Can a polymer holster be "gun fitted"?

Kiwi cop

Kiwi cop

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One of the items stolen from me back in February was my 25+ year old Gilmore Speed Leader competitiion holster for my 606-4. :mad::confused::mad:

With no 686 sized revolver competition holsters available in Kiwiland, and supplies uncertain, with the asisstance of Garystl I purchased a Safariland 002 holster from Midway, which arrived yesterday. :D

The holster is very tight. Even with the tension screws backed out to "almost lose" the gun is hard to insert and draw from the holster.

Right now it is sitting in my safe with the revolver inserted.Now as far as I am aware once set to a mold polymer should be stable. But I may be wrong so, would this holster set itself to a gun once holstered?

If (as I suspect) not, what are my options?

I could recontour the inside edges of the holster lip to make inserting (and possibly drawing) a lot easier, but that is a last resort. It also will require recontouring the entire holster mouth as it is tight everywhere.

Another option is to gently use a heat gun on the closed side of the holster with the gun inserted to get it to "open" a little.

Any suggestions?
 
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Heat seems like it's worth a try. I own exactly zero Polymer holsters and so I am not familiar with what heat range they react to. You could call one of the manufacturers, or THE manufacturer of yours and ask. From what I've seen, they are usually fairly reasonable in cost and so it might just pay to get a new one properly fitted.

If the holster isn't working in its present condition, I suppose you have little to loose in trying the heat method. Just don't go too hot!
 
I’d probably try something slippery like silicon spray or “Armor All” on the inside to see if it will help. Pretty sure polymer holsters are injection molded. I don’t think you’re going to reshape it with your wife’s hair dryer.
 
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As to your Safariland, try putting your gun inside a plastic baggy then shove it all into the holster for a day or maybe two.
It has worked splendidly for me with a holster or two that were just a little too tight.
Disregard my advice. I thought that was a leather holster and have since seen it is kydex.
So that won’t work
 
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Maybe longer screws and thicker rubber spacers? Heating works well for tightening because it is easy to push in but the opposite could work if you can find the bind points and gently pry outward after heating. Maybe warm it up and insert the gun with it wrapped in a cloth. Holster manufacturers will send you extra screws and spacers if you can't find them locally. Fatter rubbers could be made from gas line from auto stores.
 
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John Bianchi's excellent book, Blue Steel and Gun Leather had tips about wet molding leather holsters. From memory, adding a drop of dish soap to the water... I used it as a guide when building my own holsters.
I'd be game to try heat on kydex, have leather gloves handy to work the warmed material while it is pliable. I've had good luck bending various plastics in projects.
 
I had a holster that was just a little too tight for the gun so I used a heat gun so soften the holster to just enough to loosen it. Be careful too much heat can melt the whole thing.
 
If your new holster is polymer (plastic), I don't think you can re-mold it with heat? If Kydex, I believe you could.

Something you might want to try - You should be able to buy sheets of Kydex material. There are videos on the internet showing how to cut the material, heat and mold it to your gun for a perfect fit, in pretty much any design you can come up with. The biggest obstacle might be finding a dummy gun for the molding process, though being yours is a stainless steel gun, maybe you could use yours without worry of finish damage? I'd look into it.

Larry
 
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