Pocket Holster Modification

[D Brown]

A couple of weeks ago, I left work and headed to the nearest town with a grocery store to pick up a few items. As is my usual practice, I pulled my Kimber Micro Raptor .380 out of the console of my Jeep and placed it in my left front pocket before heading into the store.

When I got home from the store, I reached into my pocket to remove my pistol and discovered that the magazine release button had somehow been depressed and the magazine fell out of the gun as I took it out of my pocket. The implications of this occurrence could be very serious if this happened at the wrong time, so I started giving it some thought.

To begin with, I'm left-handed, and this places the magazine release button towards the outside of my pocket. I theorize that this makes the magazine release button more vulnerable to unintended release from leaning against something or maybe just brushing against some object.

After looking at what I had to work with, I came up with the solution shown below. Note: This is not a complaint about anyone's product. This situation was most likely caused by my physiology, combined with my left-handedness.

Here's what I came up with:

A couple of pieces of scrap leather and some contact cement.

I glued one piece of leather to the outside of the pocket holster, and another piece to the inside.

After the glue had cured, I tested the modification and discovered that the trigger guard on my Kimber would occasionally snag on the bottom edge of the inside piece of leather. This resulted in pulling gun and holster when obviously, I only wanted the gun to come out of my pocket.

I next cut a bevel in the inside piece of leather and the holster now stays in the pocket as it should.

I have tried every way I can think of to activate the magazine release from inside my pocket since making these adjustments, and I have not been able to make it happen. Success!

I thought I would post this just in case I'm not the only one who has had this issue.

Thanks for reading this long post.

 

[Baxter6551]

No offense and nicely done on the modification but I would recommend switching holster to either a Kramer or a Mika pocket holster.

 

[Rpg]

Looks like an ingenious solution.

One of the benefits of a revolver carried in the pocket is that it won’t disassemble spontaneously as will some semiautomatic pistols.

Smith made the finest pocket revolvers ever in the M38, the M49, the M40 and M42.

The contemporary versions of these guns (three digit models such as the 638) are built on larger, clunky frames that aren’t as serviceable for pocket carry as are the much more svelte two digit models.

 

[Echo40]

I've heard of this issue before, but I've never experienced it myself, and I've pocket carried a pistol since 2015.

It seems to be an issue which is most common with pistols which include extended magazine release buttons, as those with recessed mag release buttons don't have this issue reported as often.

 

[Old cop]

I’m a lefty and have experienced my LCP mag popping out when carried in almost any pocket holster. There’s one made of Kydex that solves the problem b/c some of the material covers the mag button, but retention is too tight resulting in the holster coming out w/the gun. Switching to a J Frame resolved this issue.

 

[D Brown]

I've heard of this issue before, but I've never experienced it myself, and I've pocket carried a pistol since 2015.

It seems to be an issue which is most common with pistols which include extended magazine release buttons, as those with recessed mag release buttons don't have this issue reported as often.

Thank you for the reply.

Out of curiosity, are you left-handed?

Also, could you give an example of make and model that incorporates a recessed magazine release button? I can't recall seeing this feature but may have just missed it.

 

[majick47]

This issue is why a lot of European police/military stuck with the heel mag release for many years.

 

[hyena]

Thanks for sharing that, Dave. The funny thing is, looking at your mod, my first thought was that would make the problem worse, because the more rigid leather would more readily transfer pressure directly to the mag release button.

I'm a righty, and I've never experienced that with my Bodyguard. I carried originally in a Desantis Nemesis, then graduated to a Mica.

 

[hyena]

Looks like an ingenious solution.

One of the benefits of a revolver carried in the pocket is that it won’t disassemble spontaneously as will some semiautomatic pistols.

Smith made the finest pocket revolvers ever in the M38, the M49, the M40 and M42.

The contemporary versions of these guns (three digit models such as the 638) are built on larger, clunky frames that aren’t as serviceable for pocket carry as are the much more svelte two digit models.

Now you've got me wanting to see and hold a model 42, to compare it side by side with my trust 642. I didn't know the original J frames were smaller.

 

[Baxter6551]

I just missed out on a flat latch 42 airweight at the LGS for $475 and that was before price negotiation….. I saw the hold tag but had to wait for the internet sales guy to find out if it was truly sold - it was ….. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhh…….

And to amend my reply above I carry a Glock 42 in a Kramer pocket holster without issue. But I’m right handed and I can see where the left hand carry with the mag release facing up can be a factor.

 

[seldon14]

BIG nope from me. The potential (however low) for that internal piece to come loose, or put pressure on the trigger when holstering makes this a hard no for me. Quality pocket holsters that dont have this problem are not all that expensive.

 

[Erich]

I tried the same exact thing with the same holster for the same reason (different gun, though - a P938).

The mod didn't work well and I wound up selling the (fantastic) gun eventually at a great deal to a Northpaw friend. I'm a big fan of the modern reversible magazine releases.

 

[BB57]

Sometimes people can get a little too hung up on things they consider necessary and:

- lose sight of what actually matters; or

- fails to realize the compromises involved and address the, accordingly.

A 1911 style magazine release location on a pocket pistol can be one of those things. A pocket pistol isn’t something you carry into a war zone and if you think one magazine isn’t going to be enough where ever you are going, you need to go somewhere else.

If you persist in going, bring a bigger gun and maybe pocket carry a backup.

——

Either way, there are a couple different ways to address the safety issue.

1) Use a pistol with a heel mounted magazine release, or a magazine release that is flush mounted in the grip. Europeans understood the value of that while we still seem to be in denial about its advantages for pocket carry on this side of the pond.

2) Use a holster that fits the pistol, which means it not only doesn’t interfere with the mag release, but also protects it.

Holsters made of soft pliable leather, and in particular suede or split leather are at the absolute bottom of my list. They’ll let you press thins you should not through the material and they can in some cases have an edge that rolls over and presses things it should not, like pressing the trigger as you insert the pistol into the holster.

The PPK/S in the upper left is in a leather pocket holster made from thick, stiff leather and it just won’t let you press the magazine release with the pistol in the holster. Yes, it’s a little thicker, but it does it job really well, protecting the pistol in a pocket and yet letting it come out of the holster cleanly during the draw.

The sticky holster next to it puts the magazine release down in between a thick edge binding and the grip, where it’s protected. You can press the mag release, but you have to work at it to do it accidentally.

 

[jmart172]

Look up
Mika’s pocket holsters
The best 30 dollars investment I’ve made

 

[D Brown]

I would be interested to know how many pocket pistols have been produced with BOTH of the following attributes: Heel Clip Magazine release, Ambidextrous Safety.

If someone can point me in the direction of a currently manufactured pocket pistol with both of the above attributes, I would most certainly be willing to give one a tryout.

Thank you.

 

[mikerjf]

I’ve had this problem with a Beretta 950. The mag popping loose would trap it in my pocket. A heel mag release would have been much preferable.

In the end, it also had the problems of 1) no extractor, and 2) tiny slide and strong spring, so a dud round was well nigh unrecoverable.

The CZ 1945 was a much better option… at least so far as 25acp’s go.

 

[jchodur]

Caution

I was advised years ago not to pocket carry a 1911 style pistol (those with a manual safety) due to the safety being pushed into the firing position as you move around. Even with your current modified holster, with only the mag release covered and not the safety lever, this could still be a problem, but with much greater consequences.

 

[Erich]

I would be interested to know how many pocket pistols have been produced with BOTH of the following attributes: Heel Clip Magazine release, Ambidextrous Safety.

If someone can point me in the direction of a currently manufactured pocket pistol with both of the above attributes, I would most certainly be willing to give one a tryout.

Thank you.

You won't find an ambi-safety on a SIG-Sauer P230/232 (just a decocker on the LH side; they're safe, though), but they have a heel release. I'm finding the Ruger LCP Max with its reversed (by me) mag release to work well locked into a Kydex pocket holster (nothing's moving that trigger while it's in the holster), but the safety is LH side only.

Nothing wrong with a small revolver in the pocket, of course. And I'd like to agree with BB57: this isn't IPSC and we're not Rob Leatham - all the silly placement of magazine releases in the 1911 position is absurd in pocket pistols.

 

[Inusuit]

I pocket carry a Kahr 380 (Vedder Pocket Locker) and in work pants a KelTec P3AT(DeSantis Super Fly). Have not had magazine release issues with either holster. I'd be uncomfortable with the modifications described in the above posts for the reasons other posters have mentioned.

 

[Mike in Reedley]

I have several Nighthawks and a Wilson 1911. All of them are self defense style and not target or completion guns, yet they all came with taller than standard “Tactical “ magazine release buttons. I replaced all of them with standard Colt mag release buttons.

I wonder if your pistol has a taller than necessary release button.