imported post
HankT wrote:
David.Car wrote:
First. I have carried multiple times a week in a Serpa for over a year. My SIG is still spotless. There are no noticeable wear marks anywhere on the firearm. I have seen greater fading from leather then kydex.
Maybe your SIG has less of a propensity to show black marks on the slide compared to T27's Kimber Raptor?
Or maybe, the fit on a Serpa for 1911 is worse than the fit of a Serpa for your SIG?
Those are two variables that clearly are present, fit and color.
Generally everyone knows that a holster, given enough time, will cause wear on a firearm. This is true with leather, suede, and kydex. The amount of wear will be directly related to amount of use, moisture in the air, quality of the guns finish and quality of the holster.
It has just been in my personal experience that I have seen less wear related to kydex then leather. I am sure others will have different experiences as well. That is about par for the game, no 2 things will ever go the same way.
My CC holster is a MTAC (Half leather, half kydex).
What I have seen from most people though is usually a complaint of scratching from Kydex (my bet is the mold burs were probably never removed). For leather it is a fading of the blueing, typically much more around the end of the barrel, where the most rubbing occurs.
Edit: Also, it should be noted that a quality Kydex holster (like the Serpas) will actually only hold the firearm at a couple places (see somewhere on the trigger guard and another place or two). For that reason there should be a whole lot less rubbing and contact between the holster and the fire arm then any other holster material. Which would lead to less wear.