In today’s article, veteran police officer and gun writer, Scott Wagner, reviews the Burdette Custom Detective holster for the Springfield Armory SA-35 pistol. A leather, outside-the-waistband rig, this concealment holster offers classic styling that might be a perfect match for the 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The OWB holster was provided to the author for review by Springfield Armory.
If you’ve ever perused the Springfield Armory Store website for any reasonable amount of time, you’ve likely discovered that in addition to the company’s line of fine handguns and rifles, they also offer an extensive line-up of high-quality holsters and gear designed to make the experience of carrying and using a Springfield Armory firearm all that it was meant to be.
While many of the holster brands that Springfield offers on their website are made from more modern materials such as Kydex or polymer, an equally large number of holsters available are of all-leather construction. One of these all-leather rigs comes from Burdette Custom Holsters.
Who Is Burdette Custom Holsters?
Burdette Custom Holsters is owned by military veteran and law enforcement officer Doyle Burdette, the owner and sole employee. However, it is quite evident that Doyle is not a kitchen table holster maker — you realize that as soon as you see any of his products firsthand.
Back when I was a young deputy sheriff in 1980, there was no such thing as synthetic law enforcement holsters — it was pretty much a leather-only world. Some of us at my sheriff’s office got some of our specialized leather gear from either a fellow deputy sheriff or other local law enforcement officer. When I was working undercover narcotics, I bought a kitchen table-made ankle holster for a compact .45 from one such fellow deputy. It was a bit rough, but it still served me well and kept the pistol hidden yet ready to use during buys. I still have it as a memento of those exciting times.
Doyle Burdette’s holsters are nothing like that early ankle rig, and I think a lot of that is due to not only his skill at the art of leatherwork but also his real-world experience in harm’s way — in the military first and then as a law enforcement officer since 1993. It really takes the attributes of having both natural creative skill as well as real-world “kick-in-the-door” kind of experience under your belt to be successful in creating leather gear that really works for both professional and civilian users alike.
But Doyle’s law enforcement experience doesn’t just help in the designs he develops; he enlists others working in the law enforcement community to field test and advise on the holsters and support gear he designs and manufacturers. The high quality of Burdette’s leather work is also evidenced by the fact that a top firearms manufacturer like Springfield Armory features his products for sale on their website.
The Detective Holster
Doyle Burdette has been making holsters for over 15 years now and works with only premium-grade, vegetable-tanned leather for his gear. Any other items that are used in his particular designs — such as retention snaps — are also of equally high quality.
My editor at Springfield sent me an outside-the-waistband (OWB) Burdette Detective Holster for evaluation that was designed to fit my 9mm Springfield Armory SA-35 — which has become my very favorite 9x19mm Parabellum defensive pistol. It proved to be a great holster to test and is perfectly companion piece for the SA-35.
[Be sure to read Rob Garrett’s Springfield SA-35 review for additional details on this incredible pistol.]
The choice of the name “Detective” for my sample holster carries with it a number of important implications. First, it proclaims the genuine law enforcement lineage of the design. Second, having law enforcement lineage indicates that the Detective holster should be fully up to any carry task that you could ask of it. Third, the name also implies that the Detective holster can be used for open or concealed carry situations. But why is that?
Having been an investigator/detective at a state and then later a county law enforcement agency, I can attest that detectives will — depending on situation, assignment, or agency policy — end up carrying their handgun both concealed or openly. I’ve been out of active law enforcement for almost five years now, but one of the things I’ve noticed is that very few current investigators wear sport jackets or suits anymore. Instead, their uniform is usually a “soft” one, and the handgun is carried openly. Thus, the Detective holster can work just as well for lawful civilian carriers who may wish to legally carry openly where applicable — as long as proper attention is paid to weapon retention concerns since the Detective is an open-top holster with no additional restraining device beyond its fit.
The Burdette Detective is based on the traditional “pancake”-style holster design. I say “based on” because 44 years ago, “pancake” holsters were quite common for revolver carry, in particular. Pancakes — as their name implies — were formed from two basically identical round pieces of leather stitched together with belt slots at either end. I still have two pancake holsters in my leather collection and they still find occasional uses as needed.
While the Burdette Detective may be based on an OWB Pancake — in that two pieces of unlined leather are sewn and fused together to form the holster pocket — the Detective is molded to fit the gun it is designed for, and not a variety of handguns. You can clearly see the molded outline of an SA-35 in the outside facing leather, right down to the SA-35’s side ejection port.
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There are two 1.5” belt loops cut into the holster’s extensions that extend from the front and back of the holster shell itself, rather than a single large one-piece loop on the back like other designs. Two-loop OWB holsters like this one hold the semi-automatic pistol much more firmly in place. The back half of the holster extends upward above the holster opening into a large “tab” or guard that is designed to protect the wearers side from contact with the SA-35’s cocked hammer spur, thumb safety and rear sight. Double stitching is used to reinforce the area above the slide and below the receiver. There is a reinforcing tab for the holster opening that protects against wear from repeated draws and re-holstering.
Making the Burdette Detective Ready for Wear
I was eager to try it out the Burdette Custom Detective as soon as I had received it. The Detective bore a rich deep brown finish that had just the right amount of buffing. As you can see from the photos, the color also matched my SA-35’s checkered walnut grips quite well. However, I found out that despite the fact the Detective is not a lined holster — lining is sometimes used inside leather holsters to protect the finish of the handgun and to help ensure a tight fit — the Detective’s fit was VERY tight.
It was so tight that I could barely get my unloaded SA-35 seated in it. It took some effort to remove it from the holster once I did it get in place. I knew that it was certainly not ready for actual wear and there was no tensioning screw on the holster to adjust fit. So, I did something that admittedly I should do more often. I read the directions that were part of the package — astonishing my wife in the process that I did — and found the answer!
Before I tell you what the packaging said, let me tell you this. This is the first holster that I have ever had that laid out the process of breaking in a leather holster so thoroughly — and posted the info in plain sight on the packaging, which made things easy.
The directions on the packaging are as follows:
“Your holster is designed to retain the pistol. It is common for the fit to be tight, and your holster may need to be broken in prior to first use. This is easily achieved by wrapping the unloaded pistol in the plastic bag your holster arrived in or in wax paper, inserting it in the holster and allowing it to sit overnight. If the fit is still too tight, add more wax paper. If you have problems, please call.”
To be truthful, I didn’t think that this extremely simple technique would work easily considering how tight the initial fit was. There was no mention of the use of silicon spray or leather conditioners — how could this simple technique work?
I placed my unloaded SA-35 as directed in the zipper-type plastic bag the holster came in and guided it into the Detective holster. I placed the whole package in the safe, where it remained for two days or so. I am happy to report that this simple fix worked like a charm! From that point on, the SA-35 glided in and out with ease while providing good retention for a holster of this type.
The rest of the instructions are worth noting as well:
“Your holster is sealed to make it water repellant. If it becomes soaked with water, allow it to dry naturally with the unloaded and plastic-wrapped pistol inside. Also, please do not use any leather conditioners on the holster. This will soften the leather and likely ruin the holster. If you have any questions, please contact me…”
CCW: Carrying the SA-35
Muzzle cant — which is the direction the muzzle points when carried in a OWB holster — can either be forward canted, rearward canted or neutral canted, which is a holster that points the holster firearm muzzle directly at the ground when the wearer is standing. For a period of time in the 1980s, much of law enforcement in my area of Ohio preferred a muzzle-forward cant duty holster.
The reason the forward cant was favored for uniform carry was that it allows the wearer to draw their sidearm with a fully locked wrist, thereby aiding in the officer carrying in that fashion to have chance to obtain the first and most accurate hit in a gunfight. However, the forward cant holster makes it more difficult to quickly draw your duty handgun while seated in a cruiser.
The Burdette Detective has a mild rearward muzzle cant. The SA-35 holsters and draws smoothly when the user is standing or sitting, and carries the all-steel 31.5 oz. weight of the SA-35 easily, keeping it close to the body. This reduces the chances of printing against a thin covering garment. However, access to a full shooting grip is easy.
[Catch veteran firearms trainer Mike Boyle’s deep dive on holster cant for more insights.]
Final Thoughts on the Burdette Custom Detective Holster
The Burdette Detective is not just available for the Springfield Armory SA-35 — Doyle Burdette can adapt the design to a wide range of duty or civilian carry pistols. Realize that when you order your holster directly from Doyle, it will not be not made until you actually order it. The quality is without question, as is the design.
However, if you’d like one right now for your SA-35, the Springfield Armory Store has you covered. The price for this custom-designed and manufactured holster is $109.99 through the store, and is offered in left- and right-hand versions.
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