You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

When it comes to finding a good concealed carry holster, it pays to hunt hard and be skeptical.

I would imagine when most millionaires purchase a holster, they just buy the best one they can find, even if they’re just buying it for their bodyguard. Unless you’re part of that 7.6 percent millionaire segment of the U.S. population, I’m guessing much of your life is governed by dollars and sense. Meaning, you apply all the sense you have, to most every dollar you spend, because your kids, gas and groceries come first. Given that lifestyle, how should you select a holster you’re going to use to carry a gun you’ll trust your life with every day?

There are a lot of holster makers out there and most offer various tiers of quality. They’ll offer entry-level holsters for new shooters and the financially challenged, and they’ll offer higher-quality rigs for the more discriminating buyer. We can’t cover them all here, but we can look at two nearly identical holsters from Galco that perfectly represent different price points and quality. Maybe that will help you see what you might give up if you buy the less expensive version, and what you might gain by spending more money.

According to Mike Barham at Galco Gunleather, they introduced the original Stow-N-Go IWB holster over 20 years ago. It was the first holster in their Concealed Carry Lite line, which is a budget-friendly series of concealed carry holsters that provide “everything you need and nothing you don’t.” Mike said the Stow-N-Go was an immediate hit and has been a best-seller.

The Stow-N-Go retails for about $69, and although Galco considers it budget friendly, it’s not cheaply constructed. It’s made of a single piece of center-cut steer hide that’s rough on both sides, double stitched along the rear edge and has a folded and stitched mouth to help keep it open for one-hand holstering. It also has a stitched-on panel for the polymer belt clip mount that’s sized to work with belts up to 1¾ inches.

Galco provided one for a Stow-N-Go for review, and I tried it with a steel-framed Colt Commander weighing about 40 ounces, loaded. Turned upside down, the holster would not retain the pistol, but this is an IWB holster and if worn as intended with the belt tight enough to secure it, the gun is not going to fall out. Fit—though not molded—was good and the rough leather sort of helped hold everything including my shirttail in place. However, that same rough leather was a bit grabby when inserting the holster inside the waistband. Though the holster’s mouth remains mostly open when the holster is worn, sometimes I had to wiggle the pistol’s muzzle a bit for insertion.

The other holster Galco provided is an upgraded Stow-N-Go from their Masterbilt line, and it’s called the Stow-N-Go Elite. Masterbilt holsters are crafted in small batches by Galco’s most experienced craftsmen. Galco decided to offer the Stow-N-Go Elite based on the decades-long success and popularity of their Stow-N-Go. The Elite version is crafted from lined premium steerhide, and it’s molded by the most experienced hands on Galco’s production team. It uses the same convenient and secure belt clip, it’s rigid enough to hold its shape for one-hand holstering, and even though it’s an IWB holster, no one will ever see how great it looks.

The old saying, “it fits like a glove,” is better used to describe the basic Stow-N-Go, because in that holster, the pistol—like your hand in a glove—will have some space around it. That’s not the case with the Stow-N-Go Elite, it’s perfectly molded to fit your pistol, and it will retain it in the upside-down position. However, drawing from the holster is butter smooth.

From the standpoint of quality materials, fit and finish, the Elite version of the Stow-N-Go is undeniably the better option. However, it’s going to rob your wallet of about 100 extra Washingtons. But there’s more to the Stow-N-Go Elite than just good looks. Its smooth finish makes it a bit easier to put on, it will hold its shape almost indefinitely and last longer, and the finely finished leather prevents perspiration absorbance. My only complaint was with the same slick finish that makes putting it on so easy sometimes allowed my tucked shirt to crawl up out of my pants around the holster if I did a lot of sitting and standing.

From a carry comfort standpoint, I could hardly tell any difference between the two holsters that are separated in cost by a hundred bucks. I also compared them on the range by drawing and firing 10 shots from each, at 10 yards, on a miniature silhouette target. The average time with the Stow-N-Go was 1.278 seconds, and with the Elite my average was 1.137 seconds. The Elite was faster by 0.141 second or 11 percent. That’s not an earth-shattering difference but it’s something.

I’d not hesitate to carry, trust—or recommend—the base model Stow-N-Go, though I prefer the Elite version because it feels more rigid/sturdier in my pants, will last longer and comes with more pride of ownership for whatever that’s worth. If I could swing the extra cash—though I might have to eat bologna sandwiches for a few months—the Elite version would be my pick. However, sometimes trusting the consumer provides a thing called a clue. Barham said the last time he checked, Galco had sold more than a half-million Stow-N-Go holsters, and I can see the appeal. That affordable holster works very well. Currently, Galco offers the basic Stow-N-Go for 204 different handguns, and the Stow-N-Go Elite is available for 62.

Some Hillbilly Holster Wisdom

Today, you can buy any holster you want online, and it’s at your doorstep in a day or two. But, if you wear it for a week and don’t like it, you’re stuck with it, and it goes in that box of holsters living in the dark recesses of your closet. Take it from a hillbilly who has carried a handgun on an everyday basis for most his life—don’t buy a holster you have not tried, or as a minimum, discussed with someone who has. Your holster is just as important as your underwear and jeans and should fit your gun and you just as well.