Milt Sparks Holsters first started in the early 1970’s when the founder, Milt Sparks, decided that he could make a better holster than what was currently on the market. At the time, competitive handgun shooting was a growing sport, and Milt started carrying one of his holsters during competitions. Other competitive shooters started showing an interest, so the Milt Sparks holsters business began to gain some exposure. In the beginning, Milt was producing all the holsters himself out of a small workshop. Milt Sparks holsters designs were very popular and the business grew quickly. Although Milt passed away in 1995, the business continues under the direction of the president, Tony Kanaley.
Although Milt Sparks holsters offers a number of different holster models, here’s a quick overview of the top sellers:
Versa Max 2 – The Versa Max II (VM-2) is one of the most successful holster models ever produced, and the top seller at Milt Sparks holsters. The design has proven so successful, it has spawned a significant number of similar designs and clones. The VM-2 was one of the first IWB holsters to utilize dual offset belt attachments to improve stability and minimize the overall thickness. In my opinion, the VM-2 has become the IWB standard to which other high quality IWB holsters are compared against. I personally have 4 different VM-2 models for different handguns, and they remain my favorite “go to” IWB holsters. For most most people, when you start talking about the VM-2, it’s synonymous with Milt Sparks holsters.
55BN – (pictured below) The 55BN is named in part for the late Bruce Nelson, who was a pioneer in the holster industry. When Milt Sparks first began producing holsters, the Bruce Nelson’s Professional holster was the most popular belt holster of that era. Bruce and Milt were friends, so Milt asked for permission to to manufacture two of Nelson’s most popular models, the Professional and the Summer Special. Sparks took the original Professional design and enhanced it with stitched in sight rails and a metal reinforcement band around the mouth. The finished result is the model 55BN, where the BN stands for Bruce Nelson. While Nelson was a true pioneer in the holster world, Milt Sparks holsters was one of the few holster making companies who ever gave credit back to Nelson for the design.
Summer Special – As mentioned previously, the Summer Special was another Bruce Nelson design that Milt received permission to produce. The original Bruce Nelson version only utilized as single snap on belt loop, but Milt added a second loop for added stability. He also improved on the original by adding stitched in sight rails as well. As a continued tribute to Nelson, Milt maintained the original Summer Special name.
Milt Sparks holsters are built with quality and produced for functionality. The only real downside to the Milt Sparks Holsters line is the wait period. Due to their immense popularity, it generally takes anywhere from 4 to 8 months to receive a Sparks holster after it’s ordered. However, Sparks holsters are absolutely worth the wait.
Shop here for the best prices on Milt Sparks holsters. If you don’t see the particular Milt Sparks holsters model you are shopping for below, please use the Search box in the upper right hand corner to search our site as we may have it listed somewhere else.
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