the Galco.
- A little more gymnastics required to put the thing on. Probably easiest to put it on before the pants are up


For the Galco

Pros:
- very light weight
- no reinforcement, so fairly thin, doesn't add much width to what the gun already has. Gun looks less like a tumor on my hip (but still kinda does). Only noticeable to the user really, to the masses, probably just looks like a big ipod or something.
- easy on, easy off with the J-hook
- decent retention
- good for a compact 1911 (what I currently have).
- price is good relative to other big-name holsters

Cons:
- No one-handed reholstering
- J-hook doesn't have a very positive hold on belt
- Draw is NOT smooth, the holster tries to come with the gun
- No body shield option
- Cant is not adjustable

I've only had the thing for an hour and not carried with it yet. It's also made for a full size 1911 and all I have is a compact 3" until my new one arrives. Still works for the little guy though. I'll update this post after I've got the full size gun and carried it for a while.

Hope that was helpful for those considering either holster.

Edited to add:
One more thing... this is a stoutly made holster, and as such it seems like I'm gonna need a better belt. My current belt worked ok with the Galco (a Filson 1.5" belt), but the Andrews I think will perform better with a beefier, more rigid belt. If I manage to get one, I'll post about this then.

 

[rero360]

awsome, I can't wait until I get mine, hopefully it'll be waiting for me at my folks house when I go home on St. pattys day.

 

[tegemu]

Carnaby, your snap problem sounds very much like the experience just about everyone has with "Dot" fasteners. If they are "Dot" fasteners, identified by a small dot at one edge of the snap on top, they must be unsnapped by pulling out on the side where the "Dot" is and snapped by placing the snap on at an angle so that the "Dot" is up and last to be snapped in place. Then when you push down the "Dot" you will be amazed how easy they are. I and many others have pushed and pulled 'til I was red in the face and muttering many colorful, unkind things about the fastener and the person who designed it. When someone pointed out the "Dot" to me and explained their function, I was VERY grateful. They are designed that way to make inadvertant un-snapping almost impossible. Knowing Sam Andrews and the quality of his work, I would be surprised if he did not use "Dot" fasteners for more security and even more surprised and disappointed if he made a product that caused heartburn in his customer.

 

[carnaby]

Heh, yeah, how about that.

Actually, his is similar but a smidge different. It has a flange inside the female button side that goes on first and then you push the top on. Won't come off or on unless you do it in that order. Nice.

Thanks for the tip.