We live in a blessed age of holster design. There are more options now than ever before and it’s a fantastic time to be a concealed carrier. I’ve recently taken the plunge into revolvers, especially carry revolvers. While we often and rightly associate revolvers with an older school ethos, you shouldn’t be surprised to see a number of modern holster options on the market for them and not just in leather. Mission First Tactical’s Minimalist holster gives us a modern, polymer appendix carry option for your wheel gun.
The MFT Minimalist Holster is made for various guns, including J-frame options. The holster is an interesting take on the minimalist holster concept. It’s designed for discreet concealed carry and for deep carry purposes. That’s a use case that’s well-suited for small, snub-nose revolvers. I’ve been carrying my S&W 432 PD daily for over a month and for most of the day. Let’s dig in and see what minimalism gets us. Maybe Marie Kondo is on to something.
Dissecting the MFT Minimalist Holster
As the name implies, there isn’t much to this holster. With that said, this isn’t the most minimalist holster design I’ve seen. The rig comes with a clip and claw for right-handed carry, but can easily be converted to left-hand carry (but the included claw only works for right-handers). MFT sells a left-handed claw for you wrong-handed shooters.
MFT uses bolatron to produce the holster. Bolatron is one of those fancy, advanced polymer designs that’s rigid, tough, and well-made. It’s better than Kydex (it’s more heat resistant) and has become the more popular option for holster makers in the modern era.
The minimalist design covers the trigger and a portion of the cylinder. Covering the trigger is nonnegotiable for any safe holster. The portion that covers the cylinder provides extra support and protection to allow the clip and claw to do their job.
The design allows you to use most grips that are available for J-Frame revolvers. Crimson Trace grips fit without a problem and the standard J frame skinny grips fit just fine. High Horn grips fit, too. The High Horn grips have their own problems with the holster, but they don’t stop the gun from ‘clicking’ in.
The Minimalist Holster
Minimalist holster designs have ebbed and flowed over the years. There have been some truly terrible options offered including holsters that do nothing to cover the trigger and simply stick a polymer plug up the barrel and attach it to a polymer clip. Others have been pretty bad in their own ways, but they at least covered the trigger. In fact, some have been nothing more than trigger covers.
The MFT Minimalist holster isn’t the most minimalist design out there. As mentioned, we get clips, a claw, and more than a trigger cover. The goal seems to be to provide a very small, minimalist holster that still gives you the basics of a holster.
Minimalist holsters tend to have very little bulk, which aids in concealment. They’re often smooth and irritant-free. Plenty of holsters provide uncomfortable pokes and prods. Minimalist holsters tend to work well with guns that are round as a basis for their design, and that’s why they work well for revolvers.
The MFT Minimalist allows for deeper concealment and a simpler, lightweight design. It’s a specialty holster with its own benefits and downsides.
Downsides to A Minimalist Holster
One should be aware of of downsides when using a minimalist holster. First, it tends to expose more of the gun to the human body, including sweat. Sweat creates rust, and no one wants a rusty firearm. The body and your clothes also get exposed to firearm oils and such. This gets worse when you consider the fact that the rust requires more maintenance and cleaning.
Appendix carry holsters can benefit from additional length. The length can help torque the gun against the pants and inprove concealment. You don’t get any extra length from the MFT Minimalist holster. Another downside comes from guns that are pokey and proddy. Most semi-automatics have lots of fun corners that can poke and prod, but that’s not a problem with most revolvers.
Carrying the MFT Minimalist
The Mission First Tactical Minimalist is easy enough to use. It works best with a centerline position. The closer to your centerline, the better. You’ll notice significantly more discomfort as you get away from the center line. I was fairly surprised at how comfortable the MFT holster carries with a J-frame.
Many AIWB rigs can pull off strongside IWB by removing the claw. That’s not the case here. The MFT Minimalist only works well as an appendix holster. It’s almost impossible to draw from it when positioned in a traditional strong side IWB position.
That said, the MFT Minimalist holster is excellent for concealed carry. It make your J-Frame just about disappear. It’s a tuckable holster that allows for total concealment. My current day job allows carry, but I prefer to emphasize the concealed in concealed carry. A recent promotion moved me into more formal clothes, but that’s not a problem with the MFT Minimalist.
Even without the extra length of the holster, the MFT Minimalist positions the gun’s grip against the body. That keeps it from sticking out and it doesn’t print. It’s practically undetectable. The cant on the clip doesn’t tighten down very well. It can be adjusted and moved with just a hand. I’d prefer my cant to be tightened down a little more securely.
With that said, the holster didn’t seem to move while carried unless I moved it. Still, I’d like to lock the cant adjustment down for my own peace of mind.
Getting On Target
Remember the High Horn grips I mentioned on my S&W 432 UC? Those are my favorite revolver grips and the 432 UC is my favorite revolver. However, the High Horn grips are big, thick, and fat. They extend so far down that the holster clip and the grips nearly meet. That makes it very difficult to establish a good grip on the gun.
The MFT Minimalist holster works perfectly fine with skinny J-Frame grips—mostly. However, the grip is still fairly close to the holster’s clip. Every time I draw, my knuckle hits the clip and I have to take a fraction of a second longer to draw the gun. I was never able to achieve a draw below 1.5 seconds from concealment.
The holster needs to be slightly longer to put more room between the grip and the clip, but that would defeat the purpose of a minimalist holster. It takes a lot of practice to get a quick draw with this rig. The MFT Minimalist keeps the gun in one position and doesn’t have restrictive retention. It lets the gun loose when it’s tugged at, but never when you’re just carrying the rig.
Light and Ready
The MFT Minimalist holster prioritizes concealment more than anything else and it does a fantastic job in that role. Drawing presents some challenges and I couldn’t crack a sub-1.5 second draw time. If you value concealment, the MFT Minimalist works well, but I think some slight changes could make a good holster great.
I hear ya — I too extend so far down that it’s sometimes difficult to establish a good grip.
Neat design but I greatly prefer leather for AIWB holsters, far less pinchy.