When thinking of OWB holsters, especially holsters with active retention there’s usually only one or two company names that come to mind. Safariland is easily the most recognized name in that market, and with good reason. I’m not about to try to downplay the success or the quality of their holsters, I love my 6390 and will continue to use it for many years to come. But what if you have a unique requirement, something for duty work or other uses that has a specific set up that Safariland doesn’t offer a holster for? Are you simply forced to give up the quality systems Safariland offers to find the holster that fits your needs? Fortunately, Chris Payne of CJP Custom Concealment has fulfilled those customers with more unique requirements.
Chris produces his 3767D holsters for a variety of pistols, and perhaps most uniquely he also offers duty holsters for pistols paired with the Streamlight TLR7. His kydex is paired with the Safariland SLS hood, perhaps the most proven level 2 retention system on the market, and belt attachment can be paired with Safariland, G-Code, or Blade Tech systems. This gives the customer the ability to have a trusted retention system paired with a holster that is not currently produced by Safariland.
For this review I purchased a 3767D for my Beretta Elite LTT with Surefire x300U and purchased two 3825U-MAG pistol magazine carriers additionally. The holster came with a Safariland QLS mount and a mid-ride bracket. I purchased this holster sometime during the summer. Since then it has been through several thousand drawstrokes, without issue. I’m not in law enforcement, or any sort of employment that would require a firearm or holster for duty use. That being said I haven’t babied the holster, it has taken the bumps and drops normally associated with dry fire and range trips and been none the worse for it.
Retention was the one worry I had when ordering this holster. I’ve owned a few OWB holsters, and usually they tend to have far too much retention, requiring a leg strap to prevent the entire holster coming up with the gun, or they are so loose that the only thing holding them in the gun is the retention hood, leaving the gun to bounce around against the hood. Even with adjustable retention I have never been able to find something that fit tightly enough but also released the gun when it was needed. Safariland never has this issue with the ALS system incorporated. The holster from Chris seems to have found that perfect balance, and it doesn’t even offer adjustable retention, it’s simply the goldilocks fit. It holds the gun snugly in place, so that even when running without the hood in place the gun is not bounced free, but whenever the gun is needed it releases it’s grip without rising with it, which means no leg strap is needed. Normally I’d recommend purchasing a holster that allows the user to custom fit how much or how little passive retention they want, but this seems to be the perfect balance and eliminates any retention hardware that could work itself loose over time. Surprisingly the gun also sat well without the light attached, although Chris informed me this was largely due to the large trigger guard the Beretta possesses.
There has been only one issue I noticed with this holster through the last six months or so of use. The top edge of the holster has taken a beating from the rear sight of my LTT. Not a real problem, it did some minor scuffing of the holster and did absolutely nothing to the gun itself. It never caused any sort of functional issue, more cosmetic in nature than anything else. I brought it up to Chris and he had already become aware of it and assured me that all future holsters would not have the same problem. I’m not sure what else to say about the holster itself. It works great, the benefit of having holster models not offered by Safariland but with Safariland retention features is great for the holster market. Surprisingly as much as I liked using the holster, and as well as it worked, I found myself intrigued by the mag carriers from CJP Custom even more.
At first glance there’s nothing too eye-catching about these mag carriers. And to be perfectly honest the beauty of these carriers is not in their appearance, but in their function. Initially it would appear that the holsters are not ambidextrous, there are only screw slots and attachment on one side of the kydex, and in a market where nearly every company is offering their mag carriers with screw holes on both sides it would seem to be a mistake. However, due to whatever sorcery or ingenuity Chris put into his design it no longer matters which direction the magazine faces, retention is the same. Rounds forward or backward, left or right-handed shooter, OWB or IWB, you can do all of this without having to swap any hardware. Obviously if you choose soft loops or other attachment systems OWB might not be the ideal choice, but if you’re using 1.5” clips or something similar, as I do, you can run your magazines however you like without needing to change anything at all. I cannot overstate how extraordinarily useful this was, being able to practice OWB and IWB required so little effort.
The other great feature of the magazine carriers is there are a host of different belt attachment options available. Single wide clip, soft loops, tuckable clips, DCC clips, there are many different options available to order with your carriers. You can also set your carrier up with the clip to be canted, allowing the magazine to be positioned in a more ergonomic position that also allows the magazine to conceal better. Which speaking of concealment, these mag carriers are deeper than most other manufacturers, which I honestly thought only mattered for longer magazines or those with extensions. However, simply using these deeper magazines IWB makes them conceal noticeably better than others on the market due to the carrier acting as a fulcrum to bring the magazine tighter to your body, and thus reduce any potential chances of printing.
If you’re in the market for a new OWB holster with active retention, or simply need a mag carrier for your current set up, give CJP Custom Concealment a look. If you have further questions Chris has tremendous customer service and always has a quick answer ready.
Material Disclosure
I received this product as a courtesy from the manufacturer via Spotter Up so I could test it and give my honest feedback. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal experience with the product.
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