Recently, I noticed that my most frequently carried pistol is an old Glock 23 in a pancake holster, a type that I don’t normally favor. I am not a great fan of mid-size .40 pistols, so this practice puzzled me. On some thought, I realized that the pistol fits my hand just too well to be left at home. It’s my only truly custom handgun, fitted to my hand by my friend Brandon. And the holster was made by my friend Dennis of Dragon Leatherworks. It’s just too comfortable not to wear.
Last weekend, I saw several new designs from Dennis, took photos and will be posting them as I get them ready for web. Below is a very comfy PPK holster. The whole point of going to a custom designer is the ability to specify exactly what you want. He made a Star SI .32 holster for me once — where could I have found a production holster for that? Or something for a Webley Mk.2, or a rig for a mainstream XDM but in ostrich skin for the unique look and feel? Take a look at his site. The holsters stand up to heavy daily use and yet make the weight of the gun pretty much disappear.
You could always convert the 23 to a 19 . When I did mine, I did it for use with cast 9mm bullets. I used a Storm Lake barrel and Glock 9mm extractor and ejector. It runs fine.( I did have to use magazines for the 19 because the ones for the 23’s feed lips were too loose for 9mm cartridges.)
My biggest gripe with the 40 S&W is the recoil impulse. It is too “snappy” for want of a better description. The 9mm is a different and more pleasant animal.