[41 Charlie]

While waiting on my Milt Sparks VM-2 holster for my S&W 3” wheel guns, Craft Holsters was brought to my attention. I believe I read about them in one of those “Best Holster” threads. I have no relationship with Craft Holsters, just want to give them a proper plug. I was a little reluctant to do business, as they are located in Slovakia. One of those former Russian block Countries. Rest assured, I’m a Milt Sparks guy to the core. But I thought I would give them a shot. They said six weeks to manufacture the holster, and said it would ship on February 3rd. Sure enough, six weeks to the day, and great communication throughout the build. It arrived today, and I have to say I’m very impressed with the quality and craftsmanship! Pricing is very reasonable. It comes with a retention screw, 1.5” belt loops with one way snaps. It’s double stitched in all the right places. Very impressive! I encourage my fellow Addicts to give them a look. I still have my Milt Sparks VM-2 holster on order, but this will do nicely while I await its arrival.

 

[limbkiller]

Good looking holster. How does it fit the gun?

 

[41 Charlie]

Good looking holster. How does it fit the gun?

Like a glove! I couldn’t be more pleased!

 

[Fred_G]

Looks good!

 

[azpoolguy]

That is a really nice looking, well crafted holster.

 

[FWoo45]

Cool! I'll have to check em out.

 

[Spokes]

Beautiful leather work... Did you have to stretch it a bit?
Like your S&W 3" Revolver...
Great carry gun...

 

[gumby]

I too bought a Craft holster after watching a Colion Noir video. Mine is a shoulder holster that can be used on the belt if need be. Very good quality for the price. They currently have a 10% off sale on their otherwise low cost products.

 

[41 Charlie]

Beautiful leather work... Did you have to stretch it a bit?
Like your S&W 3" Revolver...
Great carry gun...

Thanks for the kind words! No stretching required. (No plastic bag trick needed). Fits my S&W 3” M10 & M13 perfectly. Old World craftsmanship, at a very responsible price! I would certainly order another holster from Craft Holsters.

 

[switchback]

Nice rig Charlie, and the 3" is nice also (especially the non pictured m13) !!!!

 

[random84]

I just wanted to add here that I bought a Craft holster - the "roto" shoulder holster that is vertical but rotates down for a more horizontal draw. It fits my 1911 very snug, which I think is good as the holster would theoretically break in more; but the "roto" feature is absolute ****.

My two biggest issues are:
The safety strap wraps around under the beavertail on the grip safety area, and snaps closed on the outside. So it's awkward to manipulate and the brass snap button drags across the side of the slide EVERY TIME YOU DRAW. I have several brass marks on my freshly DLC'd 1911 that I am pretty pissed about from the safety strap button. I cut the safety strap off at that point as it's just in the wrong location and orientation. I ordered the holster for "cocked and locked" and expected the strap to wrap around above the beavertail.

My second complaint is that the "rotation" design of the holster is great in theory, but in practice it sucks. The holster rotates forward too easily, so you basically wind up with a horizontal orientation most of the time and you're constantly re-adjusting it. I'm tempted to just sew it together in the vertical orientation as I intended to use this for vehicles and not have the muzzle pointed at the 2nd row passenger.

On top of those issues, the pistol-side belt tie snaps to the inside of the holster, which then tends to pull the muzzle-end of the holster outward with any tension on the holster. Had it snapped to the outside, it would tuck the muzzle end in towards the belt and be more comfortable IMHO.

Although the quality of the leather was overall reasonable for the price point, I do NOT recommend their shoulder holster.