Check that Holster Strap!!!

[Shoedawg]

So I learned a huge lesson this week. I have an Alaskan Sportsman Chest Holster for my Ruger Redhawk .45 colt that I use for protection. Well last week I was floating Upper Eagle River and floated to sand bar to take a picture. I went to lean forward to grab my oars and heard a *KER-PLUNK* and a splash of glacier water on my face. To my horror my revolver had slipped out of my chest holder and fell between my legs into the river. I quickly fished for it in about a foot of water and thank the Lord above; I was able to find it. As I pulled it out, water and rock flour was just pouring everywhere out of it. I looked down at my chest holder and saw that the buckle was not clipped that secures directly over the hammer. I thought I had clipped it and secured it and didn’t check it. Putting the gun back in and making sure it was secured, I went merrily, merrily down the stream. I couldn’t get the gun clean right way, and had to wait a few days to start clean up on it. I had to break down everything in the pistol: the trigger guard, the hammer, remove pistol grips, cylinder, everything. Rock flour was everywhere on it. It took me about 2 hours to disassemble the gun, two hours to clean it, then another hour and a half to put it back together. Never took it apart before, so that is why it took me so long. Just for a few seconds in the river, it is amazing how much sand can get into places, and how much time it takes to clean up the mess. Learn from me folks. Make sure that strap is on tight, and check it out once in an awhile to make sure it still is doing its job.

[ADfields]

Oh that sucks! But at least you got it back and I don’t have strange voice telling me to take my Garrett Ruger-nugget hunting near every sand bar in Eagle River. If you are around water a lot you may want to get a lanyard on it, next time may be in deep water.

Remember when the chrome cell phone came out in the 90s? Well I got one, it was just the koolest thing driving my 54 F100 and talking on that chrome phone. The thing was just under $1000 and the first cell I had that would fit in my shirt pocket . . . Well it was raining in Phoenix when I got back to my house from the cell phone shop getting this thing. The water was running down the street 4 feet from the curb and I hopped over it to get the mail . . . I saw a flash of chrome go whizzing by my face then the ker-plunk sound, yup it landed in the deepest part! Stupid me turned down the protection plan an hour before so I was out a $1000 cell phone.

[AK Ray]

I have an Alaskan Sportsman Chest Holster for my Ruger Redhawk ....... I went to lean forward ......To my horror my revolver had slipped out of my chest holder .......... I looked down at my chest holder and saw that the buckle was not clipped that secures directly over the hammer. I thought I had clipped it and secured it and didn’t check it.

I have the Blackhawk tactical version of that holster. I bought it many years before the Alaskan Sportsman version was being made. I think this same series of events happened to me about five times. The older the holster became and the more use it had the harder the buckle was to secure. It never opened on its own, but it would give me false indication that it was locked up - it would click and then come apart as I lifted my fingers away. Due to some other issues with the buckle during a close call while out in the woods I stopped using it. It was replaced by a Guides model.

I have never had my RH slip out of my Guides model when the thong was not slipped over the hammer. Even when nearly upside down retying my wading boots. Having a holster with adjustable retention is pretty cool and really useful.

[Shoedawg]

I'll have to look into the Guide holsters, may be a better alternative than the one I am using now. Ya I was pretty lucky to get it back. That phone dropping in the deep puddle seemed to be a hard lesson learned. That is just one of those " OH &$^@&!#!!!" situations.

[Steve8261948]

Describe rock flour please to this low lander?
Steve

[rbuck351]

Rock flour is nothing more than glaicer silt ( rock that has been ground to very fine powder) that any glaicer fed stream is full of.

[ADfields]

Describe rock flour please to this low lander?
Steve

Very fine silt (like talcum powder) from the grinding action of glaciers, often suspended in rivers as well as on the bottom. I helped pull a stuck pickup from Knik river and in 2 hours the cab (and everything else) was chocked full of it to the water line. I don’t know if it’s true but I have been told if you swim in it clothed the stuff fills your cloths and pulls you under. And I thought Arizona was dusty till I moved here, when dry the stuff gets picked up in the wind then into everyplace.

[Shoedawg]

Well I should of mentioned this in my first post. Before I cleaned the RH I did a few dry fires and hammer pulls with it and I could hear and feel the rock flour grinding in the pistol
It is nasty stuff.

[JOAT]

Just as a field expedient in such a situation... get to a clean/clear bit of water if possible, take the ammo out and dunk the gun back in the water. Vigorously slosh it around underwater, spinning the cylinder and eventually "wet" firing it underwater until you get the majority of the silt washed out of the gun. Pull it out of the water shake the heck out of it to clear out as much water as possible and run the cylinder as well as dry fire it numerous times to ensure it is back to functionality. If you have a cloth to blot dry everything you can get to, that will help. Then reload it and put it back in the holster. Sure it will be wet, but it already was. At least it is now just wet and functional instead of non-functional and full of silt. It will make the formal cleaning much easier when you get to it.

[LeonardC]

Note to self: get that lanyard for the hand cannon when near the water.

[Shoedawg]

Good point JOAT. I had drinking water with me, and was not about to use that, and there was no clean'/clear water near by. I will keep this tip in the brain bucket for maybe a next time.

[stevelyn]

I'll have to look into the Guide holsters, may be a better alternative than the one I am using now.

I just got a Guides Choice a couple months ago for my Redhawk and couldn't be happier with it. The holster fits tight enough to keep the gun in nice and snug. Plus it has an adjustable leather hammer loop thong with a tab on it to free it. There's also a tensioning screw you can adjust to tighten or loosen the holster to your tastes. Plus it's comfortable and keeps things handy and out of the way.

I can't recommend them enough.

Just as a field expedient in such a situation... get to a clean/clear bit of water if possible, take the ammo out and dunk the gun back in the water. Vigorously slosh it around underwater, spinning the cylinder and eventually "wet" firing it underwater until you get the majority of the silt washed out of the gun. Pull it out of the water shake the heck out of it to clear out as much water as possible and run the cylinder as well as dry fire it numerous times to ensure it is back to functionality. If you have a cloth to blot dry everything you can get to, that will help. Then reload it and put it back in the holster. Sure it will be wet, but it already was. At least it is now just wet and functional instead of non-functional and full of silt. It will make the formal cleaning much easier when you get to it.

Sounds like a recipe for a cheap action polishing and trigger job.

[BrownBear]

I have firsthand experience with two holster failures. Got back to my truck after several hours of thrashing deep brush for snowshoe hare and discovered my belt holster wasn't packing my tuned Ruger MII. Eek! An hour of careful backtrailing led me right back to it where it had popped out as I crawled under a low alder limb.

About 30 years ago I was deer hunting a small island around 50 acres with a friend. Due to close ranges and dense cover, we were both using older Colt SAs, mine a 45 and his a 44-40 that had belonged to his granddad and was a museum piece in addition to heirloom. We got back to my skiff and he discovered his belt holster was empty. We spent the next two days tearing that island apart and never found it. He was so upset with himself he literally quit hunting for a decade. Somewhere on that little island is a red spot that used to be a gem. Every time either of us motors by, we're still stopping and looking.

Note that both were belt holsters in settings that required a whole lot of bending and stooping and scraping through brush. Any wonder I'm a fan of shoulder or chest holsters for hunting guns?