George B

I have to second Dale Moore's school, Montana Horseman Saddle School. Did it in 2010 and was amazed he could teach me, a total novice to build western saddles. Unfortunately I turned to the dark side of leatherworking. I do mainly gun leather now with the occasional saddle thrown in for practice. There are probably a lot of excellent teachers out there, but, everything Dale offered made it the choice for me. As stated above, if you have any questions, let me know as well. I cannot say enough great things about Dale, his family, the accommodations, the school and the experience.

If I am not mistaken it is not the Tombstone rig. Instead of the standard shoulder harness it uses the strap over the opposite shoulder and another that runs parallel to the belt around the back. It is the one pictured at the top of the page in the catalog.

Hello Everyone, not sure if anyone can give me advice on this, but figured it didn't hurt to ask. I had a customer come to the shop with a copy of El Paso Saddlery catalog and ordered a Doc Holiday rig for his Ruger Super Black Hawk. I'm sure I can reverse engineer it but would appreciate any tips or things to avoid from those who have made them. It is the model that totally encloses the revolver and uses two straps to keep it slung closer to the chest. My questions are pretty basic. Buckle placement for the straps? Best positions for the tabs where the holster attaches to keep the revolver from wanting to pull away from the body? Is there any strap to the belt that I cannot see in the pics available? I do not need a pattern just an idea of the basic design. Any advice is appreciated, thanks, George

The finished look comes from gluing and sewing the two pieces of leather back to back so the finished sides are out on both. You will find a variety of different methods here for assembly but I normally make the back piece 1/4 Inch wider than the outside and trim the excess after they are glued. When I started I made the width 1/2 wider, now that I've dome some I am better at lining up the two pieces and have reduced the waste.

hey Reaper, tried that and the belt that I did is still to this day an oily mess. I did a short soak of the belts and then applied neatsfoot. Black are okay but the browns are still brittle. I'll repeat the processes again today.Lesson learned...no more blanks! I now ALWAYS cut my own. George

Howdy All, long story short. Bought a bunch of belt blanks from Weaver leather about a year ago. Made a couple and found out they were not what I wanted, put them in a box and on the shelf. Attending a local gun show in September so I figured I'd make some cheap belts to sell and get my money out of them. Dip dyed them brown and black ( I have 13 blanks ) Let them dry and boy oh boy were they stiff. Oiled with neatsfoot twice, still stiff. Tried flexing one to loosen it and it almost snapped into two pieces. It even sounded like wood breaking. I can't even give these things away the way they are. Any suggestions? Just throw them away and eat the cost? Any and all help will be appreciated. Thanks, George

Best thing to do is contact Weaver. I buy directly from them as a dealer, I seldom resale but purchase supplies from them regularly. Getting set up with discount pricing is to simply give them your business info, mine was a simple tax id number. They send you a catalog with dealer prices. Percentage of discount varies but is normally 40 to 50%. I have checked over the years online to find more competitive pricing on smaller quantities and have yet to find one with lower prices.

Have not had any issues with the models I have done. When checking I have found the curve of the throat on the avenger allows for it without any contact. Pancakes have sort of a built in sight channel that also seems to accommodate those pesky little indicators.

Beautiful rig Josh, they should be very happy.

Thanks. Last year I had a customer who wanted a complete military style rig. Contacted Coonan about the exact dimensions. All I wanted was the exact dimensions, what I received in the mail was the dummy gun. Since then Chelsey and I have had a great working relationship.

The straps were something I came up with for those that wanted a safety strap for field use and the ability to remove it when they wanted to conceal carry. The design has come in handy on a few occasions and is easy to add to an existing pattern. I have done this on both pancakes and Avengers. The holster pictured is actually the second version for the same customer. After making the first and doing finish work I realized I had made two major design mistakes. 1. The strap too straight up and down and would eventually work its way off the front in the cocked position. 2. I placed the screw directly over the top of the belt which would result in one tore to hell belt in a short period of time. A remake was my only option. I have attached a pic of the original. Thanks for the compliment. George

Made a complete rig for a customer with a Coonan 357. Holster is 8 oz. W&C with a 8 oz. front and back pieces for snap and screw.Customer wanted a holster that would work as concealed carry and doubled for field use. Two safety straps will work for hammer down, cocked and locked or rear strapped. Mag carrier is 7 oz. W&C back with 5 oz, front panel with spring steel clip. Belt is a reinforced dual layer made with two layers of 5 oz. W&C. Reinforced with a 1 inch wide polypropylene strap that runs the entire length of belt so that all holes and hardware are fully reinforced. Center decorative stitch is designed to tie all the layers and reinforcement together. Belt is just over 1/8" thick and good and stiff, yet extremely comfortable. Belt body has a 700 lbs. strength not figuring in the leather. This rigs ships out Monday. Hope he likes it. Thanks for the look-see, George

Nice looking rig, well done!

After reading your post, I thought to myself...whewwww that's a day to forget. Then I returned to the shop after two weeks on vacation with the grandchildren and put in a couple of hard days at the bench. Third day back I realized I'de done a whole bunch of things either ass backwards or those that would cause a problem in the future and a poly reinforced dual layer belt that somehow ended up 3/4" short. Needless to say I ended up remaking three holsters, two mag carriers and belt. Now I'm working the weekend just to get back on schedule. I really hate brain-farts, especially those induced by brain beans that seem to go on forever just continually going off without notice.

Hey Particle, not being a lawyer I cannot say for sure but I have heard numerous times in the past that a person cannot sign away any rights to recourse they may have. You would have to check with a good lawyer first and then add that to the total. Just kidding. When I went to saddle school we cut ourselves almost every day for the first 3 weeks or so, I just know I'd feel awful if someone lost a finger or worse. Not too mention what it may do to my reputation. George

Hey Particle, just a suggestion. If it is going to be an all-day affair, you may want to figure what money you would make in a given day making your own product to sell and charge them that amount per day. I have had a couple of customers who have approached me about the same thing. I explained to them the amount of income I would lose spending the day teaching them just the basics of the trade. Both found it more economical just to have me make what they wanted. The largest drawback I can think of is that an accident can occur, and what my liabilities would be if it happened in my shop. For that reason I also do not allow children in the shop. George

For clips I use www.theclip.com Not the cheapest but every one I have purchased has been great quality and made in the USA. They have both metal and kydex clip systems. Found them while searching for stainless steel spring clips for a customer with a nickle allergy.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I appreciate them. DFWDE, yes I have a shop on etsy, sometimes good, sometimes not so much. Hey Jake, anymore, unless the customer asks for one, I do two. I like the added security without going to the pull-the-dot-snaps and I find it holds the loops in the correct position much better. George

Customer wanted an extreme cant (for me at least) right hand cross draw snap loop pancake for his Ruger SP-101 hammerless with 2-1/4" barrel. This is the result of my labors. I tried to keep the back as flat as possible and the grip close to the body without giving up grip area. Only took four scrap leather holsters to get this one figured out. I just have to start telling these people no due to the amount of time, but, I have one with standard pancake belt slots to make on the 14th for a Colt Det. SP. so it was good practice. Now I'm just behind in order time. Thanks for the look-see.

I am new to this so my knowledge is limited. However, I have not had any holsters that became too tight for the weapon from excessive oiling. I'm sure someone will chime in to correct me, but, in my first couple of years I have made the mistake of over oiling a few holsters and all were fine for the weapon they were made for. I have however had the misfortune of expecting that all 1911 style pistols were pretty much the same. I found out quickly I was wrong. I use Springfield 1911A1, Springfield Micro and Colt Commander blue guns, but if the holster is for another maker or model I will almost have to have the 1911 to make the correct holster. Para Ordinance can be slightly longer, Sig has a squarer top of slide, Ruger seems slightly chubbier and some have front sights that require extra room. Like I said, I am new and would expect someone with more experience to correct me. These are just my observations.

After a few repairs of belts and holsters I came to one conclusion...it just isn't worth it. Each one was satisfied with the repair or alteration but shocked by the price. Even though they knew up front what the charge would be. And, in every case it took longer than expected to do and not one was profitable. Nor did it generate any new business, in fact I had one guy come back with his new El Cheapo holster and want modifications. "Sorry, not today, send it back and have the manufacturer do it. Oh, what? They won't do that? Should have just had me make you what you wanted, but heck, you just enjoy your new holster." The only thing I will repair or alter now is any of my own work and western saddles. The saddles have a detailed repair worksheet with all charges and the customer's signature as well as a 50% non-refundable deposit. Since I have stopped doing belt and holster repairs I have not had one upset customer. Just my opinion.

Thanks for the kind words.

Customer contacted me with a request for two shoulder style rigs with large pouches instead of holster and mag pouch. Things were a little slow and I figured it might teach me a few lessons so I took the job. Pouches are 6 x 4 x 3/4" inside measurements. One vertical, one horizontal, both with belt tie down loops. Snaps were used on the vertical pouch belt tie for easy on and off. Horizontal belt ties are stationary. Thanks to Lobo for the idea on the harness center point. Customer works for DoD and needed something for carrying passport, papers, sat phone and wallet. I learned a lot and for the price the next one will cost more or be a scaled down version. Any advice or comments would be welcome as I didn't learn everything. Thanks for looking. George

They look good Josh!

Since I've only been at this for three years and still learning I know things may come up years down the road that maybe should have been thought out better. With that in mind, I have a lifetime guaranty on anything with my mark. No receipt required, if it failed to perform correctly I'll make it good. The things I will not cover are intentional damage or obvious abuse. I do my best to make the best quality item I can, but sometimes mistakes are made and do not become evident until some time down the road. For me it boils down to my name on that maker's mark, if I was proud enough to put my name on it, I'll stand behind it as long as I am able to do so. Everyone will guaranty their work differently, this is how I do mine.