Kring

Anyone know of a place to get a dummy for a Taurus 605? I saw that Blue Guns has a Taurus M85 that LOOKs very similar. I know they are different calibers, but does anyone know if this would work for a 605, or where to get a 605 dummy?

The IWB holster that I just made for my Colt 1911A1 feels a little loose to me. I have a training gun that was meant to teach field striping and such that I have had since I was a kid (non-firing of course) that I used for the boning and shaping. The "dummy" fits quite snugly--I can turn the holster upside down and shake it fairly vigorously and the pistol won't fall out, but the real thing is a little loose. I can upend the holster with the real thing in it and it won't fall out, but a little shake will dislodge it. Once I put the thing on though, I can jump up and down, do push-ups and jump off of things and the pistol won't move, but I just have a feeling it should fit in a little more snugly. IWB seems to be inherently more secure in that respect, but I was wondering, are there certain areas to concentrate on when boning the holster to get a tighter fit? I keep reading about holsters that are so tight that they are difficult to draw and re-holster the weapon at the start, and require a break-in period. How can I get my holsters to fit tighter, or do you think maybe my "dummy" gun may be a little oversize? I may have to break out my calipers and see...

I was wondering if there was any difference in the size between the EMP and the Micro Pistol! I did see that Rings had the Micro Pistol and I ALMOST suggested taking a look at it, but I had a feeling that it might have had to be a little bit bigger, wider etc to accommodate the .45 cartridge. Cool picture Particle, that was the information I was trying to find for you yesterday.

Duncan Customs lists it in their current (as of April 9th, 2010) inventory: Duncan Customs There is also one in the "Special Guns-Limited Supply" section with a sight track.

The thread is just some waxed polyester I had laying around. I don't think it is anything special. It is hard for me to let things dry. I just want to keep working on it--patience doesn't come easily to me. Maybe I should just get a bunch of them going so I can give things time to dry properly and still have another project to work on.

I just finished my second try at making an IWB holster for a Colt 1911. This one turned out a lot better than my first attempt. I got the stitching line much closer to the frame, altered the pattern so that I could include a molded-in sight rail, and moved the line around the trigger guard so it no longer touches the magazine release. The only thing I'm not really happy with is the stitching. I would have preferred the threads to stay a bright white so that they "pop" a little more. I think I may not have let the dye dry long enough before stitching this together and the thread picked up some of the dye or something. Anyway, I wanted to share. Comments, suggestions and critiques would be appreciated.

I have been looking around for the Barbour's Linen Threads also. I found one place that has a decent looking selection: Campbell Bosworth Machinery Co. I don't know if the prices are reasonable or not. Much more expensive than poly in any case. Upwards of $40 for a 1lb spool. I'm not that familiar with the Barbour's, so that may or may not be a good deal. I'm sure others will know other sources. Is the Barbour's linen thread suitable for machine sewing, or should I just stick with poly for that? I have heard that some machines say not to use linen.

I know I have seen some info on this topic before, but can't find it again, so: What type and size thread do you guys use for your holsters? Machine sewn or hand sewn (I do both), I am interested in what you guys feel the best threads are.

I don't make holsters for sale, but I do have an LLC. They aren't that expensive to set up, and will at least protect your personal property like your house and your car. "I'm going to sue you for everything you've got!" "I'd like to see that--I've got nothin'!"

I will have to get some 6-7 oz leather and try again. I don't think I will be getting Hermann Oak, since I don't particularly want to have to buy 10 hides unless I'm going to be selling these things. LOL I'm going to make the adjustments suggested to the pattern and I'll post my results when I have some.

Thanks for the suggestions! The leather is a 4-5 oz that I normally use for insoles in the moccasins that I make. It seemed to be pretty close to the thickness of leather used in an IWB holster that I bought for a different pistol. What weight would you normally recommend? I don't have any trouble getting the gun in or out of the holster, but I am thinking that may have more to do with where the stitches along the bottom are placed. Since there is so much space between the stitches and the bottom of the frame the leather is able to spread apart making it pretty easy to get the gun in and out. At this point I can hang it upside down and the gun won't fall out, but it already seems to be losening up, so I'm not sure how long that will last. I didn't mold in a sight channel either. This pistol is ancient and barely has a front sight, but I think I will try to make a sight channel on my next attempt. I did all of the boning with a pen cap that had a nice round end. LOL I'm not used to boning leather so I just grabbed something that I thought would work. I wish I had found this forum before I had started working on this a few days ago.

Well, this was my first ever attempt at making a holster. I wanted to try to make an IWB for my Colt 1911A1 Gov't. This was really meant as a prototype to test my pattern (which is why it isn't dyed), so in that respect I don't guess I should call this a total failure. There are a few things I would change, such as moving the stitching closer to the bottom of the frame, and moving the line around the trigger guard so that it doesn't touch the magazine release. Where I really screwed up was with my hardware selection. The posts for attaching the Snap studs were WAY too short and prevented me from being able to attach the belt loops--OOPS! Since they are sewn in between the two layers of leather, this one is going to have to go into the "I learned something from that one" pile. This was my first try at wet moulding leather too, and I think that part of it came out looking fairly decent. With a few alterations to my pattern I think my next try should turn out much nicer. I'll have to dye it before putting it all together this time and pay a little more attention to the edges. Anyway, comments and suggestions are welcome!