A Good High-Quality Leather Holster Rig Will Last a Lifetime

Quality Matters

 Greg     Gun Leather    December 27, 2021

Over the last forty years I've learned two lessons when it comes to gun leather; 1) If I buy a holster that doesn't work for me, I get rid of it because it will never start magically working for me, and 2) If I buy a holster that does work for me, I keep it forever, even if I sell or trade the gun that was paired with it.

There are shoulder holster systems that can can accomodate different setups, like a backup gun, extra magazines or speed loaders. The rig pictured here by Bob Mernickle, has a primary gun on one side, an extra magazine for the primary gun and a backup gun on the opposite side.

Primary, Extra Primary Magazine and Secondary Gun

This rig has been with me a lot of years. At the moment, I'm not even sure how many years ago it was when I acquired this one. It was custom made to accomodate a Colt Officers ACP and a Colt Mustang. At different points over the years, I found myself without an Officers ACP, but I always knew another one would come along.

Once upon a time I had a rather plain-jane Officers ACP that was extremely accurate. You absolutely couldn't miss with that gun. I let a police officer from Mississippi talk me out of it. At the time, I think it was a $300 gun, which became a $500 gun, then a $1,000 gun, which became a $1,500 gun. Well, the end result is the $2,100 gun in the photos.

Buying, selling and horse trading are all part of building a gun collection over time. Back when gun shows were very active, I even traded a gun for a holster once.