JRCHolsters

Katsass - It's hard to tell from the pics, but they are open ended. The stitch line on the exotic is just to give it a clean look. Thanks for the compliment. Jake - I usually don't put retention screws in on holsters. This was one of those things that the customer really felt he needed one. It will tighten it up a bit, but I personally don't think it was needed.

Thanks. I was a little skeptical when the customer laid out his idea to me, but once it was finished, I was thinking I might need one for myself.

Just thought I would share a couple of recent Cross Draw holsters I made for some customers. Hope you like them. This is for a 3" 1911. It is Dark Brown Shark and Yellow Ring Lizard. Both are laminated over Horsehide. This one is for the HK45C. It is in a Cordovan / Burgundy Horsehide. This one was built for a female customer, so there are a few minor enhancements to make it more comfortable for her.

I haven't tried the buffalo. I'd like to see how that turns out. Maybe you should take the gator if it's still available and just hold of on having it tanned. The funny thing I have found about exotics is, you never really need them, but once you make that plunge, it can pay for itself pretty quickly.

I have a few gunbelts I have done this way for myself and friends to test out. So far so good. One thing I have learned about using the Barge cement is, let it really dry for about 1-2 hours before joining the pieces and put the hammer to it. It makes a crazy strong bond. I have tried ripping apart test pieces and I will tell you, it is some work getting them apart. I do also cross hatch score the sides to be glued in the particular hide allows.

I actually got the elephant from Springfield. It was very nice quality. It's so soft, yet tough, I wish I had an easy chair upholstered in it. I bet the tanning would have been spendy. It may have been worth it depending on your customer base, you could get quite a few items out of one that big. It's a tough nut to swallow, though.

Thanks. I did the antiquing by thinning out some cordovan dye till it was translucent. After it dried, I steel wooled it. I repeated that a few times. Almost looks like wood grain. I'm really not to worried about the belt coming apart. The construction is very similar to how Lucchese does it. Besides, I charged enough to cover eventually having to re-bond and edge it. The customer was comfortable with this.

Thanks. I appreciate it. Glad you like it.

The stiffener was made from a strip of horsehide, about 3oz, trimmed from a thin edge. I used barge cement (the stinky stuff). When I edged it, I carefully saturated the edge with resolene and then took it to my wood dowel in the drill press. The belt was very labor intensive, even without the stitching.

After playing around with test pieces, I realized that sewing wasn't a good option. The hard scales want to deflect the needle, giving a ragged sewing line. I scored the back of the liner (1/10") and shaved off loose hide from the back of the gator. I glued each side and allowed it to dry for a couple of hours. Once I carefully laid the pieces together, I pounded the length with a 3lb hammer and a pad. Then I pressed it in a home made press, using 2x4's lined with ensolite foam and furniture clamps. From there, it was all in the edging. The customer loves the belt and wears it everyday.

Thanks. It is actually a color that the supplier had. It is a chocolate brown with dark tan highlights.

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Here are a few exotic items that have gone out recently. Hope you like them. Here is a sweet Hornback Alligator belt that went out to a customer. It has a Millennium brown finish and the Horsehide backing is antiqued. It has a thin stiffener to keep the belt rigid, yet thin. A great gun belt that doesn't look like one. Hope you all like it. Here are a couple I did for my son as a gift to go with his new M&PC 40 This is a Snap version of my belt slide. It is burgundy Horsehide with brown Alligator trim This is a CP-1 in Burgundy Horse and Cognac Elephant trim. And here are some AIWB-CDA holsters for customers with exotic trim

That looks really nice. I just got some ostrich leg in and am getting ready to play around with it. Did you try applying any dye to the back of the hide to see if it would bleed through?

I prefer using hard rolled. I have used both types and think the hard rolled give a better finished product, IMHO. Make sure your knife is really sharp! You can hit some really hard spots from time to time. Be patient when cutting. Be sure to wet areas before stamping or punching holes, it makes it a lot easier. I find that you have to get the hide a bit wetter when forming with the hard rolled. The grain is really tight. The ends are a bit thinner, be sure to check the thickness, to match the piece you are cutting. The thinner ends are handy for some reinforced areas that are getting exotic overlays. Just use common sense here. I dye the cut pieces before molding, but give them a second coat after molding. The dye never seems to be quite as dark after the molding. Hope this helps and remember, your mileage may vary. Have fun!

I concur on Zack White also. Be sure to choose the option for belts when you order. The quality of the strips are really nice. I get a lot more usable hide from the ones they sell.

Thanks Dwight. I will check out your site and send you a pm a little later tonight or tomorrow. I appreciate you answering. Jim

In about two weeks I am going to need a belt sewn. The thought of hand sewing another belt is more than I can bare to think about. I am looking for someone who has experience working with belts to sew this for me. I am in the process of getting a machine, but it won't fit my timeline. It will be a layer of Alligator over Horsehide. I am posting this here, instead of another section on the forum, to be sure I get folks that work with this type of stuff. If someone is interested in doing this work and can turn it around promptly, I will send it Priority with a return label and your fee. Thanks in advance, Jim

Really nice looking holster. Horsehide really produces some beautiful patterns. I love the stuff.

Thanks. Yeah, Glocks aren't all that pretty to look at, lol.

Here are a couple of AIWB holsters I am sending out to a customer. One is neutral rake and the other has a 20 degree reverse rake. Both are for the Glock 17, Horsehide in Burgundy.