quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
MDS, it looks like my experience was slightly different from yours. In my case, I thought the mag in a 220 was locked into place when I had a round in the chamber, but a stiff mag spring and a full mag fooled me and the mag became noticeably loose. With your P226 in a P220 holster, I wonder if the holster, when worn, didn't wind up pressing your magazine release button.

My 2 occurrences happened years ago, probably well more than 20 years ago. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not infallible and I've made my share of mistakes with guns over the years. Having said that, I've never found the P226 mags to be overly stiff, even when new. One of the few things I did right as a new gun carrier was to tug on the mag after seating it, and verifying that it was locked into place.

As I mentioned in another thread, twice, two separate occasions, after getting home and pulling my P226 out of the holster (pictured above) it was only after I laid it down that I realized that while the magazine was still in the gun, it was unlocked. After the first occurrence I developed a bit of skiddishness, and found myself discreetly but regularly verifying that my mag was still locked in place, through my clothing. Something I suppose has developed into a bit of a personal "tick" as I still catch myself doing it once in a while, even though I haven't experienced the issue in decades.

When I first bought the P226 in 1992 (my first handgun) a friend of mine later learned that I had bought it, and had the Safariland holster pictured above, and he explained to me that the P220 and the P226 were similar enough in dimensions that the holster should work for my gun, and gave it to me. I tried the P226 in it and it seemed to fit it well enough...but admittedly I was relatively new to handguns and absolutely new to carrying them.

Pancake holsters were the latest tech back then and the "rage" so I was happy to have it. But, looking how far gun tech and gun accessory tech has come, I can see some flaws in the design of the holster now. Namely, that while the leather itself is fairly thick, it is a fairly 'soft' leather, that doesn't offer much in terms of structure or rigidity. The holster always had a slight tendency to deform and sag ever so slightly away from my body...although not having a proper gun belt for years I'm certain contributed to this. But even now, when used with a good gun belt, it still sags.

As can be seen in my pictures, the P226 magazine release is completely covered by the thick leather. When I first started carrying with the holster I thought it was a good design feature to have the magazine release covered, but I now believe that the thick soft leather easily 'collapses' and allows for force to press in on the magazine release.

I've since owned many holster, including Galcos, Bianchis, and a Milt Sparks to name a few, and those holster's leather was significantly more rigid and I never experienced the issue with any of them. I've also never experienced the issue in some of my plastic or hybrid holsters.

Except for the fact that the plastic lining that once surrounded the inside thumb break snap to protect the gun's finish is worn away the Safariland is otherwise still usable. If I ever found a need to use it again I'll be following the advice of Sigfreund, V-Tail, and others, to cut a small opening for the magazine catch release.

One of the features I've always liked about this particular Safariland holster was the adjustable thumb break...however one of the things I hated about it was that the thumb break was not reinforced and the soft leather tended to droop and curl downwards with wear, which led to several "blocked" or "blown" practice draws.

MDS,

My apologies, I don't have anything useful to add. But I'd like to see pics of that workhorse out of the holster if it's not too much to ask.

Yes with many guns and Many Holsters and many styles. I’m left-handed.

quote:

I'd be obliged if you would reconsider and participate in the poll, as it sounds like your particular occurrence fits right in with the topic of the poll.

Ok, done!

It happened often enough with a P290 in a Crossbreed supertuck that I looked into modifying the release. What I ended up doing was swapping the release to left-handed, so I push it with my trigger-finger rather than my thumb. It hasn't happened since I did that.

I had both a P229 SIG and a G19 Glock release their magazines while carried in Miami Classic Shoulder rig.
Both instances were while operating a tractor and shredder on rough cow pasture. The pistols apparently slapped against my rib cage hard enough to release the magazine.
Neither time did the released magazines make it to the ground.

The HK P7 American release was a one-shift carry, LOL. I had it in a Desantis OWB belt rig, and the seat belt kept tripping the mag release. Notably, on the first gen Euro release version, with protruding mag button, the same thing happened to me when it contacted the bolster of the car's bucket seat!

Yes, while at work a few times.
NOT A GOOD FEELING!

Long story short short-
P-226 in a pancake holster on the waistband. Working plain clothes at the time.
The cut of the holster went right over the mag release button, and hit it more than once, releasing the magazine.
The first time I notice it happen I kinda needed the gun to work more than once... Drew it and "bloop" the magazine and it's 15 important rounds hit the deck.
Didn't know what caused it, it happened again about a week or so later. Took me a minute to figure it out, but when I did, I immediately changed holsters and tossed the old one out.

Yes. When the CG shifted to the M9 several negligent discharges occurred and many many reports of magazines being released while the pistol was being holstered. Resulting in loaded mags going over the side.

Turns out it was due to the brand of life preserver we were all Mandated to wear. The PFD (personal flotation device) was tightened to the wearer by a series of drawstring on the sides. This string had a plastic doo-dad that was the size of a quarter and about a 1/4” thick. The strings ran thru this and it was levered to lock down the drawstrings.....

These strings dangled into and around the area of the pistol while the PFD was worn. Seems that the plastic doo-dad would/could get in the way and depress the magazine release button, if not held to the side. Same thing with the NDs...plastic tightened got into the trigger guard.

The interim fix was to re-string the PFD so the strings were pulled upward away from the gun towards the armpit while worn.

Due to the problems, the manufacturer of the PFDs re-worked their tightening mechanism to remedy the issue.

Nowadays, PFDs have straps oriented horizontally on the sides due to this.

The poll results have been most interesting and several of you have shared some very interesting anecdotes about this issue so thank you to all that took the time to post and vote!

I'd appreciate any further input as well.

quote:

Originally posted by elberettas:
MDS,

My apologies, I don't have anything useful to add. But I'd like to see pics of that workhorse out of the holster if it's not too much to ask.

Apologies for the delay in replying. I had some pics from a few years back, but they are on an old hard drive that I'm not able to access right now, so I had to make the time to take a few new pics.

I think you are going to be disappointed, as we're not talking about some collection-grade museum piece. It has its share of dings and missing finish...in fact, in the right light, you can see the anodized finish starting to wear on the frame grip to the point where it is starting to turn bronze/ gold like (similar to the Flork frame rail description)...but, as I'm starting to become a bit long in the tooth, I tend to have an affinity for a few possessions that have accompanied me on the journey, and this particular P226 is one of them.

It's not my oldest P226, but as both my first handgun and the one that I carried the most/longest, it's the one I have the strongest attachment to.

Please excuse the dirty gun and the rushed pic quality.

Never in 50 years of CC on nearly a daily basis.

GUNS: 1911's, Sig classic P-Series, P320's, Glocks, misc .380's from 1970's.

Always used quality leather made for the gun carried. Sparks IWB and OWB plus a couple of Kramer. No extended mag catches. Gunbelt width matched to holster loops. All my vehicles had seat belts during this period.

quote:

I suppose has developed into a bit of a personal "tick" as I still catch myself doing it once in a while, even though I haven't experienced the issue in decades.

My mag springs are all veterans now, and don't get put on "just in case" duty until they are. To this day, though, I'll cycle the slide on the magazine to be carried in the pistol, decock, check to make sure the mag's locked in place, and never top off. You know you're thinking about it if it sticks with you.

I am not disappointed one bit! Beautiful pics of a beautiful piece. Thanks for taking the time!

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

Years ago, while reading up on the HK P7 series, I came across an article that explained that the original HK P7 with the protruding heel magazine release produced a similar issue in which one of the early department P7 adopters started getting reports of their officers returning to their patrol cars after a call and finding their gun's magazine laying on the seat, which prompted HK to re-design to the PSP flush heel release, before the later M8 flapper mag release.

Ironically, the only time I’ve experienced this was while carrying a P7M8 in a Don Hume holster. Fortunately I noticed the loose magazine.

Changed to an Alessi and never had it happen again.

I had my P-6 spit the magazine once. I was using a well-worn IWB holster I got at a gun show (replaced it in a hurry after that!).

The replacement holster I got had a better design, and even pushing right on it I can't get it to drop the magazine, haven't worried about it since (still check it every now and then though).

quote:

Originally posted by Archer1440:

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

Years ago, while reading up on the HK P7 series, I came across an article that explained that the original HK P7 with the protruding heel magazine release produced a similar issue in which one of the early department P7 adopters started getting reports of their officers returning to their patrol cars after a call and finding their gun's magazine laying on the seat, which prompted HK to re-design to the PSP flush heel release, before the later M8 flapper mag release.

Ironically, the only time I’ve experienced this was while carrying a P7M8 in a Don Hume holster. Fortunately I noticed the loose magazine.

Changed to an Alessi and never had it happen again.

Interesting. This is the second anecdote of a Flapper Mag inadvertent release. Please take the time to vote in the poll.

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
I had my P-6 spit the magazine once. I was using a well-worn IWB holster I got at a gun show (replaced it in a hurry after that!).

The replacement holster I got had a better design, and even pushing right on it I can't get it to drop the magazine, haven't worried about it since (still check it every now and then though).

Thanks for sharing that. It's shaping up that holster design seems to play prominently, although not exclusively, with this issue. I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to vote in the poll.