Saturday, January 20, 2018

Fun With Holster Angle

Learning of the recently published CFDA procedure regarding holster angle, I went to Lowe's and bought a General Tool and Instruments Steel Protractor.  Next, I took out some holsters and attempted to learn how to measure holster angle. 

Here's the problem; an angle gauge generally needs two flat surfaces on generally the same plane to get a dead-nuts accurate measurement.  In fact, wit holsters, the measurement angles are on different planes.  So, any measurement is a gesstimate.  It might be close, but we can't be sure it's dead-nuts, especially with the tool I purchased.  For example.


Above is a JDL holster for the long gun.  I aligned the measurement surfaces as well as I could, and measured the holster angle at 17 degrees.  I've included a close-up below.


That's the way I measured it, but other folks might get a different measurement with this tool.  I asked Belle to measure it, an she came in with a full 20 degrees. 

Next,I measured a JDL holster for the short gun. 


Aligning the angle surfaces as closely as I could, I came in with a measurement of 17 degrees.  Again, this is a guesstimate, as I was unable to fully align the tools surfaces with the holster leather.

I believe that my measurements confirm that the JD Leatherworks holsters for both long gun and short gun are in full compliance with CFDA rules.  I also measured a Ken's Leather holster at 17 degrees and a Crease N' Corral (Part Time) rig at 18 degrees.

But, I may not have the best tool for holster angle measurement.  Texas State is in March, closely followed by Louisiana State in April.  While the tool I have is a readily available tool, I'm not convinced that it is the best for our purposes.  We all want to play by the rules, and we all want o do right for our shooters and the game.  We rangemasters need to figure this out pronto.    Is there a better tool for holster angle measurement?  Has CFDA specified a tool?

We need to figure this out, quickly.

4 comments:

Matt said...

https://cdn7.bigcommerce.com/s-ehb4p/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/16778/17900/1794488__27201.1462407711.jpg?c=2&imbypass=on

Matt said...

Are you only supposed to measure holster angle from the belt or are you supposed to measure holster angle from vertical? Those could be two very different measurements. I tried to post a link to the tool I'd use to measure holster angle from ventricle. If the link doesn't work, I'll show you tomorrow!

Aesop said...

Lay the belt along a straight edge.

Put one of them fancy-pants laser bullet pointers/boresighters/target practice items - on - inside the chamber aligned with the barrel (for revolvers), with the weapon in the holster. (Obviously, this only works with open-bottom holsters, but yours appears to be such, so...)

A 90-degree T square with some length should allow you to measure the angle of the laser beam, hence the barrel and holster itself, with the vertical 90° line, whether you do it flat, or upright.
And get the reciprocal, which is your cant, either way.

Best wishes.

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