Holster rubbing off bluing

[Avenger]

Ok, this is incredible. "Holster wear" is a normal by-product of carrying a firearm either concealed or openly. No product or method of carry will prevent wear. Your carry weapon is a tool and that tool (though I like mine to look nice) is just a tool like my screwdriver or crescent wrench. Leather, kydex, nylon, whatever, its all going to wear. Some more than others. Someone said that leather will wear faster, again, this depends on the leather. A custom made leather holster will NOT wear as fast as a mass produced leather holster because of tolerances. The tighter the holster, the less it wears. Which brings me to the drawing/reholstering or normal EDC wear. Drawing will of course wear faster than just letting it sit in a holster. But not doing your practice draws concerns me more than the wear on your firearm. Movement of your firearm inside of the holster during normal EDC will wear but at what speed is determined by the holster, again if its custom or mass produced, nylon, or kydex.

All in all, the wear on your finish is NORMAL and should not be looked at as a problem but more as your personal "touch" that makes your firearm "yours."

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[kbox]

The serpa holster made wear spots on my 1911 also. I used moleskin as someone suggested to you. Bought the thin moleskin at WalMart. Don't try to line the whole holster. I cut small pieces and placed them where the wear was occuring. Degrease with some alcohol. I used long tweezers to place the skin inside the holster and then just pressed it down good. It will be a little snug until the moleskin wears down a little. I use my holster for work five days a week and the moleskin needed replacing about every four months.

[Rollo]

Yep, It happens. I look at it like this. My guns are tools. If they get a little scratched up and show some wear then that just means that I'm using them and thats what your susposed to do with tools.

[HiFreq47]

The only way to avoid wear is to go with a gun finish that resists it:

Stainless steel (out of the question in your case)
HardChrome
Melonite
Ion-Bond

My Fusion is fully Ion-Bonded and I've got at least a thousand holster presentations at this point from my Pure Kustom's Black-Ops Pro .. no holster wear whatsoever.

Keep in mind that most of the bake-on finishes will not hold up nearly as well (they will wear through in only a handful of presentations) and blueing is little more than a stain applied to a gun, blueing actually rubs off in your hands, it holds up very poorly.

With all of that said, blueing is one of the most beautiful finishes out there and a well-worn blue'd gun has that "badass" look that says, "this gun doesn't spend its life in a safe, this gun and the guy behind it will make you **** your pants".

My $0.02

[Tom G]

I always hated putting a blued or nickle plated gun in a holster.I don't know what Glock uses but it seems to hold up well with holster use.

[razor02097]

holster wear is normal. Even really well done bluing will eventually wear off. Wearing the blue off will not diminish the value of the gun as much as refinishing will.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes a rust problem

[jarhead79]

There is ONE thing you can put your gun in that won't cause marks, if you're very careful. The safe. That's it.

[HiFreq47]

I always hated putting a blued or nickle plated gun in a holster.I don't know what Glock uses but it seems to hold up well with holster use.

Glocks are Melonited .. it's called something else but its the exact same process.

[razor02097]

Glocks are Melonited .. it's called something else but its the exact same process.

Correct

They call it Tenifer (Ferritic nitrocarburizing procedure to diffuse nitrogen and carbon into a ferrous metal.) which is the same thing as a Melonite. They both produce a tough finish resistant to scuffing, scratching and rusting. For Glock a black Parkerized finish is applied over that to produce the matte finish.

[Rugergirl]

Don't think of it as wear, think of it as adding character.

[chains1240]

Hey Y'all: I am sure this is a naive question but how often do you actually holster and unholster your firearm that the bluing actually is coming off? Is it just the movement while wearing the holstered gun that is doing it? If it is just the movement, does that say something negative about the holster? I pocket carry a 380, never remove it except for the few times I practice, and do not practice repetitive drawing and shooting, only point shooting and some target practice--it does not move around and I do not remove it other than for practice.

I holster and unholster my pistol before I put on my holster everyday that I carry. I unholster the pistol to check if there is a round in the chamber. I know there is one in there, but I just have to look anyhow to make sure.

[HiFreq47]

Same. I holster and unholster daily ... on top of the one hundred or so draw-from-concealment drills I'll do any given week.

[ming]

Don't think of it as wear, think of it as adding character.

I agree. Holster wear on a gun looks nice in my opinion, especially on a blued gun. As someone else said, anytime you have friction you're going to have wear, and you need the friction for retention.