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Match The Right Hunting Holsters To Your Handguns

I’ve carried lots of different handguns over the many hunting seasons, so it stands to reason that I’ve also tried a lot of hunting holsters. Early on I bought cheap holsters because at the time, with a wife and four young kids, I had no money. Now the kids are grown. I still have the wife. I have lots of expensive things around me that I don’t have the time to use. And I still have no money. But I do have some nice holsters for the handguns I carry when hunting. Here are a few:

Galco Kodiak Hunter: A Great Hunting Holster

The Galco Kodiak Hunter is an excellent hunting holster designed for large, long-barreled Ruger and Smith & Wesson revolvers and the Thompson/Center G2 Contender. This is a chest holster, which is why I selected it in the first place. A chest holster keeps the gun high and dry. If it’s pouring rain, I can zip my jacket over it and it’s completely covered as I trudge back to camp and say, “to heck with this.”

And I’m not banging the gun against things in thick cover. It doesn’t interfere with the shoulder straps or waist belt of my day pack and it doesn’t keep tugging my pants down. Yet the handgun is accessible. Mine fits my Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 with a 7 ½-inch barrel very well. I tried to use it with my Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, but the scope I have mounted on that gun bumps into the front of the holster, so it won’t fit. The holster is very well made and once the straps are adjusted it’s very comfortable.  

The Galco Kodiak Hunter is an excellent chest holster for large handguns.

D & D Gunleather For My Other Single-Actions

Those big Ruger Super Blackhawks I carry when I’m hunting with a handgun as my primary firearm. More often, I’m carrying a slightly smaller handgun as a sidekick to a rifle or shotgun. But chances are I’m still carrying a single-action. I’m not going to put a blued revolver in Kydex. For a holster for my Ruger Blackhawk Convertible in .45 Colt / .45 ACP with 4 ¾-inch barrel,

I reached out to my friend and fellow gun writer Dave Workman. Well known as a crusader for our Second Amendment rights, Dave also fashions custom leather holsters through his D & D Gunleather business. I had him make a traditional Western holster and matching gun belt with cartridge loops. As it turns out, my Ruger Vaquero and Cimarron El Malo .45’s fit the holster too. I treasure that belt and holster and I’m more likely to be wearing that holster and carrying that Blackhawk than any other gun/holster combination on hunts these days.

The uses this D & D Gunleather Western rig for his Ruger Blackhawk.

Comp-Tac International For Glock 40

Okay, there is a place for Kydex. When the Glock 40 MOS long-slide 10mm pistol was first introduced, I tested it for a magazine article and ended up buying the gun.

The trouble was that with the Trijicon RMR reflex sight mounted on it, there weren’t many holsters available. I stumbled on a good one. The Comp-Tac International holds the gun securely and with the belt mount the gun is kept tight to the body. The holster also comes with paddle and drop offset mounts. This gun/holster combination is especially great for extreme weather. If I ever decide to try something different for the Glock 40, maybe it’ll be something like a bandolier holster, such as the DeSantis Terminator.

The Comp-Tac International model works well for the author's Glock 40.

Blackhawk T-Series L2C For Glock 20

The Blackhawk T-Series of holsters was designed for duty use. But they are great hunting holsters too. I have one of the compact L2C models for my Glock 20 10mm and it’s a good combo. The gun locks into the holster at the trigger guard. It’s not going to go tumbling out if I take a spill in the mud or trip walking downhill to try to get back to camp before dark. As you take a natural grip on the gun, your thumb swipes aside a lever that releases the gun. It’s very intuitive, nothing to have to remember or fumble around. A nice thing about these holsters is that they stay rigid for easy, one-handed holstering.

The Blackhawk T-Series L2C is a duty holster that can easily do double duty as a hunting holster.

Alien Gear Cloak Chest Holster For 1911

Another chest holster I really like is the Alien Gear Cloak Chest Holster.

Among my hunting holsters, this is one of my favorites. It features a Kydex holster shell on a breathable neoprene flexible backer. It’s a very comfortable rig.

Alien Gear makes this holster to fit about 500 semi-auto and revolver models. Mine is for my Ruger SR1911 in 10mm. That’s a gun I especially like if my hunting trip also includes a night or two in town for dinner. Then, I swap out the chest holster for an IWB model and I’m good to go.

The Alien Gear Cloak Chest Holster is available for about 500 different handgun models, including the 1911.

Too Many To Cover Them All

Of course, there are many more fine holster makers out there. For my concealed carry guns, for instance, I’m likely to using something from DeSantis Gunhide or Muddy River Tactical. As long as I’m able to wander the woods, I’ll be carrying a handgun with me. So I’ll always be on the look out for better ways to tote them along.

(Lead Photo: Cimarron El Malo 2 revolver in a Chisholm’s Trail holster.)

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