Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I was looking for a holster for my 4" S&W 31-1. I wanted it to be leather, OWB, some retention, covered trigger, full coverage of the entire barrel and compact. A minimalist field holster of decent quality. I didn’t want to spend a fortune, but I only wanted to buy it once. Leather holsters for 4” J-frames are not super hard to come by, but they’re a little more specialized these days than one might assume.
My standard “Go-To” for revolver holsters is one of the established American makers such as Don Hume, Bianchi, DeSantis, Mitch Rosen or maybe El Paso Saddlery. After looking around, I couldn’t really find exactly what I was looking for. My fallback source is almost always Don Hume, sometimes even a used Don Hume rig; but it just wasn’t happening for a 4” J-frame. I also spent some time digging through those boxes of used holsters at gun shops and gun shows – no joy.
So, once again I turned to my backup plan – Craft Holsters. I found what I was looking for, at a price that I was willing to pay and ordered it. A discount coupon helped make that decision easier. It wasn’t in stock and took a few weeks to be produced (no problem, I wasn’t in a hurry). Once it shipped, it made the trip across the pond amazingly fast. Less than 72 hours from Slovakia to Virginia.
This is about my 5th holster from Craft Holsters, and I continue to be impressed by the quality to price ratio. Synthetic materials have their place but I’m fairly old school and most of my gear is leather. Craft Holsters make a pretty good leather holster for the money. If you’re seeking options, they are worth a look.
My standard “Go-To” for revolver holsters is one of the established American makers such as Don Hume, Bianchi, DeSantis, Mitch Rosen or maybe El Paso Saddlery. After looking around, I couldn’t really find exactly what I was looking for. My fallback source is almost always Don Hume, sometimes even a used Don Hume rig; but it just wasn’t happening for a 4” J-frame. I also spent some time digging through those boxes of used holsters at gun shops and gun shows – no joy.
So, once again I turned to my backup plan – Craft Holsters. I found what I was looking for, at a price that I was willing to pay and ordered it. A discount coupon helped make that decision easier. It wasn’t in stock and took a few weeks to be produced (no problem, I wasn’t in a hurry). Once it shipped, it made the trip across the pond amazingly fast. Less than 72 hours from Slovakia to Virginia.
This is about my 5th holster from Craft Holsters, and I continue to be impressed by the quality to price ratio. Synthetic materials have their place but I’m fairly old school and most of my gear is leather. Craft Holsters make a pretty good leather holster for the money. If you’re seeking options, they are worth a look.