Kevin Mason’s frustration grew after he bought gun holsters from three different companies and had problems. He decided enough was enough and began making his own holsters in Platte City seven years ago. The success of the business has led to Mason’s recent opening of another venture, Muddy River Tactical, 613 First St., on Sept. 1, 2019.
He found that customer service was not a priority for the large holster companies and that most of his calls over the defective holsters were generally unanswered.
He started making custom-made holsters for some of his friends. “Being naive enough to think I would just make one holster for myself and a couple other people, I got deeper and deeper into it,” Mason said. “I thought of it as an extra money thing and I just kept going from there.”
After he got a website and began selling online the number of orders continued to grow and he now ships about 150 holsters per day.
The Platte City Chamber recently hosted a ribbon cutting for Muddy River Tactical.
It takes about 25 minutes to make a holster and they are put together in steps that he described as similar to stations where they are molded and cut using a type of plastic called kydex, a thermoplastic material.
“It’s just safer having a gun in a kydex holster that’s specially made for a particular gun and fits it snugly,” Mason said. “A lot of our leather holsters are kind of like a universal fit. It’s like a generic pouch and allows the gun to move around and they just aren’t as safe and it doesn’t protect the trigger guard and stuff like that.”
The trend for holster making has shifted to kydex and Mason said it was probable that about 70% of holsters his business makes are made with the plastic. He believes the popularity of kydex not only has to do with safety that comes with the individual moldings, but also because of the fact that many traditional leather holster makers are older people who have quit working.
His holster company is one of the few newer businesses that still offer leather holsters and Mason said there is definitely still a market for them.
He has wanted to open a gun shop next to his holster store for years since the people who buy holsters are usually the same ones who are looking to buy guns.
When Centerfire Central closed due to the owner’s retirement, Mason decided it was time to get the storage space next to his holster business ready to open Muddy River Tactical.
“The owner at Centerfire Central was only a block away in a small town so when he retired it kind of opened the door for us,” Mason said. “We didn’t want to get into it until he decided to stop because we didn’t want to be his competition. People would buy guns from him and then come down here and buy a holster, so when you can do it all in one place you kind of get a different experience.”
It has been only in the last 10 years that Mason has owned a handgun and he believes that more and more people are buying and carrying handguns because the culture is changing.
“Twenty years ago nobody thought about carrying a gun everywhere, it was a whole different world back then, so now with all this stuff like mass shootings happening it’s becoming more and more prevalent,” Mason said. “It’s safer if other people have guns because most of the damage is done before the police get to the scene. It’s kind of the first line of defense in the mass shootings, burglaries and house break-ins. I think in the areas that people are carrying guns and people know they’re carrying guns it’s generally a safer area.”
Security teams for churches are coming to Mason’s business to purchase guns and holsters and Mason said they are probably figuring it’s time to have some kind of plan since churches have been targets. “It’s sad to say that, but it’s kind of how it is and how it has been,” Mason said.
He is a firm believer in very strong background checks and training and education on gun use. He believes that just because someone buys a gun doesn’t mean they know how to use it and there are many good educational courses from beginner to advanced pistol classes in the area.
“I remember as a kid my family would go deer hunting and the guns would be in a corner but we knew not to ever touch them,” Mason said. “You weren’t sheltered from it so you weren’t afraid of them but you knew not to mess with them.”
Next month Muddy River Tactical will begin selling archery equipment such as hunting bows. Mason said that addition will fill up the available space and they will consider expansion. When he finds a bigger building he would like to start selling sporting goods and offer more items for hunting such as hunting apparel
“Most of the people in places like Platte City would rather buy these things at a smaller, more customer-oriented place,” Mason said.
Although the gun industry has changed a lot over the years with more and more online sales, Mason said online purchases have to be mailed to a federal firearms licensed gun store for a background check.
“There’s a transfer fee of about $35 and when people would do that a lot of these gun shops would take offense to it, kind of like, well they’re buying a gun but not from me and it’s almost cutting them out,” Mason said. “But the way the margin is on guns that’s about all you make whether they buy it from you or online. There’s not a lot of money to be made on guns. Back in the day you used to be able to make $150 on a gun. Now all the guns we have here only make us about $30 or $35. If we charged what the mom and pop stores used to for guns nobody would buy them because it’s so much cheaper online.”
Mason said it doesn’t make a difference to him personally whether a customer buys directly from him or purchases a gun online as long as the customers are taken care of. Either way he will make about the same amount of money with the transfer fee.
Most gun shops don’t offer classes and Mason said that not everyone will want to take them but he wants to lead new owners in that direction. If the classes could be held at the gun shop after someone buys a gun they would be offered free of charge.
Mason’s father-in-law Bob Edlin owned Edlin Plumbing, located in the same building as Muddy River Tactical for about 25 years. Edlin now works with Mason at Muddy River Tactical.
“Everybody in the community knows us and my in-laws and we just want to help the community,” Mason said.