Sight Channel

[charlescrawford]

So I am getting over being sick as a dog. Another sinus and asthma issues.... I got to play around with the thin air press my wife found and got me from Roar Rocket for molding holsters. This thing is awesome! Love it makes molding so much easier. It's normal use is for veneering and making skateboards.

Anyway... so with my blueguns I have been using a pencil taped to the top with clear gorilla tape as a site channel. Is this a best practice or is there something better I should be using? Some of my holsters will have safety straps but others will not so I want a nice snug fit hence the reason we spent $60 on the thin air press from Roar Rocket. Just want to make sure I am doing things smart and not an outdated way if you know what I mean.

[Red Cent]

Do a reverse holster .

[charlescrawford]

Redcent most of mine are for semi autos not revolvers. Will that still work?

[chiefjason]

I use dowel rods that are flat on one side, I sand them down. Pencil should work fine. You don't want it too high over the sight though. On the pocket pistols I sometimes leave the sight channel off, the front sights are so small. I use a couple sizes of dowel so that I can adjust for sight height. Any hardware store, or even craft stores, should carry a selection of them. And they are cheap.

[Red Cent]

Yes it will. The semi-auto holster can be made with 4-5 ounce leather that makes it easier. Mold the leather with warm water and when it drys it will be stiff. Gets stiffer if you dye the leather.The "trick" is to cut the holster so it looks like you are not using the holster backwards:).

This style really works for SASS competitors. Access to the grip and trigger guard for certain competitors means a lot. I have a number of rigs by different makers hanging on the wall but I could not get them to make a reverse holster. As you can see, the trigger guard is prominently presented and the sight track is built in. Additionally, it provides an automatic cut from the front to provide a quick draw. Roll the top edges out and you have a big bucket to facilitate a re-holster, a unique move in SASS competition.

[malabar]

There are basically two ways to do the sight channels: Tape in a piece of wood along the top rail and mold it, or stitch it in.

The only time I use a stitched sight channel is on a summer special type holster.

http://www.malabargu...-summer-special

Edited November 20, 2013 by malabar

[renegadelizard]

Yes it will. The semi-auto holster can be made with 4-5 ounce leather that makes it easier. Mold the leather with warm water and when it drys it will be stiff. Gets stiffer if you dye the leather.The "trick" is to cut the holster so it looks like you are not using the holster backwards:).

This style really works for SASS competitors. Access to the grip and trigger guard for certain competitors means a lot. I have a number of rigs by different makers hanging on the wall but I could not get them to make a reverse holster. As you can see, the trigger guard is prominently presented and the sight track is built in. Additionally, it provides an automatic cut from the front to provide a quick draw. Roll the top edges out and you have a big bucket to facilitate a re-holster, a unique move in SASS competition.

4-5 ounce leather is too light for any holster, even the baby autos...the will not last very long at all and will lose their shape and rigidity, and collapse when you dont want them too...

[J Hayes]

There are basically two ways to do the sight channels: Tape in a piece of wood along the top rail and mold it, or stitch it in.

The only time I use a stitched sight channel is on a summer special type holster.

http://www.malabargu...-summer-special

Nice rig, care to share how you did that sight channel?

[malabar]

Nice rig, care to share how you did that sight channel?

Be happy to, but I never took photos of the construction. Let me see if I can get one made tonight....

[Red Cent]

If you are wearing a IWB and it collapses you probably just got through with a gunfight. I have a couple of IWB "summer specials" that was made by some top leather crafters in the 70s and 80s and they are made with 4-5 ounce leather. Maybe 6-7 ounce. I do not care for the "assisted opening" in an IWB. Too much bulk for me. I carry IWB appendix style so it is real easy to reholster. But I have never had to reholster.

[juanfartez]

For me I use chopsticks. Cut it back till it's the same size as the front site.

[J Hayes]

heavy plastic drinking straw from wifes cup :-) it "clips" onto the fs.

[malabar]

For me I use chopsticks. Cut it back till it's the same size as the front site.

As a matter of fact, that's what I use. Have had to make some more elaborate ones out of thin wood stock for some revolvers, though.

tk

[malabar]

As promised, here are some photos that illustrate how I do a stitched-in sight channel.....

I only use this on one model, a variation on the Summer Special design. It uses very light leather and the stitched-in sight channel holds up better than the molded sight channel.

The first picture shows how the finished stitched-in strips work......

The second shows the templates I use to cut out the pieces of leather....

Here are the pieces of leather (minus the straps) ready to go.

This shows how the steel band goes into the leather guard.

The next photo shows the exterior of the holster after the guard has been stitched on.

The next photo shows the interior of the holster as the lines are laid out for the strips that will form the sight track.

The strips are about a quarter-inch wide, and made of heavy 12-ounce leather.

Glue the strip in place. Then run a single line of stitching down each strip.

Fold it around into final form, and stitch together. Voila!

tk

Edited November 22, 2013 by malabar

[jbossartcustomgunleather]

Thanks for the tutorial, I've always wondered what a stitched sight rail was.

[Ed in Tx]

For what it is worth I used a plastic coat hanger and cut several different lengths to accommodate the different barrel lengths. I used a hacksaw blade to cut a notch on one end to slide on the sight. Blue painters tape works well to keep it in place when forming and you don't have to worry about residue on the gun if you are using an actual gun rather than a blue gun.

[J Hayes]

Nicely done Malabar! Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Jeremy

Edited November 23, 2013 by J Hayes

[malabar]

my pleasure.

[Firewalker]

On 11/22/2013 at 3:24 PM, malabar said:

As promised, here are some photos that illustrate how I do a stitched-in sight channel.....

I only use this on one model, a variation on the Summer Special design. It uses very light leather and the stitched-in sight channel holds up better than the molded sight channel.

The first picture shows how the finished stitched-in strips work......

The second shows the templates I use to cut out the pieces of leather....

Here are the pieces of leather (minus the straps) ready to go.

This shows how the steel band goes into the leather guard.

The next photo shows the exterior of the holster after the guard has been stitched on.

The next photo shows the interior of the holster as the lines are laid out for the strips that will form the sight track.

The strips are about a quarter-inch wide, and made of heavy 12-ounce leather.

Glue the strip in place. Then run a single line of stitching down each strip.

Fold it around into final form, and stitch together. Voila!

tk

Thank you for taking the time to share this.  I have been curious how this was done.  Cheers