George B

Have been reading about sewn front sight channels on Avenger style holsters for a week or so. Tried my hand at a couple and these are the results. Decided to switch over to sewn sight channels in my production whenever possible so any criticism or advise would be appreciated. Thanks, George

I do a lot of gun shows in a couple of states and am no longer surprised at what customers can or cannot figure out with pricing. I do all my pricing at dollar amounts, no cents involved. Guess you could say no sense involved as well. For me its a matter of carrying around change, dollars are my smallest change and I figure if the difference between $0.99 and $1 throws them off I am probably better for it. I do figure in, that most of my gun show customers are going to beat me up for a discount. I will normally discount it the amount it would cost me to sell it on ETSY or EBAY and round it off on the dollar. So far it has worked out well for me.

Last butts I bought came from SLC. Have bought from a couple of other leather suppliers but cannot remember which ones, RFJ sounds familiar. I gave up trying to buy horse. The last 7 or so hides had extreme drop offs in thickness. I was able to make one holster from each one and use the rest for really small projects. And at the cost of each it just didn't make sense to keep using horse. This last holster I just made was for a Sig P938 and as usual, I was able to make one holster from this butt that stayed close to the same thickness. Contacted Horween numerous times and finally contacted the correct person for horse butts. They required a large order to buy from them at much higher prices than suppliers. I was told this is because they sell their seconds to suppliers? and if I needed smaller quantities to deal with the suppliers and be happy with the quality. This was about 6 months ago, maybe things have changed for the better since then.

Just did one yesterday afternoon. After a soaking of 30 seconds in warm lightly soapy water the holster was not anywhere near ready for the initial forming. Threw it back in the bucket and let it set there for about 15 minutes. I've had them ready in a few seconds and some like the one yesterday that take a lot more soak time. Even after soaking for 15 minutes it still dried out too fast in the shop and had to be re-dunked so I could detail it last night.

Very nice work.

What I don't use for prototypes I give to the local scoutmaster. Last time he had enough for the scout troops in three counties.

Weaver has them. Was sewing them until I bought a thousand of them, now I have to buy them again. Never thought I would use that many that fast.

A big welcome from Dover, TN

Thanks Jeff, for some reason I totally forgot about calling Ruger customer service. Have done it before but for some reason just forgot on this one. Glad someone is on the ball today. George

Hello All, Long time customer's wife wants a rig for her Ruger Single 10, unfortunately I do not have a pattern for that revolver. I do have numerous patterns for the Single six, but not the ten. I am needing either the pattern for a field western holster or the girth measurement of the single ten with 8 to 10 ounce leather. My customer is 1000 miles away or ide just have her bring me the revolver. Any help would be appreciated. George

Just give them a call, they are good people to work with and will give you a straight answer.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to give suggestions. They all had value and I will be incorporating some of them when things slow down after the gun show season. Not exactly sure how I am going to do it yet, but changes will have to made soon. Thanks again, George

Not really sure anyone will have the time to give advice, but figured I'de ask. I have been doing gun shows for the last 3 or so months and came to a sad realization. I cannot make replacement inventory as fast I am selling it no matter how many hours a day I work. As an example, I have been making 20 to 25 a week and I am still behind. I could raise my prices, but in my mind that would be a huge step backward as I would rather increase production. Everything I have done to increase my production has worked well. Such as a 12 ton press, oscillating belt sander, drum dyed leather, convection oven and such. But I find my biggest eater of production time is in the cutting out leather using patterns and edge work. I am considering using clicker dies instead of hand cutting but feel the need to be able to make the die myself and eventually have one for every holster in my line up. Is this a stupid idea? I can get the flat metal bender and make room in the shop for it but cannot find the pre-sharpened steel ruler stock on line or locally. I now use a pro edge dressing for my holsters, unless a customer requests otherwise, but applying it with a q-tip is time consuming and wasteful at best. In a nutshell I guess I am asking if there is anyone here with a small, one man, production shop that has the time to correspond with me about the process and items I would need to do this. I have currently had to shut down to custom orders to catch up with regular line and gun show sales so any help would be appreciated. Thanks, George

That is a nice looking rig Josh

I just call and ask. They are helpful and will give you the info.

Duncan's outdoor might have something in stock.

Hey Paul, Yes W&C russet skirting on the reinforcement and the Havana brown for the body. 10 oz. throat with 8.5 oz. body. Finish is couple coats of Fiebing's leather balm with atom wax. Thank you all for the kind words.

Not planned but the colors worked well with this Ruger. .

Bowman saddle and let me just say I sweat like a pig with every piece I cut. Once I started came the realization that if I missed up it would be an expensive mistake. Took me 2 months and ended up selling the saddle at a good profit. Switched to gun leather, quicker gratification and if I screwed up it cost less.

I had similar problems with some customers some time back. Always phone orders or internet orders. Locals will bring the weapon in so I can get all the particulars and in the case of an Avenger if I don't have a close enough handgun I will require the actual weapon. I used my Word program to print up a work order sheet that has all the boxes to fill in on all the particulars of each handgun as well as all the info on the holster ordered. If they change the weapon after I start cutting they are going to receive the "original" holster they ordered. I have not had a single problem once I started this practice and it eliminated all the mis-communication. One of the things I have them do is read me the model number directly off the weapon, some even catch themselves in mistakes on weapon make and model. Good luck.

I have found that the thinner the leather the easier it is to get great detailing, but that would just make sense. It did however take me a while to figure that out. The heaviest I use is 9-10 oz. for pancakes, normally I use 8-9 oz. 8-9 oz. body with 9-10 oz. throat and belt tunnel for Avengers. 9-10 oz. for the outer and 5-6 oz. for the liner on western. 7-8 oz. makes a great light weight holster with fantastic detail but most of my customers want something more substantial. I don't really case the leather due to time. After assembly and edging I give it a dunk or two in luke warm water, seat the weapon, do some basic hand forming and set it aside to dry out some (dummy gun in, actual weapon out). When it dries to where I can work it I do my boning and detailing.

One thing to do if you are selling on ETSY is research the marketplace. See what other makers are listing their work for, or better yet what they are actually selling and at what prices. Compare the workmanship to what you are making and price according to the market.

They look great! Keep on poundin'.

Looks fantastic and the color is outstanding. After seeing the pics and the results I contacted Glenn at W&C to place an order for my usual. He said this is "crust leather"? was sending me a chunk to try, but if this is the same leather you used for these projects I see a new stocking color for me.

I have both the G30 and the G30s. The G30s has a slide that is slightly wider than a 1911 with the same frame as the G30, but has a narrower slide than the G30. A holster made with and formed with the G30s will be too tight to accept a G30 easily. That said... I have seen the blue gun on Rings for the G21SF and it shows a different rail than the G21SF a customer brought me to make his holster. Needless to say I was even more confused than usual. As long as the G30SF you are building for has the standard Glock rail you will be fine using a G30 to make the holster. And well said Shooter! I don't know why some ppl make idiotic comments on this forum. Not everyone here can afford to buy the "real thing", the best tools, best leather, etc and most turn out some damn nice work. I have used dummy guns for 95% of the holsters I make for the last four years and have yet to have one returned because it did not fit or function properly and safely. But hey, what do I know, I'm just an amateur.