Alien Gear Holster Question

[Terranova1340]

Not sure if anyone here will have any insight on this or not.

I am familiar with alien gear holsters as I have a couple of them. What I am looking for though is which shell to buy for an Rock Island CS tactical (no rail) I asked alien gear and they told me to buy the holster that they sell for the Kahr CW 45. The Kahr doesn't seem similar enough to a 1911 to make that choice make sense to me. However I thought maybe someone here might have a Kahr cw 45 and an officer sized 1911 and could weigh in if that made sense.


Thanks in advance,

[Brian D.]

The kydex/leather hybrid holsters, like ones totally leather based, do give a bit of interchangeability between guns. I have used a couple different leather holsters made for the 1911 with a Kahr P or CW series .45 acp. A CW-9 wiggled around just enough to make me abandon that idea and shop up something specific to the Kahr 9mm/.40 frames.

So, it's likely Alien Gear is steering you right. But gee, don't they offer 1911 rigs and shells to begin with?

[Terranova1340]

The kydex/leather hybrid holsters, like ones totally leather based, do give a bit of interchangeability between guns. I have used a couple different leather holsters made for the 1911 with a Kahr P or CW series .45 acp. A CW-9 wiggled around just enough to make me abandon that idea and shop up something specific to the Kahr 9mm/.40 frames.

So, it's likely Alien Gear is steering you right. But gee, don't they offer 1911 rigs and shells to begin with?

They do offer 1911 shells.. the issue I see is they don't offer a 1911 shell for a 3.6 inch or 3.5 inch non railed gun. The Rock Island 1911 cs that i have is the 51429 model number

Spec wise its a
3.62 inch barrel
7.125 overall length
5.125 inch tall

What Alien Gear is selling shell wise with out a rail are
3 inch with and without crimson trace laser grips
4 inch with and without crimson trace laser grips
4.25 inch with and without crimson trace laser grips
5 inch with and without crimson trace laser grips

My thought is that the 4 inch model would probably work, which is what I asked alien gear but they directed me to the Kahr CW 45. I suppose I could always just order both shells the one they recommended and the 4 inch 1911 and just keep the one that works the best. I just hate paying to ship things back places if I can avoid it.

[Brian D.]

I'd go with the 4" 1911 shell then. Better to have a little deeper holster than one that lets the muzzle end, including the front sight, protrude. That can cause a draw snag, and is sometimes very uncomfortable . Of course if you get the shell for the Kahr .45 acp series guns, it would give you a perfect excuse to buy one of those handguns at a later date. Street price on the CW guns has dropped maybe $80 in the last year or so.