This is a review for the Blackhawk Serpa Retention Holster for the Sig P226 / P229. I purchased this holster for open carry use. I have used it for a year and a half for concealed carry, open carry, and running.

Overview:

The Serpa Retention Holster is made by Blackhawk and is available both online and in many local stores. I have seen it in Sportsman’s Warehouse, Cabelas and various local shops.

The Serpa Holster is carbon fiber injection molded holster fit to a specific firearm. It is a level II retention holster it uses friction and a locking action to keep the firearm in the holster.

The holster can be used as a paddle holster or the paddle can be removed and standard belt loops attached.

Holster Construction

The holster itself is visually appealing and feels as though it is constructed very well. Over the past year and a half I have impacted walls, doors, and other various objects with the holster and have not caused any damage to it.

There are two potential weak points on this holster.

The holster locks onto the trigger guard, and there have been some reports of gravel and sand getting into the holster and disabling the lock release. While somewhat concerning I have no intent of rolling around in the dirt with this holster and don’t anticipate running into this problem.

The holster can be used as either a standard belt loop holster or a paddle holster, both modules are provided in the box. Unfortunately the attachment uses somewhat small screws, I am concerned that in a retention the holster may separate from the belt loop or paddle module.

Retention

The primary use for this holster is for openly carrying a firearm. Because the firearm is in plain view when open carrying firearm retention can be more of an issue when carrying concealed.

The Serpa system locks onto the trigger guard when the firearm is holstered. There is a nice audible click that notifies the user the locking system has engaged. To release the lock the user obtains a firing grip on the firearm and indexes the pointer finger along the holster, the finger will naturally rest on the lock release button.

The Serpa system is viewed as unsafe by some firearm instructors because it requires the user to use the trigger finger to disable the lock. When drawing the user presses towards their body with the trigger finger and it is in theory possible for the finger to slip from the holster onto the trigger as the firearm clears the holster.

There has been a lot of heated debate between people on this issue with advocates on either side. I myself have not experienced the finger slip but it is something I’m aware of and watch out for with this holster.

It took very little time to master the system and drawing is no slower than drawing from a holster without retention. Disabling the lock is so natural I am somewhat concerned that an attacker may also naturally rest their finger along the release button.

The paddle attachment system locks to the belt but it can still be removed fairly easily with tugging.

Concealment

I have occasionally concealed this holster in locations where open carry is not possible and while not ideal it is acceptable. I would not purchase it for a concealment holster however as there are better choices.

This holster is a polymer holster and is very rigid, this means it tends prints more than a leather holster that can smooth out the edges of the firearm.

When configured as a paddle holster I found this holster rode too far from the body to be concealed.

Running

I am an avid runner and have experimented with various methods of carry while running. This holster works very well as an open carry running holster, the retention feature keeps the firearm securely in the holster and I have not experienced any accelerated firearm wear.

It can be made to work as a concealment running holster but I found I had to continually pull my shirt down, this is common to all OWB holsters though and nothing specific to this holster.

Overall

Overall the Blackhawk Serpa Holster is a good but not great holster with decent retention capability for general use. It is far surperior to the Uncle Mike’s line of polymer holsters.

That said I do not think it is constructed heavily enough or has enough retention features for duty use.

If you are considering a Serpa holster I also recommend you take a look at the Safariland 6367 holster as it is more heavily constructed in the belt loop area and also features more retention, it is a more expensive holster though.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Gear Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.