Galco HolstersIn terms of overall popularity and brand awareness, Galco holsters is the best known holster brand in the industry. Founded in 1969 by Richard Gallagher in Chicago, IL, the company was initially called The Original Jackass Leather Company. This name was connected to the fact that the company worked extensively with horsehide leather versus cowhide. The cold Chicago winters didn't sit well with Gallagher, so in 1980, he moved the entire business to Phoenix, Arizona. In 1983, he also decided that the name no longer fit the company direction, so he changed it to Galco International.
Today, Galco is one of the largest and most successful holster manufacturers in the world. In addition to being very popular in the US, they have also expanded into the international market and been quite successful there as well. Like many other holster makers that started in the 1960's and 1970's, Galco first started only offering law enforcement holsters and gear. Gallagher saw the opportunity in concealed carry, so Galco was quick to enter into that market as well with off duty holsters for law enforcement officers. Currently, they feature a full line of holster products that includes:
One of Galco's greatest successes in the holster industry centers around their shoulder holster line and the hit cop drama Miami Vice. That show was produced by Michael Mann, and aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. Mann had a reputation in the movie industry as being very particular for weapon details and tactics. Mann had used a Jackass Leather Company shoulder holster for actor James Caan in the movie "Thief", was very impressed with it's look and feel. Mann had specifically asked the Miami Vice props manager to procure another Jackass shoulder holster for star Don Johnson to use. Unfortunately, due to the change of location and name that Galco went through in 1983, the prop manager was not able to contact Galco, so they asked a local holster maker named Ted Blocker to duplicate the Jackass shoulder holster as best he could.
During the first season of shooting for Miami Vice, Don Johnson began having issues with the reproduction holster, complaining that it restricted his movement and impacted his ability to perform action scenes. The prop manager began calling every holster company he could find trying to locate the old Jackass Leather Company. A sales manager from a holster competitor called Galco and advised them of the situation. Galco founder Richard Gallagher contacted the prop manager and then flew to Miami to custom fit Johnson with a real Galco Jackass shoulder holster. Johnson loved the holster and also started wearing a Galco ankle holster for episodes where he had to use a back-up weapon. Within a month, Galco was flooded with orders for the so called "Miami Vice" shoulder holster. The demand was so great that Gallagher decided to change the name on the Jackass model to the Miami Vice Shoulder holster. This model remains one of the most popular shoulder holster models on the market today. Over the last 10 years, Galco has embraced the concealed carry movement and significantly increased the number of different CCW holsters they offer. As an example, at the time of this writing, Galco was offering over 20 different IWB holster models while most competitors are offering half that many models. Another area that sets Galco apart from most other commercial holster makers is their use of horsehide. Right now, Galco is the only production holster company making a line of holsters from horsehide. The material is more expensive when compared to comparable cowhide, and more difficult to work with. However, Galco founder Richard Gallagher has always felt that horsehide was a superior material so Galco has continued down that path. While Galco isn't a budget brand of holsters or cheaply priced, they do produce a high quality product. If you are shopping for a Galco holster, your best option will be an online vendor as they have lower overhead so they can offer lower prices. Here are a few Galco holsters on sale now:
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US $25.00
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