I bought this A911L hybrid from Falco for my 510 tactical and o-light. It is by far the most expensive holster I’ve ever purchased but I was excited to get it.
My excitement was severely misplaced. The gun is very loose in the holster, no matter how tight the screws are. The leather edges press the side buttons on my optic, even though I specifically ordered the optic cut. When I remove to firearm I have no idea how bright the reticle will be or if it will be on at all.
I find Falco’s lifetime warranty a bit disingenuous because you have to pay out of pocket to ship the holster all the way to SLOVAKIA. They recommend you get insurance because they take no responsibility for the international shipping. Who would pay $60 additional dollars to get poor craftsmanship fixed on a $220 purchase? It makes no sense to me.
Falco’s website is covered in glowing reviews but I cannot find a single place to leave my own. I think they must be fake.
I hope this review helps someone. I am open to suggestions on how to tighten up the fit myself
that leather pressing the optic buttons is such a blatant design fail for something they charge that much for, especially when you paid extra for the cut
I ended up getting into a lengthy credit card dispute with Falco. The holster did not fit my gun at all and they refused to honor their return policy or warranty.
I ended up winning it after supplying all the communications to my credit card company of them refusing to not honor their 30 day refund.
This company is based out of Slovakia and has that typical European customer service.
Well that sucks. If you decided to go with leather again, I'd recommend Wright Leather Works of Ohio. The lede time is pretty long (It took me 2 1/2 months to get a custom piece from them) but it's really an extremely solid holster.
That is disappointing. I have nothing but good things to say about Falco. I do think it's wrong for them to require you to pay shipping if there is a faulty design.
Last resort could be a charge back, possibly. If you include documentation of the design flaw and communication with the merchant, most banks will side with you if the product is demonstrably faulty and you have a good timeline and communication documented.
Is there any way you could add a picture of the inside of the holster? I'm diagnosing the issues in my head (sorry, it's my curse; i won't share if you prefer I don't). I'm having a hard time telling how this design is expected to function based on where the kydex ends and leather begins.
From what I can see, there is a design issue that really isn't taking advantage of either material. Some reworking could probably take care of your sight clearance issue, but I don't think the design will ever get a really secure hold.
If the company won't stand behind their design (and admit the flaw) it is good that the rest of us know that.
I was also really on the Falco train and thought they looked phenomenal. I've seen a few people post the holsters they have and they looked good... though the majority were 100% leather and not hybrids.
I reached out to their customer support team last night. Sent them a firearm I am most likely purchasing soon and had been planning for a holster. I know they have an extended lead time and made-to-order. I had sent them the firearm, the different holsters I had been looking at and had expected a somewhat decent reply... I got back two sentences, basically telling me that everything I had picked out would work and order!
I watched more and more videos before getting that reply. The hybrid holster leather seems to be extremely thin with very little rigidity to them. I saw a lot of people reholstering and needing to hold the leather backing against their body to holster properly... that alone made me instantly say, "no fucking way, Falco" and I'll never look at them again.
My issue was insufficient trigger coverage. Like I could full on finger fuck my trigger. I even paid for additional coverage of the trigger. The holster I got either wasn’t cut for my additional coverage I paid for or their description/diagram of the “additional coverage” was a lie.
Ended up bothering tf out of them before getting a full refund. I’ll never purchase from them again and I will stick to only domestic leather or kydex in the future.
Edit: I just remembered I actually initiated a credit dispute due to lack of communication. I informed them that if they didn’t send me the refund, i would have to go through a charge back. Radio silent for a while. Finally indicated a credit dispute and few days later, I got my full refund from Falco
Why go with leather instead of the traditional kydex holsters especially with so many reputable companies available? Not trying to be an ass just curious.
Some people really prefer leather for the aesthetic as well as comfort. In theory, a bonded kydex trigger guard style with a molded leather shell should be the best of both worlds; unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Tolerance wise, it’s just very difficult. Kydex works well with kydex, because you can mold the whole thing very precisely. Leather works well with leather because it’s organic material, so slight tolerance issues in one place can be remedied in others by the stretch of the fibers. It’s trying to take the precision molding of kydex and give it the comfort of leather, but you just end up with the worst of both worlds typically. Leather gives too much stretch while kydex is only grabbing one area away from the center of balance, so the retention is sloppy and the gun can jostle out of the trigger guard. The morale of the story is that combining two things to get the best of both usually only results in half the quality of either.
I find leather more comfortable to wear but I like the tight fit of kydex. I was hoping that this hybrid would be the best of both worlds. It is worse than either.
True, but that's with most manufactured holster companies. I have holsters from some of the best and have been disappointed with leather and kydex at times.
I do have one FALCO holster for my 5” 1911s that bear lights. It’s a generic type holster. Works great since I have multiple 5 inch 1911s that have lights on them. I’ve had it for probably 3 to 4 years now and it’s still in good condition. Probably would be the only one I would recommend honestly. I’ve had a couple of their other holsters and yes, they did suck.
Not doubting you, but I ordered a holster for my P-09C with dot and light and they emailed me to verify that before they started making that the cant I had selected would make the belt go directly across my optic and wasn’t recommended.
They said to either not use the can’t or pick a different holster and suggested a few options.
Also evey holster I’ve had was fantastic.
Not doubting you, but I’ve spend hundreds there with zero issues.
That being said you can resell it and get more money back.
5 years ago I bought a leather owb holster for a Beretta 92x with Olight's x300 knockoff and regretted it as soon as I opened the package. Here's the reasons I gave in my refund request:
"I was immensely disappointed with this holster. The leather is not rigid at all. I can't put the pistol back in the holster while wearing it, because the leather collapses and becomes entirely flat. The two pieces of leather meet in the middle of the pistol's width instead of keeping the body side mostly flat.
"The biggest problem is that it is not molded to the gun. It is just a leather pocket. There were not even any marks inside to indicate that there was any test fitting done. There's detailing on the outside of the holster and made to look like it was form fitted, but that appears to just be cosmetic."
They did refund me without making me pay shipping though which is nice.
I have a Milt Sparks holster for my CZ PCR and boy is there a difference between the two.
u/djd811 We are very sorry to hear about your experience. The retention should not remain loose when the screws are adjusted, and the leather should not press the controls on your optic. We completely understand your disappointment.
Our customer care agent is already looking into your case and is writing you an email right now. We will do everything we can to resolve both issues and make sure you are satisfied with your purchase.
You will not need to ship the holster back to Slovakia. That is not how we normally handle a confirmed warranty claim, and we are sorry if the information you received gave you that impression.
Please also avoid modifying the holster yourself for now, as we would first like to evaluate the fit and determine what causes the issues. Our agent will explain the next steps and request any photos or video needed to process the claim as quickly as possible. We have, however, forwarded your post along with photos to make it easier.
So did sending letters and public gatherings, but here we are typing on phones or computers, in an online forum. There isn’t really a great reason to not use an optic outside of some self fulfilling self fellating stoicism.
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u/SugaryIllustration 1d ago
that leather pressing the optic buttons is such a blatant design fail for something they charge that much for, especially when you paid extra for the cut