Gear Review - R51 Custom Kydex Holster
by Kirk Lawson
![Hand Arm Product Gesture Handgun holster]()
In the Fall of 2018 I had Billy at Defensive Training Solutions ( https://www.defensivetrainingsolutions.com/ ) make a right-handed Kydex Holster for my Remington R51. $80 got me a custom Kydex, pancake style, holster and a Kydex "mag carrier" for a single magazine.
A "pancake" style holster is made from two sections of material, usually leather or Kydex, which sandwich the handgun. This has the advantage of being able to be molded into a curve to better fit your body. This makes the holster more comfortable to wear because it creates fewer "hot spots" of pressure against your body as the gun belt is cinched tight.
![Product Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Material property]()
I had Billy include a "sweat shield" which is a piece of the holster which prevents contact to your body from the slide and top of the frame. For my purposes, I wasn't worried as much about "sweat" on the firearm as much as I wanted to avoid the slide serrations rubbing against my skin or undershirt.
![Bicycle part Personal protective equipment Auto part Fashion accessory Electric blue]()
The holster came with tuckable steel and Kydex clips for use Inside The Waistband (IWB) with or without a tucked in overshirt and Kydex loops for use as Outside The Waistband (OWB). The clips and loops are attached with a simple two-point Phillips head screw-and-grommet-bolt system. This is handy and I switch the configuration quite often to fit my current needs. OWB tends to be more comfortable but IWB offers better concealment. The leading edge of the holster has three holes so that allows the holster to be worn either at a standard 90 degree or at a forward cant. There is no tensioning adjustment on the holster. While the retention is still good, it has loosened up a bit with use and I think I prefer it just a little bit tighter. I may take it back to Billy and ask him to heat it a tad and tighten it up a little bit.
The mag carrier was designed to come higher up the on the body of the magazine. I asked for this to make the silver stainless steel magazine body less obvious to draw less attention. I think would have preferred it to come up even higher now that I've been using it. But I did not ask Billy to run Kydex all the way to the baseplate so he didn't. I wasn't sure what I wanted. The mag carrier has a single Kydex belt clip and it works well. Once locked onto the gun belt, it will not pull off. Though the inside lip of the belt clip is beveled to help funnel it over the belt, it still is a bit stiff and requires attention to slip it on. Sometimes it is just easier to to put it on the belt as I thread the belt through my pants belt loops. The mag carrier is tension adjustable through a Phillips head screw-and-grommet-bolt with a rubber spacer in the center. It is easy to over-tension it. A half-turn or less is all that I needed to adjust the tension from "solid retention" to "can't get the mag out."
All told, this is quality work that I am happy with. I would recommend their services.
![Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory Airsoft gun]()
by Kirk Lawson
In the Fall of 2018 I had Billy at Defensive Training Solutions ( https://www.defensivetrainingsolutions.com/ ) make a right-handed Kydex Holster for my Remington R51. $80 got me a custom Kydex, pancake style, holster and a Kydex "mag carrier" for a single magazine.
A "pancake" style holster is made from two sections of material, usually leather or Kydex, which sandwich the handgun. This has the advantage of being able to be molded into a curve to better fit your body. This makes the holster more comfortable to wear because it creates fewer "hot spots" of pressure against your body as the gun belt is cinched tight.
I had Billy include a "sweat shield" which is a piece of the holster which prevents contact to your body from the slide and top of the frame. For my purposes, I wasn't worried as much about "sweat" on the firearm as much as I wanted to avoid the slide serrations rubbing against my skin or undershirt.
The holster came with tuckable steel and Kydex clips for use Inside The Waistband (IWB) with or without a tucked in overshirt and Kydex loops for use as Outside The Waistband (OWB). The clips and loops are attached with a simple two-point Phillips head screw-and-grommet-bolt system. This is handy and I switch the configuration quite often to fit my current needs. OWB tends to be more comfortable but IWB offers better concealment. The leading edge of the holster has three holes so that allows the holster to be worn either at a standard 90 degree or at a forward cant. There is no tensioning adjustment on the holster. While the retention is still good, it has loosened up a bit with use and I think I prefer it just a little bit tighter. I may take it back to Billy and ask him to heat it a tad and tighten it up a little bit.
The mag carrier was designed to come higher up the on the body of the magazine. I asked for this to make the silver stainless steel magazine body less obvious to draw less attention. I think would have preferred it to come up even higher now that I've been using it. But I did not ask Billy to run Kydex all the way to the baseplate so he didn't. I wasn't sure what I wanted. The mag carrier has a single Kydex belt clip and it works well. Once locked onto the gun belt, it will not pull off. Though the inside lip of the belt clip is beveled to help funnel it over the belt, it still is a bit stiff and requires attention to slip it on. Sometimes it is just easier to to put it on the belt as I thread the belt through my pants belt loops. The mag carrier is tension adjustable through a Phillips head screw-and-grommet-bolt with a rubber spacer in the center. It is easy to over-tension it. A half-turn or less is all that I needed to adjust the tension from "solid retention" to "can't get the mag out."
All told, this is quality work that I am happy with. I would recommend their services.
