Great Snub Nose Holsters Part One

The holster pictured above is the Galco Speedmaster. The picture shows a "J Frame" five shot Smith and Wesson Hammerless type .38 or .357 in the holsters, but it is made for a lot of other guns.

I recently used a Christmas ebay card to get one of these at about half price, but brand new. It's so new the leather still creaks a bit while turning the torso when wearing it, but it's creaking less and less every day.

Mine is for my Colt Cobra and it fits perfectly. The hammer is sheiled from both my body and whatever garment covers this holster.

Of course, living in Texas as I do, abundant hot and humid weather much of the year limits the amount of time this holster can be worn. Right now, it's mighty cold, and thus easy to conceal either under a sweater or a jacket or coat(s).

I've never tried to be a fast draw artist. The holsters I began using when entering law enforcement always had a 10-15 degree cant or a flap (the widowmaker, as we used to call them). Pretty soon after I began in law enforcement they eliminated the flap holster, called the widowmaker because it was (a) so slow to draw from; and (b) not a very secure gun holster when fighting or wrassling suspects.

I like a forward cant in most holsters, as I standardly carry on my strong side at anywhere from 3 to 5 O'Clock, depending on the gun, the wardrobe, what I'm doing and the holster.

After a few weeks with this holster, I'm already a fan of it, and will probably get one for my S&W Bodyguard Model 38. It reminds me of the Roy Baker Pancake holster in which I used to carry my Python.

It's not the first Galco product I have owned. Several years ago, in College Station, I found a snubnose paddle holster with no thumb break strap that fit my Bodyguard perfectly. It's an excellent quality holster, and like the bevy of fine late 70's and early 80's Bianchi holsters that still look almost new and are as new in the fit and functioning department, I suspect the Galco holsters I acquire will outlast me and still be highly functional when they get ultimately passed to El Fisho Jr.

Although these two snubbie holsters are my first Galco products, I'm not new to the company. Back in the early 80's, when I was an officer on the street moved into a plainclothes assignment, I bought an extremely nice horizontal shoulder holster rig for my Python from the predeccesor company to Galco, which was called The Jackass Leather Company.

You know the holster I'm talking about. I believe Galco now calls it the Miami Special or something like that, because in the mid-80's it was popularized on the show Miami Vice. But several years before that show and Don Johnson reared their heads on TV screens, Jackass Leather made it's debut to cop shops around the country and it didn't take long for police officers across the country to figure out that the horizontal shoulder holster was far better designed to carry a heavy handgun like a Python, a 1911A1 or a Hi Power than anything that Bianchi or Safariland (then two leading makers of shoulder holsters for law enforcement) had come up with.

I sold that holster on ebay some years ago, me no longer having a need for a heavy duty leather shoulder holster to carry a large frame .357 revolver with a 4" barrel. It brought several hundred dollars more than I paid for it originally and was in fine shape still after all these years.

I give this Galco holster five stars. Excellent construction, fit, materials and it's comfortable as all get out. It's a big plus that I got it new for about half off on ebay from someone who bought it and for whatever reason, didn't want to keep it.