How much does a holster matter?

[ronlarimer]

My last post of this type got a little love so I thought I share my most recent range test.  It has been a while since I posted anything like this and for somewhat good reason...  5 weeks ago I broke my elbow.

The last time I got to the range the purpose of the trip was to see if it hurt or not and while the pain wasn't too bad (2 weeks post break), my reloads were horrible and it limited the work I could do.  I should have used it as an opportunity to practice 1 handed shooting and reloads, but I wasn't really feeling it so I just shot what I could.  

As luck would have it I had 2 holsters with me and my AA kit so I decided to do a mini test to share.  My last one was testing if a 2nd gun was truly faster than a reload and I found it wasn't.  This trip I decided to quantify the difference in 2 different holsters (Comp-tac M-TAC IWB and Comp-tac OWB) then for grins I added Open carrying with the OWB.  On this day with my G19 and a loose cotton shirt the results of 10 draws were as follows...

MTAC with a baggy tee-shirt - 1.92, 2.01, 1.92, 2.00, 1.97, 1.84, 1.91, 1.80, 1.84, 1.82...  1.9 Average
OWB with a baggy tee-shirt - 1.86, 1.76, 1.83, 1.72, 1.77, 1.71, 1.94, 1.78, 1.71...   1.75 Average
OWB Open carry - 1.47, 1.54, 1.49, 1.51, 1.52, 1.47, 1.66, 1.59, 1.55...   1.53 Average

During the BUG test OWB open carry with the same gun was an 1.5 Average and with an unzipped coat it was an 1.67 Average.

It may not be a surprise that it takes longer if your pistol is more covered, but I thought the data was interesting.  I used to shoot summer IDPA matches with my MTAC and a polo due to the heat.  During a 6 stage match that would cost me 1.4 seconds.

As a bonus, since I had my Advantage Arms kit with me and both have the same sights I did a test between .22LR and 9mm. The difference was .242 vs .296 in favor of the .22LR.  On the video I couldn't tell a difference other than sound.  No, this isn't .45 vs 9mm but at this stage in my shooting life I doubt it would matter much more.

[PegLeg45]

Cool info.
One would think the spread would be much wider between OC and CC.....but I guess it would largely depend on the skill level of the shooter. Someone who practices very little would most likely have wider margins, but then again you never know.

Kudos to you (IMHO) for hitting the range to practice while less than 100% and then sharing the info.

Hope you continue to heal well.

[fullautovalmet76]

Good info! I second what Peg posted.

I wonder if you get more time to run the test again use 30 shot strings and do an ANOVA on two strings to see if there is a statistically significant difference.

-FA

[tombogan03884]

I also am surprised there was so little difference between open and concealed carry.
But I'm also surprised there was any difference between IWB and OWB.

[2HOW]

I would expect OWB to be quite faster than IWB, since the gun is tighter against the body IWB. But many variables apply such as size of gun and type of holster etc.

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