I had decided to take a low light handgun class this year and wanted to train with both weapon mounted and handheld flashlights. This put me on the search for a holster for my M&P 9 and a tlr-1s Streamlight. Luckily for me, the Gut Level Gear Holster came on line. After looking over the product line, I decided to order one up from Steve Griffin the owner. A little background on Steve. Steve served in the Army for 11 years, a police officer for 20 years and has shot in various forms of competition for over 30 years. That's quite a resume for making a holster that truly works. The years of serving the public as a police officer probably aids in his ability to listen and evaluate your needs for your holster.

On to my holster. I decided on a Guardian Kydex outside the waistband holster. This holster is offered with or without light and with a few different mounting options. You can choose from tek-loc, Safariland ELS or belt slide. I chose the belt slide which seems to work the best for me. Fit and finish were great, granted its not hand tooled leather but nice none the less. Its a clamshell design with two tension screws on trigger guard side. There is no distortion in the bend and all edges are clean and smooth. Belt slide mounting hardware is well away from the gun so no worries of contact. Retention is on the flashlight, mine was perfect no adjustment needed. I carried the empty holster to work for almost two weeks, and gun and holster for 3 weekends. Overall impressions were great. It was well balanced, tucked close to the body and rock solid. Draws were quick and re-holstering was easy. His experience shows through in quality and practicality. The M&P with the light is not my daily carry, but could be thrown into rotation anytime with this holster. I'm definitely ready for my classes now.

Firearms Inside Reviews - 8 Key Points

Claim to Fame: High quality, durability and custom construction.

Target Market: Concealed carriers, sportsmen, competition shooters and armed professionals.

FNB's (Features and Benefits of this Product):

Thick Kydex
Solid platform
Quick delivery

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?: Black, but most other colors are available by order.

What other are saying: As mentioned above, this company is brand new. No others reviews out there yet.

Price Point:

$60 (with light)
$50 (without)

I need it now ! Availability: Contact Gut Level Gear at info@gutlevelgear.com, Facebook, or (502) 548-1729.

Our Rating:

+ Nice heavy gauge Kydex + Excellent fit/finish + Great service + Many styles of holsters

- Has the most popular gun molds now, but may need to order mold for some guns

Score: 9.5 Amazing

The quality of work and customer care are top notch. I've since gone back for 2 more, 1 of which was a custom holster for my 2.5" Crimson Trace S&W 642. Highly recommend, its where I spend my money now for Kydex holsters.

If you are a Smith & Wesson revolver fan and you want more than a production gun, the Performance Center is your next stop. The Performance Center takes production line guns and hand fits the parts. On some models they also add special features. Each gun is assembled by craftsmen who make sure fit, finish, quality and performance are all top tier.

The 627 in standard form is an 8 shot .357/.38 N (large) frame revolver which presently can be had in a 4" pro or 5" pc series. Both have tapered slab sided barrels, adjustable iron sights and stainless construction. The VCOMP model is made for competition. It features the same stainless construction but with a melonite coating on the frame and barrel for a beautiful 2 tone look. The sights are adjustable with the front being an orange dovetail style. The most unique feature is the removable compensator on the barrel. If you wanted to shoot open class in competition, all you would need is a mount, a red dot and you are set. If you plan to shoot limited, just replace the comp with the included muzzle cap and use your iron sights. Most revolver competitors use this model, including our own hostess at Gun Girl Radio, the beautiful and talented Julie Golob.

My journey with the VCOMP started with me wanting one for quite some time. I decided to shoot Bianchi Cup and wanted to go whole hog and shoot open class with the best of the best. So I sold my beloved 627 pro and saved up some more money and ordered my VCOMP. I ordered it December 2012 and finally got it in February of 2013, just months before Bianchi. Fit and finish were fantastic, BUT the action was not up to par. Pull weight was around 14lbs and no where near as smooth as my other PC guns. Very disappointed to say the least. I pulled the side plate off and also discovered they were not using pinned stirrups any longer in the PC guns. Some polishing had been done on the rebound block but not nearly enough. I had hoped to shoot it with out my smooth and tune. Set my hopes too high. I did my normal work, set trigger pull weight to 8lbs (to run factory ammo),smoothed it up and added an Aimpoint red dot sight. I ended up with an Aimpoint pro instead of the t1 due to availability.

In all fairness, S&W would have gladly taken it back and made it what it should have been. However I was afraid of not getting it back in time. The gun was fully functional and looked beautiful, but just didn't have that awesome smooth pull of a Performance Center gun. Well it does now and it's about to get more upgrades with reviews as I redo it for ICORE limited and USPSA competition this coming year

Firearms Insider Reviews - 8 Key Points

Claim to Fame: Full on competition revolver

Target Market: Competition shooters

FNBs (features & benefits of this product):

Performance tuned action
Removable compensator
Can use with or without moonclips
Chamfered cylinder

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available? Melonite coated frame and barrel with stainless cylinder, compensator and cylinder release

What others are saying?: "S&W model 627 is one of the companies most popular" Gun Shop Finder

Price point :