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Are factory Springfield XD holsters good enough for OC?

HighFlyingA380

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
301
Location
West St. Louis County (Ellisville)
I have been carrying my XD40 Service in the factory XD holster. For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, they are just the basic injection-mold passive retention belt holster. I have no retention problems, even when riding and doing jumps on my ATV, but I feel it might not really be the best option for OC. I have been thinking about a Serpa, or Safariland ALS type. I have only used a Serpa once with a friends 1911, and hated it. It might not have been fitted right, but I had to take it off and pull the gun out with both hands. I feel like the thumb release on the ALS would be more natural and easier for the shooter when drawing, and remain protected from BGs better. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks!

As an aside, are there any holsters out there that can accommodate accessories, such as my Nebo Protec Elite light/laser combo?
 
Last edited:

jeeper1

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2008
Messages
692
Location
USA
In my opinion the factory holster is inadequate for OC due to lack of secure retention.
For range use it is fine and may be OK for CC but I usually just use my Serpa when I CC.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
I've owned both a Serpa and the ALS holster. I first bought the ALS because I liked the functionality better. I found out it wasn't fitted for my P99AS, only the older P99, so mine rattled around in it. Sent it back and bought the Serpa. I just got the Serpa in the mail yesterday and I'm liking it a lot.

I liked that the ALS holster had the retention device tucked away between your body and the weapon. However, I feel like the Serpa is a better made holster. I didn't like that the ALS holster's thumb switch wasn't really a switch, but a tortion spring made of plastic. The Serpa feels much more solid and holds my Walther much more securely.

That being said, I like the design of the Safariland ALS better, even though it's not as fancy as I'd like it to be (IMO it should have a metal spring-loaded switch to activate the retention, but I can't have my cake and eat it too). The Serpa works great, and I don't feel handicapped using my finger instead of my thumb, but given the choice I'd have the build quality and functionality of the Blackhawk Serpa with the design of the Safariland ALS...that and I'd like Safariland to get with the times and start building their holsters for the modern version of the P99, and not just the version that they stopped making almost 8 years ago.
 

Joef

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Messages
27
Location
Nevada
No, the XD holster is not a good open carry holster. It is fine for general range use but that is about it. You can test it for yourself. Put the holster on in your normal 3-6 o'clock position. Make sure your gun is unloaded. Holster it and then find a decent chair(or different chairs or a car seat) and sit down. Most of the time this will pop the gun loose from the holster because the muzzle hits the chair and pushes it out of the holster.
 
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