I'm not new to firearms, but my interest in handguns has been reinvigorated after a long hiatus of sort...

I've never carried a concealed firearm, though I've had the carry permit for many years. I purchased my first Kydex holster, IWB R-hand, for one of my Gen-3 Glock 19s and it has some visible holster wear already after sliding the gun in and out of the holster several times. I had read about holster wear, which is better, Kydex/Leather/Hybrid, etc... but was really surprised at how fast the finish is starting to wear off the front of the slide. I didn't expect that so soon. I haven't even carried the Glock in the holster; just got the holster this evening in the mail. The brand is StayHolstered. 

My conclusion? Either the finish on the Glock is really weak, or the Kydex material really abrasive, or a little of both. The holster is a custom made, molded Kydex style with the belt clip. The gun slides in and out nicely, and fit is not too tight or too loose. But holster wear after inserting the pistol in and out a few times did surprise me a bit. My other holsters are either nylon or leather, and have cause very little to no holster wear after hundreds of draws in and out.   

Guess I've got a lot to learn about holsters...  

Kydex is not kind to finishes. I wouldn't use kydex with a weapon who's finish I care about.

My Glocks? Don't care, they are just tools to me.

Leather kydex glock Colt doesn't matter finish wear and gun carry are facts of life - the only way to prevent holsters from wearing finish ( and guns from getting dinged on edges of door frames furniture automobiles range props and etc) is to not carry them.

This plus it gives the pistol character.  Do you worry about wear on your hammers?  It is a Glock not a rare Enzo Ferrari.  You need to learn to get over it now.

All good advice. I appreciate it (and needed to hear it:-). By-the-way, the holster was well made, and the G19 fits it like a glove.

My gen 3 G26 with the "frying pan finish" has been in and out of kydex and kydex hybrid holsters thousands of times and is just now showing a tiny bit of wear at the muzzle and by tiny, I mean you only see it when the light hits it just right. My G42 on the other hand is wearing far more severely under the same circumstances.

Think about it like this, there are guys who are paying big dollars to have their glocks cerekoted to look "used", you're getting that for free!

One thing about kydex is it tends to wear in a few specific spots quickly vs leather that tends to wear in larger areas slower.  Holster wore pistols look better than safe queens I consider them badges of honor.

Kydex is a great material for holsters, but it can be a bit abrasive to most finishes. Cerakote doesn't hold up much better, as I have a few coated slides show wear as well. I like the look though, as none of my guns are safe queens. At the end of the day, no biggie.

Unless of course were talking about a sentimental or rare firearm, in which case I probably wouldn't leave holstered at all. I don't have any of those, so ill never have to worry about it

Sounds like you have more to learn about than just holsters.  If you are knew to carrying you might be better served with some training, then worrying about a little holster wear on a firearm.

Firearms that I carry are nothing more than a tool, trophy's belong on walls and in safes.

Well, I can't argue with you there... I'm sure I'd benefit from some formal firearm's training. I might add that you too could learn something about the English language and proper word usage; "Knew" and "new" sound the same, but have different meanings. So, I guess we can all learn something new about something we didn't know or thought we knew, or perhaps previously have known.  I reckon constructive criticism, whether blunt or tactful, can work both ways. 

I carry a stainless 1911 and a Glock 17 Gen 4 (which I learned on the internet has the horrible gray finish that scratches if you look at it wrong) in Raven Concealment Kydex holsters. The 1911 has far more wear. In fact, the Glock shows no wear at all and I carry and draw it more.

I'm sure I have OCD, (which I had never heard of until I joined this forum:-) but you can see the pics of the new Kydex holster, which I do like; and, the shinny metal holster wear on the left side of the slide at the muzzle end, after only 15 or 20 draws in and out of the new holster; oddly enough, it doesn't have that same wear on the right side of the slide. I will get used to it, and accept it, but, wow, that holster wear didn't take long at all. 

I have other hand-guns that have been in and out of a leather or nylon holster hundreds of times that doesn't have that kind of finish wear. 

Like I said, I'll learn to live with it, and admire the character marks... :-)

If it really bothers you,  you could try wrapping

the muzzle in blue painter's tape, cramming it

in the holster, and carefully heat the offending

area of the holster with a heat gun.

Place a damp cloth over the rest of the

holster to mitigate heat distribution

Just starting to make it look better keep it up I think holster worn pistols are much sexier than safe queen pistols!  Hell you could just throw it down your driveway and give it the battle born look......  That is very common for kydex it usually will wear in specific areas very quickly so you will see a bit more wear show up in that area of your pistol over time because that is one of the points where they kydex is probably contacting the holster.

This is very common in right-handed shooters. The left side of the slide shows more wear at the muzzle end because it contacts the holster the most, as reholstering angles the gun into the holster where the right side doesn't drag as much on the kydex. Looks good man, just keep practicing that draw stroke since the holster is new to you, and getting some range time.

OP...That is NOT wear.  That looks more like something scratched the heck out of that spot. Like a hard bur or something inside the holster on that side rubbed hard.

You know, I was thinking the same thing. Like I said, I honestly didn't expect that kind of finish wear so soon just from inserting/drawing the gun in and out of the new Kydex holster several times. Of course, it's there now, and the gun does snap into and out of the holster well. Too late to worry about it now... 

I actually cleaned/degreased that area on the slide and applied a little cold-blue, and it had no effect at all on the shinny spots. I guess the cold blue don't penetrate the tennifer/melonite treatment under the finish on the Glock slide.

I was thinking my next holster might be the Kydex lined with leather suede on the inside, or either a leather holster instead of Kydex.  

I don't think it should show that much wear in only a few draws from the holster like he said.  I have multiple glocks. And compete with a g34 gen 3 and that thing has seen thousands of holster draws and still doesn't look near as bad as the pic he showed.  The competition holster I use is a comp tac.   My carry holsters are leather or various kydex ones and those guns don't look that bad either.  I wonder if something was in the holster when he first got it? Or if that particular gun had a poor finish applied from the factory?

Again, my thoughts as well. The pistol is one of my Gen-3 G19 Frankenguns; I purchased the upper slide assembly and the stripped lower separately, and then purchased the parts to assembly the lower. But I still have as much invested in it as a new G19 would cost. I purchased the custom made kydex holster on eBay from StayHolstered Store for $25. That seemed like an average, okay deal, compared to the Blade-tech brand and others.  

The slide finish looked new until I inserted the pistol in and out of the holster several times, and I noticed the finish wear shown in the pictures. Hence, the reason for this thread. It just didn't seem normal for that much wear so soon. I did look inside the holster and took a cloth and cleaned it out before inserting the gun for the first time. I also sprayed a little Ballistol lubricant inside the holster as well; maybe that is where I went wrong.    

Could just be the finish to be honest man, I had a gen4 17 that you could literally scratch with your fingernail and it leave a mark that wouldn't wipe off.

Yep, that's a possibility too... that thought crossed my mind. 

I have a Glock 27 that I've had for 20 years or so. I never really carried it, but kept it in my truck for years in a leather holster. Ben in and out of the holster hundreds of times, without any noticeable wear on the slide, and certainly nothing like my current G19; it (the G27) does have a smooth spot on the polymer frame where the metal snap for the leather strap rubbed the texture off the frame, but nothing on the slide. 

My youngest son came by for a visit today and I showed him the wear on the G19 from the new Kydex holster, after only several draws in and out. He said the exact same thing happened to his Glock 30 when he purchased a new Kydex holster. So maybe it's not just an anomaly... 

are we sure it's not just kydex rubbing off on the gun?

I carried my first glock in a kydex holster from DeSantis for almost 2 years straight before it ever started to show even the faintest signs of holster wear. Same thing, only on the 'inside' left side of the gun. It was from reholstering the gun I believe.

I've got holsters from Raven Concealment, Bravo Company, Haley, T.Rex Arms, and Opsec now. None of them have caused holster wear on the gun that quickly.

As an example, here's a Glock 19 gen4 I picked up about two months ago.  Lots of holstering and draws since then and maybe only like 500rds.




First picture is right out of my holster as I type this. Second picture is after rubbing off a bunch of the 'scrapes' with spit on my shirt.  It still looks like there's "highlights" that appear to be wear, but it's no where near through the finish. Some lube on it will help even out the color too.


But also to reiterate what other people said: if you carry a gun, I don't care the gun and holster combo, you're going to get holster wear.  Look at is as a point of pride.  When I see an obvious defensive pistol with no discernible wear on it I think "oh well, there's someone who doesn't use their gun." Just like when I see a sport bike with 1" strips of unused tire on the edges of their tires.