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Wow, from back in July, and this thread is still going.

Yes, I wear a Comptac Kydex-reinforced gun belt. It is excellent. The holster is a Minotaur. I tightened the screws as tight as possible after the incident, and it seems to be working properly, although I don't like the draw resistance at that torque as well as I did before. I'll live with it. Whether it is tight enough to prevent the original problem -- who knows, and I don't want to run the experiment required to find out.

The dogs are fine; my hand is healed; and all is well.

Originally, I chose the title "Gun discharged from holster", but decided that had a whole different, unintended meaning.

"Ejected" is probably a better choice of word, with the correct connotation, but disgorged was the best I could come up with at the time.

I'm sure I can, Charles. I'll just have to adjust my idea of how much force is reasonable to draw the weapon.

My understanding of this forum is to post embarrassing incidents, close calls, etc. in order that others might ponder whether a similar scenario could happen to them. The point of my post was to highlight that under the right circumstances a particular holster design that has performed well under all normal test cases can fail. Like most people, I had tested my kydex/leather hybrid setup by inverting the holster, rolling around, etc., with no issues. The holster retained the firearm in all cases, while providing what I felt to be a reasonable draw/reholster pattern. However, those tests grossly underestimated the forces generated when running full speed comes to an abrupt, immediate stop.

The secondary, less important, purpose was to highlight that even in places in which it is legal to carry a gun in either the open or concealed you will encounter individuals who are disturbed by the presence of an armed person. It is worthwhile to think about how you will defuse the encounter.

All other details of the incident were provided for context.

Thanks for the discussion.

Oldgringo, thanks for your opinion. These are puppies, and still learning. The male catches on more quickly than the female. She'll eventually get it, too, as do all of my many dogs that I've trained over the years. I realize you didn't have all the details to make an informed comment in the direction you went. Nevertheless, your ability to jump to a firm, judgmental conclusion is impressive.

As to the other on topic comments:

• I carry a Beretta Px4, 40 S&W full size, IWB. Trigger guard retention devices are not an option because I carry exclusively IWB due to body build/concealment trade offs.
• Leather holsters rely upon the belt for much of the retention, but kydex does not compress as easily. The provided retention screws give the necessary clamping force to retain the gun. How tight is a balance between ease of draw/reholster and retention. Choosing that balance is personal preference.
• I've rolled around and done many other physical activities while carrying with no issues. I doubt anyone is willing to throw themselves to the ground at full speed onto concrete in an awkward position to test their holster retention under conditions of substantial change of inertia.
• The main advantage of Kydex is the reduced coefficient of friction over all leather. I have other all-leather holsters, and like them too, but like the M-tac holsters precisely for their smooth reholstering combined with the leather sweat/skin bite protection in the summer heat.

I'm torn between two options:

• Tightening down the screws, giving up the more fluid draw and reholstering.
• Disarming briefly when in such a situation

The neighbor's reaction was also interesting because in the state where this happened, not Texas, both open and concealed carry are legal.

Well, the embarrassment and most of the pain has passed since two weeks ago when this incident occurred, so I think I can stand to post it here for the benefit of others. I was on vacation with my family and 2 miniature dachshunds. Our dogs are house and back yard pets, with no idea what it means to run into a busy street. The female, in particular, is fast and prone to darting. At one of the stops to visit family members on the itinerary, I sent my two children outside with the dogs into the back yard, which has a wrought iron fence with spacing between the bars large enough for either of the dogs to escape, but I gave my son explicit instructions to insure that the dogs didn't escape. Well, within 5 minutes the female escaped. I bolted from the house to try to catch her before she ran into the street. I was armed, carrying in a Comp-tac M-Tac holster. I ran into the neighbor's front yard after the dog; had her cornered, when she switched direction back toward the house. I angled at full speed for the street to head her off from entering the busy road. Unfortunately, my center of gravity got ahead of my feet and, that, combined with a slight downhill to the sidewalk had me hurtling to the ground at full speed. I crashed into the sidewalk with my right hand pinned under my body.

Unfortunately, my pistol disgorged from the holster and was laying in the sidewalk-road grassy median. As I got up, I realized that my right hand was broken, and my pistol was on the ground. The neighbor was heading toward me talking into his cell phone. I thought he was calling the police, but couldn't hear any of the conversation. I retrieved the pistol and was trying to reholster it with my broken hand. The conversation went something like this:

Neighbor: "Is that a gun!"
Me: "Yes, I have a valid concealed carry permit for it."
Neighbor: "You can understand why I am concerned when a man runs through my yard with a gun."
Me: "Not really, but I'm visiting my family next door and was trying to catch my dog. I apologize for disturbing you."

I walked away expecting to have to talk to the police shortly. Evidently, he hadn't called the police, because they never arrived. The neighbor's wife did bring up the incident at the neighborhood association that evening to my relative, who is on the board.

Lessons:

• Running with a concealed weapon can be tricky.
  If you come to a sudden stop when running with a weapon, having the retention screws clamped tight in a kydex holster might keep the pistol from flying, but might not.
  I'm rethinking the use of holsters without secondary retention mechanisms, but haven't decided to switch just yet.

Any other advice from the board?