Big Bore
02-17-2009, 07:01 PM
We often see posts requesting information about holsters and IWBs come up quite often. One holster I recently purchased and have been trying out over the last month or so is the Ghost made by Bluegrass Holsters and owned by Brock Morgan. Below is the holster evaluation.
Carrying a concealed weapon can be done in a variety of ways. How you carry concealed depends on the situation and the frame of the person doing the carrying. Being a person rather large in girth, I have found over the years several ways that do not work for a person of my shape and a person in my situation. Shoulder holsters are easy enough to carry, but impossible to conceal when the jacket must be removed. Hip holsters that I have tried work well enough so long as an even larger shirt is worn over them but over the years I have settled on primarily carrying my USPC .45 is in a fag bag or fanny pack for the politically correct. This works but as time takes its toll on the old body, I have had more frequent hip problems after carrying the fanny pack for extended periods. That has resulted in me carrying the BUG, a North American Arms .32 NAA, about as frequently as I do the larger .45. While I do think the .32 NAA will stop most encounters rapidly, there is more reassurance for me with the larger hole in the barrel sported by the .45. And while I have liked the Blackhawk CQD for hip carry, its biggest shortcoming for me is downright painful when it comes to being seated in the car with it on the hip for an extended period of time and it does set the pistol rather far off the hip. Other than those two shortcomings it is almost perfect. It does print more than some types of holsters but I have never been concerned too much about printing. Most people, including bad guys, wouldn’t have a clue that I carry even with the fag-bag, and if a cop sees a bulge, so what? If they ask, I answer and show my permit, and wish them a good day. Strange that for 25 years I have been carrying firearms in holsters that should “give me away” but I have yet to be asked by anyone if I was carrying or have anyone complain. So much for the printing concern.
Still, I wanted something that I could carry, not throw my hip out of whack, and still allow me to carry and remain comfortable while seated in a truck, van, or car.
After doing more than a fair amount of on-line research I though I would give the IWB a try. I have tried them in the past and found them less than ideal but the holsters I tried were the mass produced type and not custom made. After a lot of reading about custom holster makers and also weighing in deliver time I settled on the Bluegrass Holster’s Ghost, tuckable, and in horsehide, no tension screw, and shark-skin trim to reinforce the mouth of the holster, not that it is really needed with a horsehide holster but it looks so darned good.
The horsehide holster is a new offering from Bluegrass Holsters (www.bluegrassholsters.com) so I was anxious to try them out. Horsehide is a slightly stiffer leather than cowhide but it supposedly stretches less with time and is generally considered to be more naturally moisture repellant. Reviews on-line about horsehide vs. cowhide is mixed, about 50% saying horsehide is not superior and in fact is less desirable than cowhide and the other 50% saying it is better. All I know for sure is I sure as the dickens DON’T know which is better so will go by what I have been told by the holster maker, Brock Morgan. He likes it. Besides, I have used cowhide holsters for over 3 decades on my hunting rigs and with no complaints mind you, but I am always open for something new. What the heck, give horsehide a try and see how I like it. If I don’t like it I’ll either exchange it for cowhide or buy one in cowhide.
After I ordered this holster on-line from Bluegrass Holsters, the owner, Brock Morgan, called to discuss the details and to inform about the advantages as well as the increased stiffness of the horse hide holster. Most important, since the horsehide holster is more stiff, he wanted to get a feel for how I was built so he could more closely conform the holster to my shape. Whereas a cowhide holster would quickly conform to my shape from daily wear, to decrease the amount of time needed for the horsehide holster to conform he can “build in” some shape to decrease the amount of time needed for the holster to conform to my shape. This was my first clue that I was dealing with someone who actually gives a hoot about getting it right for his customer the first time. Do you seriously think you would get a call like that from Blackhawk, Galco, DeSanti…?
It turns out that the horsehide holster and exotic trims are something he has just started offering and during the course of our conversation, he asked if I would do a T&E on the holster and post my results, good or bad, and to post some pictures. Now, don’t think for a minute I got any discount on the holster. That did not happen. What I did get was the opportunity to test the holster and know that if there were any problems what so ever, he was going to take the time to do any revisions necessary to make the holster work for me and all of his other customers. When it came to color choice, I left that up to him. Since it is an IWB holster it could be passion pink and nobody would know. Since I would be photographing the holster I let him pick the color design that he though would show off the holster’s attributes the best.
One might notice right away that there is no tension screw on this holster. Brock informed me that horsehide stretches so little that putting a tension screw on it was not necessary. From what I have read about horsehide leather goods I am willing to believe that.
Since I have no holsters for my USPCT .45 for range use, I ordered the holster for that pistol so it would have room to clear the .350-inch tall front sight. The shorter barrel of my carry USPC .45 would not be an issue with the slightly longer length of the holster made to accommodate the threaded barrel of the USPCT.
Now that we had all the details worked out, the hard part came next, the wait for delivery. Good to say, with my personal work being what it has been, time went by quickly and what seemed like no time at all, the holster arrived, eager to be donned and put through its paces.
The first thing I noticed after unpacking is that this is one beautiful holster.
The negative stories I had read on-line about horsehide not dying uniformly proved not to be true with the Bluegrass Holster’s Ghost. Brock has admitted difficulty in staining but he has the problem licked and can apply a very even stain to the horsehide with mine being a very even and dark black. The sharkhide is beautifully done in a maroon finish which is pebbled in texture as is the nature of shark skin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/BiggBore/Pic1.jpg
End of part 1
Carrying a concealed weapon can be done in a variety of ways. How you carry concealed depends on the situation and the frame of the person doing the carrying. Being a person rather large in girth, I have found over the years several ways that do not work for a person of my shape and a person in my situation. Shoulder holsters are easy enough to carry, but impossible to conceal when the jacket must be removed. Hip holsters that I have tried work well enough so long as an even larger shirt is worn over them but over the years I have settled on primarily carrying my USPC .45 is in a fag bag or fanny pack for the politically correct. This works but as time takes its toll on the old body, I have had more frequent hip problems after carrying the fanny pack for extended periods. That has resulted in me carrying the BUG, a North American Arms .32 NAA, about as frequently as I do the larger .45. While I do think the .32 NAA will stop most encounters rapidly, there is more reassurance for me with the larger hole in the barrel sported by the .45. And while I have liked the Blackhawk CQD for hip carry, its biggest shortcoming for me is downright painful when it comes to being seated in the car with it on the hip for an extended period of time and it does set the pistol rather far off the hip. Other than those two shortcomings it is almost perfect. It does print more than some types of holsters but I have never been concerned too much about printing. Most people, including bad guys, wouldn’t have a clue that I carry even with the fag-bag, and if a cop sees a bulge, so what? If they ask, I answer and show my permit, and wish them a good day. Strange that for 25 years I have been carrying firearms in holsters that should “give me away” but I have yet to be asked by anyone if I was carrying or have anyone complain. So much for the printing concern.
Still, I wanted something that I could carry, not throw my hip out of whack, and still allow me to carry and remain comfortable while seated in a truck, van, or car.
After doing more than a fair amount of on-line research I though I would give the IWB a try. I have tried them in the past and found them less than ideal but the holsters I tried were the mass produced type and not custom made. After a lot of reading about custom holster makers and also weighing in deliver time I settled on the Bluegrass Holster’s Ghost, tuckable, and in horsehide, no tension screw, and shark-skin trim to reinforce the mouth of the holster, not that it is really needed with a horsehide holster but it looks so darned good.
The horsehide holster is a new offering from Bluegrass Holsters (www.bluegrassholsters.com) so I was anxious to try them out. Horsehide is a slightly stiffer leather than cowhide but it supposedly stretches less with time and is generally considered to be more naturally moisture repellant. Reviews on-line about horsehide vs. cowhide is mixed, about 50% saying horsehide is not superior and in fact is less desirable than cowhide and the other 50% saying it is better. All I know for sure is I sure as the dickens DON’T know which is better so will go by what I have been told by the holster maker, Brock Morgan. He likes it. Besides, I have used cowhide holsters for over 3 decades on my hunting rigs and with no complaints mind you, but I am always open for something new. What the heck, give horsehide a try and see how I like it. If I don’t like it I’ll either exchange it for cowhide or buy one in cowhide.
After I ordered this holster on-line from Bluegrass Holsters, the owner, Brock Morgan, called to discuss the details and to inform about the advantages as well as the increased stiffness of the horse hide holster. Most important, since the horsehide holster is more stiff, he wanted to get a feel for how I was built so he could more closely conform the holster to my shape. Whereas a cowhide holster would quickly conform to my shape from daily wear, to decrease the amount of time needed for the horsehide holster to conform he can “build in” some shape to decrease the amount of time needed for the holster to conform to my shape. This was my first clue that I was dealing with someone who actually gives a hoot about getting it right for his customer the first time. Do you seriously think you would get a call like that from Blackhawk, Galco, DeSanti…?
It turns out that the horsehide holster and exotic trims are something he has just started offering and during the course of our conversation, he asked if I would do a T&E on the holster and post my results, good or bad, and to post some pictures. Now, don’t think for a minute I got any discount on the holster. That did not happen. What I did get was the opportunity to test the holster and know that if there were any problems what so ever, he was going to take the time to do any revisions necessary to make the holster work for me and all of his other customers. When it came to color choice, I left that up to him. Since it is an IWB holster it could be passion pink and nobody would know. Since I would be photographing the holster I let him pick the color design that he though would show off the holster’s attributes the best.
One might notice right away that there is no tension screw on this holster. Brock informed me that horsehide stretches so little that putting a tension screw on it was not necessary. From what I have read about horsehide leather goods I am willing to believe that.
Since I have no holsters for my USPCT .45 for range use, I ordered the holster for that pistol so it would have room to clear the .350-inch tall front sight. The shorter barrel of my carry USPC .45 would not be an issue with the slightly longer length of the holster made to accommodate the threaded barrel of the USPCT.
Now that we had all the details worked out, the hard part came next, the wait for delivery. Good to say, with my personal work being what it has been, time went by quickly and what seemed like no time at all, the holster arrived, eager to be donned and put through its paces.
The first thing I noticed after unpacking is that this is one beautiful holster.
The negative stories I had read on-line about horsehide not dying uniformly proved not to be true with the Bluegrass Holster’s Ghost. Brock has admitted difficulty in staining but he has the problem licked and can apply a very even stain to the horsehide with mine being a very even and dark black. The sharkhide is beautifully done in a maroon finish which is pebbled in texture as is the nature of shark skin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/BiggBore/Pic1.jpg
End of part 1