Glock 34 Holster

The Glock 34 is primarily known as a competition gun, but in recent years it has gained popularity as a concealed carry firearm as well. Despite being a large gun, the Glock 34 can work for a variety of roles- but you have to make sure you have the right Glock 34 Holster for the job.

Glock 34 Competition Holster

Since the Glock 34 is primarily a competition-style gun, you’ll likely be looking for a Glock 34 Competition Holster. At the end of the day, there aren’t a ton of radical features that you can add to a Glock 34 Competition Holster, but there are some solid basic features you need to make sure the holster has. With this, it’s not about fancy ideas. It’s about being well executed.

Retention Adjustment

Adjustable retention is somewhat of a controversial subject. People like adjustable retention, but they can’t agree on the amount of retention a holster should have. The reality is, the design of the gun determines the range of adjustment that a holster can have. Most well-designed holsters are getting their retention from the trigger guard of the holster, and the design of the trigger guard dictates how much retention you can get in the firearm, or at least the range of that retention. If you are shooting a sport like 3-gun, you’re going to want a holster that has a fair amount of retention since you’ll be running around a lot with the gun.

But if you’re shooting a sport like USPSA, having a lot of retention isn’t as important. The reason is, the holster is more of an administrative tool in USPSA than a device to keep the gun secure. You’ll likely only be using the holster in USPSA to carry the gun between stages and when you draw from the start box, or once you step out of it. There’s a reason many refer to holsters in USPSA as gun buckets. At the end of the day, you want a holster with as wide of a range as adjustable retention as possible so the holster can work for multiple roles. I might use the same holster in a USPSA match that I use when hanging out with my buddy on his farm, riding four wheelers and side by sides. Anybody who has been on a side by side on a back trail knows it can get rather rough and if you don’t have the proper amount of retention on your gun, your gun can fly out.

A device you can use to help this is called a turboprop. A turboprop is a device that allows you to adjust retention on the fly, so you can set your Glock 34 Competition Holster to right where you want it. If you’re shooting USPSA and you’re walking between stages, you might want that gun locked down a little bit more. Whereas when you go to the start line, you might want retention that is very light. Having a turboprop gives you the ability to do this.

Mounts

There are a variety of mounts on the market and they all work fairly well as long as you understand their limitations. Choosing the right mount for your Glock 34 Competition Holster depends on how you plan to use the firearm.

If you are not using the gun in action competition and just using it for around the house or casual trips to the range, then you may want to consider a paddle holster. Paddle holsters are one of the least secure options, but when designed well, the security is still sufficient and they’re much easier to get on and off your belt than a normal holster mount.

If you’re using this in more of a tactical or practical type application, you may want to consider a device like the X-Lock. The X-Lock is considered a quick detach mount, but you’ll want to take your belt off before putting the X-Lock on or off the belt. In my opinion, the X-Lock is the best all around style system. It’ll work on a battle belt, a range belt, or a competition belt. If you don’t know what mount to get, this is probably the mount you should get.

Another option is a competition-specific hanger. These solid mounts are very specific to the competition shooting sports. They do a great job of making the holster platform very stiff. This will help you increase your draw speed. These mounts are designed for specifically built competition style belts that are usually one and a half inches wide. They use a clamping system that attaches via screws to the belt. This is not an option for the casual user and will require tools to set up. If you think you need a competition hanger, you might. But if you don’t know what it is, you likely don’t need this option on a holster.

My favorite option is the Safariland QLS. The QLS is a great system because it allows you to quickly switch out holsters on the fly. It uses large forks to connect the holster to another mount on the belt. You just have to press in the tongs on the forks to quickly disconnect the holster and replace it with another holster. This is a great option if you want to have one belt to run multiple holster setups without having to take a lot of time to switch them out. What I’m showing you are a variety of mounts, and you want to make sure you have a versatile mounting system on the back of your Glock 34 Competition Holster that will work with these mounts. The more compatibility, the better.

Glock 34 Holster with Light

In recent years, the Glock 34 has become very popular in tactical applications so a lot of people have started running lights on their Glock 34 Holster. Whether you’re carrying OWB or concealed carry is going to make a big difference in which holster you choose. Adding a light to a Glock 34, I get a lot of width to the gun when you’re carrying inside the waistband at the appendix position. So you want to very carefully consider your Glock 34 Holster with light before purchasing one. The narrower and slimmer the profile is the better. The Glock 34 is already a bulky gun and adding in light just makes it bulkier but, you can have some big negative detriments when it comes to comfort when carrying a Glock 34 Holster with light.

Concealed Carry Glock 34 Holster

Choosing a Conceal Carry Glock 34 Holster is all about finding the right position to carry the gun. If you’re carrying the gun OWB, your holster requirements will be different than if you’re carrying IWB. And carrying IWB, you have the option to carry either appendix or strong side. Each of these positions has different requirements for a holster.

OWB Holster

A Glock 34 Concealment Holster is somewhat elusive. The reason for this is going to be the long muzzle on the Glock 34. Unless you’re wearing an extremely long shirt tail, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to reliably conceal a Glock 34 Holster completely. The holster itself- or the muzzle of the gun- will likely be sticking below your shirt tail or, if you bend slightly, the holster might be exposed. If you’ve decided to carry a Glock 34 in a concealed OWB Holster, you likely to understand that. So we’ll move on to the other important features.

Those are having a pancake style holster that sit close to the body, as well as adjustable cam. Close to the body is a given. If the Glock 34 does not sit close to the body, then it’s not going to conceal well and you’ll have printing issues. Adjustable cam is probably the most important feature to look for. You want to have between zero and 30 degrees of adjustable cam. The reason you want so much adjustable can is the Glock 34 is a big gun, so you’re going to have to conceal it well. Another thing to take into account is your draw stroke. As you move the gun further back behind the hip, the angle will need to increase to get a more optimal draw stroke. So, your hand must naturally reach the grip of the firearm. Those are the most important features to look for in a Glock 34 OWB concealment holster.

IWB G34 Holster

Carrying a concealed at the IWB with the Glock 34 is doable, but it’s not for everybody. The muzzle gets extremely long and why longer muzzles generally help with concealment, the tipping point for that tends to be a Glock 17 point gun. But there are certain features you want to look for when carrying a Glock 34 IWB.

Strongside

When carrying strong side, the most important feature for a Glock 34 Holster is going to be adjustable cant. Just like with OWB carry, you want a holster with between 0 and 30 degrees of cant. The reason for this is the more cant, the more concealable the firearm will become when you’re carrying behind the hip. You can align the grip with your kidney so it will be as low profile as possible sitting against your body. Adjustable cant also affects draw stroke. When you’re carrying the Glock 34 with that long barrel, you’re likely going to have to get a little more cant out of the gun to get the muzzle of the gun out faster and more efficiently. If you have a straight drop holster and you’re carrying at the four o’clock, it’s going to be very difficult to draw the gun. Whereas if you change that to 15 to 20 degrees of cant, it will make the draw of the gun much more natural.

AWIB Glock 34 Holster

Choosing an AIWB Glock 34 Holster is going to be very important. You want to make sure the holster is designed very well when you’re carrying a gun that large. You want to make sure the area underneath the trigger guard is very well-rounded since that part of the gun will be sitting up against your inner thigh. Other important features is going to be adjustable ride height. Due to the sheer size of a Glock 34 Holster, adjustable ride height will not affect comfort as much as it does with other guns. But, it will still have a major role when it comes to concealment and draw stroke. Adjustable ride height will still affect comfort, but it’s not as obvious as it is with smaller firearms, where getting the gun lower into the pocket becomes more important.

The Glock 34 will generally be more concealable for most people when the grip gets close to the belt. The draw speed will be quicker as that gets further away or higher off the belt. Having adjustable ride height means you can choose what is the best compromise between concealment and draw stroke for you. Other important features to look for are features known as a claw and a wedge. We’ll cover those below.

Claw

A claw or a wing is a device that sits off the side of the holster and uses torque from the belt to leverage the grip of the gun in close to the body. It’s in the size of the grip on the Glock 34. This will make the gun a lot more concealable when carrying at the appendix position. It also changes the angle of the grip, so it more naturally meets your hand when drawing the gun. This will increase your draw speed ever so slightly.

Wedge

A wedge is likely a very important feature to add your Glock 34 Holster. And I suggest going with a very large wedge considering the size of this gun. A wedge sits between the muzzle of your Glock 34 Holster and your body. It’s going to help push the grip of the gun and push the body while kicking the muzzle out. This will make the gun butt more concealable and more comfortable.