Western Duo For A 44/40

[Dwight]

Customer just picked these up this morning.

Both belts are for a person with an over 50 inch waist.

But they were fun to do. I hope he enjoys them for many years.

May God bless,

Dwight

[J Hayes]

That's beautiful! Is that your perferred method of bullet loops? I like the double layered belt hiding the backs of the loops, nice touch. What weights did you use?

Jeremy

[Dwight]

That's beautiful! Is that your perferred method of bullet loops? I like the double layered belt hiding the backs of the loops, nice touch. What weights did you use?

Jeremy

Thanks, Jeremy, . . . yeah, . . . I think it was the Will Ghormley pack I bought showed how to do that. The best thing, . . . the loops don't move, . . . and you don't ever have to worry about stitches breaking. I can also do that belt (the loop part) in just less than a half hour. My sewing on that would be much longer as I only have a Tippmann Boss. It's great for belts, . . . holsters, . . . etc. but a real pain for things like cartridge loops.

The holster is double 6/7, . . . the belt is double 7/8, . . . and the loops are 6/7. British tan / Resolene 50/50 water mix for finish.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Treed]

Great looking set......I like them

[prc77ro]

Those are Gorgeous! did you have to cut the inner liner shorter to account for the curve around the waist or did you just cut them to the same length?

[Dwight]

What I usually do is lay out the piece I perceive as the "top", . . . and cut it. Then I look at it real good to make sure I want to keep it as the top. Then I just turn it over, . . . and use it as the pattern for the back.

Punch, gouge, rivet, . . . whatever, . . . and contact cement em together. They are a bit stiff at first, . . . but you get 3-5 pounds of iron and ammo hanging off a cowboy who is sweating pretty good, . . . it'll warm up, . . . loosen up, . . . and feels good.

May God bless,

Dwight

[prc77ro]

Thats the same thing that I did for the Buscedero rig I'm currently working on, but I was a little concerened because when i put the two pieces together and bent them around to get an idea of what it would look like around a waist the liner moved about 1/4-3/8" past the outer. I'm hoping that after they are cemented and hand stitched and oiled and dyed this wont be an issue. Also I used pieces of 1'2" dowell to form the 45Colt loops while the leather dried. I used the same 9-10oz leather for the loops so they are pretty beefy and look really good but they are JUST slightly larger than the cartridges so that the lip rests on the top of the loop. Any idea if this could end up being a problem in the future, or it may not do to the weight of the leather?

[Dwight]

This is the way I learned to do bullet loops. I've tried sewing (ugh), . . . double punching (they fall out after a while), . . . and I even saw where one guy put a rivet between each loop, . . . I'm not doing that one.

Anyway, . . . this is the first way I ever did one, . . . tried others, . . . came back to it, . . . quick, easy, works every time.

I use 6/7 oz, . . . wet it pretty good to start, . . . actually use the bullets I'm making it for, . . . and I leave them in the loop after it is made until the leather is just damp. That usually is about a half hour after I finish the lacing.

It makes a good solid loop.

About that belt: don't worry about the inner piece, . . . cement it on, . . . sand and burnish the edges, . . . stitch gouge it, . . . stitch it, . . . finish it, . . . and wear it. My first one had some tiny little wrinkles in the liner for a while, . . . but my fat carcass (at the time) warmed it up inside, . . . and ironed out all of those wrinkles. It was as pretty inside as it was outside.

I was at a gun show later, . . . a guy wanted to buy it, . . . his wife was pestering him for a belt, . . . he bought mine for himself, . . . gave the other one to his wife, . . . or at least that was the story I got. The only thing I do different for my own stuff, . . . I like a 3 inch wide belt, . . . most of those I make for other folks are 2 1/2, . . . they seem to like them better.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited April 5, 2013 by Dwight

[prc77ro]

Dwight, thanks for the photo and your own experience. The first side of loops that I wove I pulled out and re-wove them around the actual cartridges, nice and snug. The other side I have already pulled out and will be re-weaving tonight, I cut the loops to the same size as the others but after edging they actually came out smaller. I should have cut them at 3/4" instead of just under. I would assume securing one end of the loops makes a big difference in the end, its probably why mine keep loosening up.

[Dwight]

.............. I would assume securing one end of the loops makes a big difference in the end, its probably why mine keep loosening up.

Yep, . . . correct assumption. When I first got started, . . . my "mentor" told me to use calf skin, . . . and sew them on, . . . and made it look easy. Because I had previously owned a sewn on one, . . . and didn't like it, . . . I went looking for another process.

This process I use makes the loop in the same hole (in and out) which makes it very crowded in there, . . . and actually results in the leather getting "stretched" so to speak, . . . plus as I pull the loop tight, . . . I thumb the bullet left and right, . . . making the leather crease between the layers.

I rivet the one end, . . . grab a coffee, . . . take a deep breath, . . . and 10 or 15 minutes of grunting, stretching, and pulling, . . . I'm smacking the other rivet, usually.

Then, like I said earlier, . . . let it dry down a bit, . . . but not completely dry, . . . and very gingerly and carefully remove the cartridges. Then let it finish drying.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Samalan]

Nice job !!! 50'' = 50 Bullets