How to change a broken or worn out snap on your holster

We love holsters with snaps. Whether they are on the security strap, or on the belt loops, allowing the holster to be easily put on/off the belt, we need them to work properly. When a snap on your holster breaks or gets damaged by usage, your holster becomes unreliable.

The good news is you do not need to throw away your holster just because of the worn-out snap. In most cases, the snap can be easily replaced. Snaps come in various sizes and quality so make sure that the new snap you are using matches the attributes of the one originally built into your holster. The best way to be sure about the compatibility is to use the same snap the manufacturer of your holster uses.

The FALCO snaps that we use to make our custom holsters are sturdy and resistant to corrosion.  They can endure years of daily usage without losing retention. These are the qualities you want in your holster snap. If any snap on your holster became unreliable or damaged, you can easily replace it at home with our new snap replacement kit. No need to get a new holster.

Our snap replacement kit for leather and nylon holsters contains all the necessary tools and several sets of our FALCO snaps. We recommend you add the set to your next order here. This way you save on shipping costs and will be able to replace any worn-out or damaged snap on your new, or older, Falco Holster.

Each snap consists of a male and female part that needs to be pressed into the leather. In most cases, only one side of the snap gets damaged. Feel free to leave the good part as it is. FALCO snaps work perfectly even with our older holsters. You can change the female snap, as we show in this tutorial on any of our holsters. Or you can easily fix both parts of the snap with our Timeless Holsters, Nylon Holsters, Ammo-pouches, and basically any product that has the snaps installed like in the picture below.

Keep in mind that you will not be able to change the male snap thumb-breaks of our premium leather holsters- these are sewn into the leather (see the picture below). You can only change the female snap on these, following this simple tutorial.

Let’s dive into the tutorial on how to fix your broken holster snap in 4 easy steps!

Replace your broken snap in 4 simple steps

For this tutorial, you are going to need:

• Small Hammer
• Screwdriver/ drill
• FALCO snap replacement kit

Step 1: Remove the old broken snap’s part

Drill the rivet off using a hammer & screwdriver or a drill. It is sufficient to only remove the broken part of your snap (male or female). In this tutorial, we are replacing the female part.

Step 2: Prepare the new part of a snap

Prepare the plastic tool from the FALCO snap replacement kit. Place the outer part of the female snap (the one with the FALCO logo) on the plastic tool (see the picture B)

Step 3: Position the new snap’s parts correctly

Insert the tool with the outer snap’s part through the hole where the old snap has been (see picture C). Place the female part of the snap on top of the tool sticking out from the hole. The female part of the snap facing the male part (see picture D).

Step 4: Secure the new snap in place

When the two parts of the female snap are positioned correctly, press them together with the plastic tool (see picture E) and tap them firmly with the hammer (see picture F). You can repeat this several times.

Your snap has been changed! Now you can keep using your new holster reliably. You can as well watch our short video showing the snap replacement process to make sure you are getting all of the steps correctly.