Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns A retro .45

I knew two LEOs whose guns hit the ground out of those rigs when the thumbsnap came undone...one officers twice...both threw them away...

I was just going along with Mackay's "Miami Vice" theme

What were they doing? Backflips? Or did they lighten the fit of the snap to make it easier to release the thumbsnap?

As they come from Galco, the snap is really quite hard to open.............just sayin'.

MM

Love the bobbed grip.

Montana Man is right. I bought a Miami Classic a couple three years ago for carrying my G21 outdoors. I normally use an EPS Tanker for bangin around in the mountains but apparently watching Miami Vice during my formative teen years influenced me years later because I bought the Galco rig.

I pulled the new holster out to check the gun fit before assembling the whole rig and the pistol would barely go in. I backed the tension screw out and pounded the gun into the holster, only to notice the thumb strap was so short the two snap halves weren't even close to meeting. I called Galco convinced that a G17/22 holster has been mis-stamped for a G20/21.

Galco's CS guy assures me that I just need to break in the holster. I eventually do, but it took soaking the thumb strap and pulling like crazy to get it snapped, followed by additional soakings while snapped to get the leather to take a set. Friggin' ridiculous.........

I've got one of the Galco Jackass rigs for my 1076. The snap on mine has never given me any trouble. I don't do backflips, though.

......only cartwheels!

Maybe axsuplex or two if Bobby is around.

George

(sorry Mackay!)

Yep,

I think this old hunk of steel could use a rabbit hunt to draw "first blood"!

I will keep that in mind. If the recoil spring is any indicator, I do not believe this thing saw much use, and it is very clean inside, with minimal indicators of wear.

As far as a Galco shoulder rigs go, while Looking very cool on screen, I will have to pass. The Tanker rig, while out in the hills is fine, but overall I detest shoulder rigs. I did check, and one of my IWB Safariland rigs fits perfectly, as does a thumb break rig I have from when I was issued a full size M&P.

I am not going to spend a bunch of $$ on this guy for leather, as I doubt it will get into the rotation of serious carry rigs.



Travis is doing a fine job pushing buttons with the 1911 comments!

Having a 5" single stack .45 without a grip safety, and great sights out of the box is pretty cool though. Plus the front and back strap checkering is first rate.

S&W did a very fine job on many of these features. I agree that the Austrian wonder pistol totally destroyed the popularity of 3rd Gen Smiths in police circles.

That is a fine looking old service auto. I have noted that prices on these old guns is beginning to creep up. A few years ago, you could barely give these surplus guns away, and now I see guys getting into bidding wars on certain variations, especially .45s and 10mms.

As only he can do in his inimitable style............

MM

[quote][/quote]Nice gun. Jealous here.

sounds like you blew another 10mm case head...

My brother has one of the 745's - I recall it shooting quite well, though for the .45 ACP I'd stick with either a Colt or a Baer

This is the oldest .45 I have at the moment. Rare to find one with matching magazine.



I have yet to find JHP that it shoots well, however. More work is indicated

I still have Dad's nickel Combat Commander, which was the first .45 I ever fired:

Neither were the type to mess with stuff...

The one guy who had it happen twice was carry a SIG. Second time he was investigating an accident and bent over to take a measurement when the gun fell out and hit heal of the butt first with the muzzle pointed right between his eyes. This would have been in the early 1990s.. The Miami Classic beck then didn't have an adjustable retainer and was just friction fit. If the thumbsnap let go the gun would eventually come out.

IIRC Sonny Crockett's Bren Ten shoulder rig was made by the Famous Jackass Leather Co., which was later bought by Galco. I don't know if TFJLC ever called it the "Miami Classic" or if that was an attempt to capitalize on the existent holster's usage in Miami Vice. I wonder if the strap was later added by Galco though.

That's kinda surprising as on all the (newer) ones I've seen right out of the package, the thumb snap is so hard to snap loose that you virtually cannot get enough leverage (backwards) with your gun hand thumb alone to unsnap it if you are gripping the gun with your palm & fingers as in a normal grip. Maybe the older ones were different.............

MM

The retro .45 got a minor workout today.

I was quite surprised by the mild recoil and easy shooting characteristics. It actually was much more user friendly than I would have thought. The sights are very easy to see, and made for tracking targets pretty simple.




I think if I had to rock a non 1911 single stack, that this would not be a bad choice.

Nice

Nice shooting!