Review: Galco Royal Guard 2.0 Holster

When it comes to leathers, there are different characteristics between different animals’ hides. This means that they have different material qualities that affect how holsters hold up long-term. Although steerhide is one of the most common leathers to use in holster making, it isn’t uncommon for many holster makers to offer horsehide holster options for customers in need of a holster with a greater degree of durability.

From a leather standpoint, horsehide has a denser structure which makes it more resistant to humidity and sweat. For certain wearers, horsehide is a favorite for hard-use IWB holsters. Seeing how this type of holster is worn close to the body for extended periods of time, it makes much sense.

Galco Gunleather’s Royal Guard 2.0 horsehide holster exists to cater to this type of discerning customer. Not only is the Royal Guard 2.0 hand-made from horsehide, its “roughout” is also on the outside. This is akin to how working cowboys specifically wear roughout boots because having the roughout on the outside makes leather last longer.

For the uninitiated, leather typically has two sides–the “smooth” side and the roughout. The roughout has that coarse, grainy and fibrous texture. On the animal, the smooth side was the outer surface while the roughout sat on the inside. Many working leather goods are made with the roughout facing out, including holsters.

The Royal Guard 2.0 Blueprint

Galco offers the Royal Guard 2.0 for a wide variety of handguns including semi-auto pistols and revolvers of various frame sizes. Since the leather has to be molded to the shape of the specific pistol, the gun itself will definitely affect the holster’s profile, shape and width. 

Mine fits a regular Beretta M9/92F/92FS, Beretta’s classic duty-size 9 mm double-action pistol. As such, my Royal Guard 2.0 has a fairly neutral shape with a long keel. While this Beretta does carry wide, that is no fault of the holster itself. In fact, the horsehide material is already thinner than the typical steerhide holster. Beretta 92s aren’t exactly known for their thinness either.

I can’t speak to a Royal Guard 2.0 made for a revolver, but in the case of this Beretta 92 or other semi-autos as shown on Galco’s website, they have a straight drop. Architecturally, this holster’s primary carry position is the classic inside the waistband behind-the-hip. The Royal Guard 2.0 achieves the correct angle for this thanks to its separate soft loop “pull-the-dot” style belt attachment. The loops screw on to the holster’s reinforced mouth area, not unlike hardware one would find in a modern Kydex holster. The beauty of this design is that Galco also offers straight-angle leather loops, which means this holster can be carried in the appendix inside the waistband position–it’s exactly how I’m carrying it.  

Hard Use Doesn’t Mean Ugly

Even though the Galco Royal Guard 2.0 holster is handcrafted with the roughout on the outside, it still maintains a level of refinement and attention to detail. By that, I mean that it doesn’t look like a roughout hardware store work glove. The Royal Guard 2.0 is properly reinforced to avoid collapse and potential safety issues while re-holstering. But, this part of the holster also includes an elegant band of black leather that accents and contrasts the soft tan hue of the roughout horsehide. Moreover, there’s a comfortable sweat-guard that extends above the holster’s mouth in order to protect the wearer from the rear corner of a handgun, beavertails, safeties and the like. 

In leatherworking, one of the most laborious aspects is burnishing the seams and edges, but every last exposed edge on the Royal Guard 2.0 is perfectly burnished. It’s something that adds to the overall character of this horsehide holster.

Performance And Concealment 

Royal Guard 2.0 holsters are ready-to-wear out of the box, so there’s no major break-in required. When I got it from Galco, the first thing I did was to strap up with an obviously unloaded gun and work on draws. In addition to extra durability on the outside, another benefit of a roughout holster is the fact that the interior, the part that makes actual contact with the surface of the pistol, is the smooth side. Both the draw and re-holstering are quite smooth, even on day one.

With its standard IWB leather belt loops, the Royal Guard 2.0 sits with the typical IWB angled cant. However, my experience carrying the Galco Royal Guard is exclusively from an AIWB perspective. As with any other holster, successful concealment stems from the relationship between the wearer, their body and their wardrobe. Personally, this means wearing pants with enough room between the waistband and the crutch point.