That Chance Ballew guy, who rumor has may or may not be a well known blogger, has a new article up at Shooting Illustrated highlighting a holster for carrying pocket pistols. There’s no doubt about the fact that pocket carry is suboptimal. My draw from pocket is a good two seconds slower than from IWB at 4:00. The Executive looks like an interesting holster, but just based on the photos, I’m concerned about a few things, based on my experience carrying the P3AT. Some of these might be issues with the P3AT more than whatever holster you’re using. As guns go, I would say the P3AT, Ruger LCP, or other small pocket pistols are very hard to design an effective holster for just because of their size.
I’ve noticed a tendency for the magazine release to trip on the P3AT in pocket carry, because it’s not protected by the holster. It hasn’t happened often, but it’s an issue. That said, I’m not sure how much you can really do about it, because the holster needs to ride low enough to allow you to get a decent grip for the draw. But a holster that rides low on the gun also doesn’t leave much leather holding onto the gun. The other issue I’ve had with conventional leather holsters is that in regular use the split leather smooths out considerably, and they lose their ability to retain the firearm after a while. Retention on the split leather pocket holster I have was adequate when I first got it, but after use, if I turn my pocket holster upside down with the P3AT in it, it’ll dump.
It’s for this reason I’ve largely kept to pocket carry for the P3AT, where protection of the trigger is more of an issue than retention of the gun. I’d be wary of the P3AT carried IWB in something other than Kydex or boned leather, just for fear it’ll work its way out of the holster if it catches something while I’m sitting down. That’s less of an issue with a larger pistol, where there’s more leather to grab onto the gun, but more of an issue with a small pistol.
