So you just purchased your new pistol, and have to get a holster. But your light is on backorder. The question is can you use your pistol in the holster built for your pistol plus the light that you don’t yet have?

In short, the pistol will fit inside the holster, but it will not have any retention, and will not hold your pistol upside down like it should.

And now for a longer explanation on holster retention…

Holsters need to retain on an edge on the pistol. This edge needs to resist the draw of the pistol. Some possible edges include the rear of the front bar of the trigger guard, the front edge of the ejection port, the rear edge of the front sight, or the rear of a weapon mounted light or laser.

The ejection port is sometimes used for retention, but this is almost always with a level 2 type mechanism. By pressing a lever, the retention is swung completely out of the way, removing the retention and allowing the pistol to be drawn. Kydex holsters without such a mechanism typically do not retain in the ejection port; the potentially sharp nature of the port is likely to cause premature wear on the holster, additional holster wear on the pistol, and will often result in unpredictable retention.

The front sight is not a suitable option for many of the same reasons, plus that it is often modified with different sight blades. I’m aware of no holsters that attempt to retain on the sight blade.

So, this leaves the trigger guard or the light/laser for retention surface. The trigger guard is ideal. It is almost always located in the same place & has the same shape as the factory gave it. Undercut trigger guards do not change this retention. For these reasons the trigger guard is almost always used for retention on holsters for pistols without a light or laser.

Why is the trigger guard not used for retention on holsters for pistols with a rail mounted accessory? The problem is that the holster has to be clearanced to allow the light/laser to travel through with minimal resistance. The trigger guard is narrower than the accessory, which means that the holster will be too wide to retain on the trigger guard.

As a result, your holster will retain on the rear of the light or laser.

In almost all cases, the pistol will slip into the holster and not move around very much. However, retention will be lacking. A holster should retain the pistol when turned upside down. For your holster built for a weapon mounted light, your pistol without will slip right out when turned over. You are probably not planning on hanging from your feet, but you may end up in an altercation that puts you on the ground where your pistol could end up skittering across the pavement.

As a result, we recommend ordering your light or laser at the same time as you order your holster.