hicapa serpa holster

[Defcon_Carl]

Hi,

I was wondering which serpa holster will fit my tm hicapa 4.3? does anyone know where to buy these things?

Thanks,
Carl

[LeGROS]

Also need one!

[chester]

Check out Army Issue. I got a Kydex for my 5.1 there.

[m102404]

Carl,

I just got one. It's a bit of a bugger for HiCapa's (I knew that going into it).

With some work, a Serpa fits a 5.1 ok. It requires a reprofiling of the edges of the holster opening (I filed mine...took 2-3 tries and 15-20 min) to accomodate the width of the 2011 grip.

The way that it's molded...it will not nicely fit a 4.3. You would have to cut about an inch off the end of the holster so that the railed frame of the 4.3 would fit. Even then, once the 4.3 was inserted enough to lock in...about a 1/4 inch of it would stick out the end of the holster...kind of ugly.

Either way...you need to mod the trigger guard area of the holster...or the trigger guard of the pistol so that it locks into the Serpa. After looking at it, I opted to take an extra grip that I had and modded the trigger guard. Essentially I rounded off the square trigger guard to a more "normal" 1911 profile. Works like a charm.

So a 5.1 can be made to fit...a 4.3 not without some major chopping.

Tys

[LUTNIT]

Like Tys said, it can be a major problem. One tip that Madmax posted here a while ago was instead of filing it to fit the 2011 slide, use a heat gun and stretch it. You would still need to cut/dremel out the trigger guard area as a hi-cappa has a square trigger guard where a 1911 has a rounded one.

I have heard that a Safariland Glock 17 holster will fit a 4.3 hi-cappa decently, really tight but it still fits. As far as I know there are no Safarilands that fit a 5.1 though.

[m102404]

I had zero issues with the Serpa not fitting my Hicapa slide...and it wasn't tight at all (I have it set at it's most open setting).

I'm not sure if it's a more recent Serpa mold or not...but after taking a close look at the trigger guard area of the Serpa...I opted for reprofiling the trigger guard of the pistol vs. hogging out the holster. I just wasn't sure that there'd be enough material left in that area of the holster.

The Serpa material seems really thick (at least on the one I have)...not the typical kydex sheet sort of thing...it'd take a lot of controlled heat to nicely stretch it. With my luck I'd end up with a pile of goo.

[chester]

Is there some sort of advantage of Serpa over Kydex? Because my 5.1 fits in the Kydex one like a glove - never had a single problem.

[m102404]

Kydex is a type of material...(basically plastic sheet with good durability and heat forming memory characteristics).

Bladetech, Blackhawk and many others use it for hosters, kinfe sheaths, etc...

BHI Serpa comes in a couple of different configurations, but most times people are refering to the open top holster (i.e. no guard/hood) that has the trigger lock paddle release mechanism.

A lot of kydex holsters are rely on friction/molding for retaining the pistol. All that's needed is a tug to get the pistol out. Tension can usually be adjusted so that the pistol doesn't fall out of the holster (jumping, running, diving, scrambling, etc...).

The serpa's trigger lock thingy is a spring loaded lock that captures the trigger guard of the pistol and hold it into the holster. You have to depress the paddle as you draw the pistol (and the tightness of the holster can be adjusted as well). So the advantage of a Serpa over a non-locking friction-type kydex holster is retention security. The pistol shouldn't come out unless you're drawing it while activating the unlocking mech.

I think these are called Level 2. A holster with an active locking device AND another retention device (like a hood/strap/flap/etc...) is a Level 3. I'm not really up on the Level X naming scheme...so take it with a grain of salt.

[oOMuDOo]

Its a shame there are no Serpa that work with the 4.3 out of the box.. or with little modifications.

Id like to run a Serpa with my 4.3 also.

[ancorp]

Hmm... can anyone suggest any other decent holsters for the 4.3? Molded would be best of course.

[LUTNIT]

Originally Posted by ancorp

Hmm... can anyone suggest any other decent holsters for the 4.3? Molded would be best of course.

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

I have heard that a Safariland Glock 17 holster will fit a 4.3 hi-cappa decently, really tight but it still fits.

I have seen some in action, really tight but it works, just can't be a wimp when you draw the pistol.

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by m102404

I think these are called Level 2. A holster with an active locking device AND another retention device (like a hood/strap/flap/etc...) is a Level 3. I'm not really up on the Level X naming scheme...so take it with a grain of salt.

Don't worry, you're correct
At least for Serpa's.

[LeGROS]

And with the number of Tm 4.3 there is!