lonestar tactical

Hello all I have a couple of holsters I made recently for a client - a Hybrid holster (leather and kydex), a pocket holster in shark for a PF9, and finally a pair of shark grips I put together for myself. Never made a hybrid holster or made any attempt to make a pair of 1911 grips. First time for both so please be gentle... Texas Hybrid - only thing I am unsure of is the hold of the firearm in the holster. I wetmolded the back of the holster to really suck the gun into the kydex to prevent the kydex rattle. Not sure if this was needed because of the body contact with the rear of the holster would automatically put pressure on the firearm but I wanted to make sure it wasnt going anywhere. The draw is still very fast and smooth but has the secure "click" when hostered. I think the chicago screws are overkill - I am using eyelets made for kydex and it appears to be holding. Any experience on the security of the eyelets would be most appreciated. Grips - I had been reading about how to do this - I really like the rubber tactile feel of shark and thought it would make a nice pair of grips. I took a pair of stock wood grips that had a very nice checkering on them and used contact cement to adhere to the shark to the grips. really pressed the shark into the grips and allowed to dry for 48 hours before sanding and fitting. after sanding down the edges I dyed and finished. Pretty happy with the end result and the grips have a very nice feel - soft yet grippy. My question - after I seal it with acrylic spray am I done or is there something else I need to do to protect the grips. Pocket holster - no need to go into this one as it was very simple to do. The thing I would like to show though is the grain of the shark and I can tell you this grabs the inside of a pocket.

There are some good tutorials out there that will help - 1 that comes to mind http://www.jdlawhon.com/home.html Also do a search on youtube - there are a lot of leather crafters who show basic holster instruction. Good starting point before you get started - helps to visually see vs someone typing it out for you to figure out. This link is one that was given here on the board - never used it - There is a fee service and also a pay service http://www.adamsleatherworks.com/index.php/how-s-it-made/ As for tools see the first link - JD puts together a good list of things and his instructions are there to follow. Be safe, Doc

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=40_217_317_353&products_id=2073 I ordered several times from them in the past - fast shipping Link is direct to the knifekits.com giraffe bone handle material. Let us know how the hippo works out - I was thinking about picking up some but Roje got me for a hide of elephant... (I say got me like it was not my choice lol) Be Safe, Doc

Very unique - I have not seen giraffe hide before. Elephant, Shark, Gator, and Hippo even but never that. Now you need a pair of Giraffe Bone Grips to match the theme . If you make grips or interested I have seen places selling actual giraffe bone blanks.

First of all thanks to everyone for putting this together. First time brewer here.... I went to Wally world this afternoon and picked up a pack of 0000 Steel Wool from the hardware section - the kitchen section had the stuff with soap. Picked up a gallon of distilled vinegar Put in a couple of steel wool pads in mason jars - 2 per jar - and filled with vinegar Put the lids back on with a hole punched to allow for venting of gas Set outside covered to prevent rain or critters from messing with it. My garage stores my car and my HD - cant have my car smelling like vinegar... well I could but I would be driving alone lol Now the waiting game begins..... Side note - cost was 2.00 for a gallon of vinegar and 2.48 for a large pack of steel wook - so two mason jars worth of blackening agent (VG) for 4.48????? (I have enough steel wool and vinegar to make another 2 to 3 jars) Compared to Fiebing USMC Black at 24.99 a quart retail or 15.00 wholesale???? What a cost saver and talk about being able to control quality. Thanks again to all. Be safe, Doc

So I have had a few clients interested in getting a holster made for thier pf9's. Do not own one so this was causing me some issues because for the life of me I could not find a mock gun anywhere - rings, asp, duncans - nothing. So I call keltec in Fl - and this is what they send me.... Looks and feels like the real thing just missing the internals. Hate to say it but I dare say this is the nicest dummy gun I picked up:head_hurts_kr: . Cost was 40.00 + shipping. Hope this helps anyone looking for one and not wanting to dump the cash into getting the actual PF9. Be Safe, Doc

I went to Tandy this morning to pick up some hardware and was talking to the manager. He was "playing" with the black and also some of the lighter brown on some scraps. I was very impressed with the color - it seems very rich. LIttle to no rub off. I will check back with him in a couple of weeks and see what the virdict is. He has always been great to deal with and always stops me from spending money on dumb stuff lol. Business price for the smallest bottle (larger than small eco flow standard bottles) was something like 12.00 and some change. SIDE NOTE - they also had some very nice stingray in stock for a very good price. Black only. Be Safe, Doc

I wanted to give a big thank you to Roje leather (Natalia) Was able to pick up a black elephant hide from them and wanted to share my experience. Great folks to deal with and really worked with me to find what I was looking for. Was able to pick up a Grade 1 Premium Elephant hide. This is the difference I mentioned on my other post regarding remnants/pieces and grade 1. For my personal gear remnants worked out great but for clients I had to find the best. the color and the depth of grain is remarkable and very consistant and well looks like a very nice elephant hide. Fast service and fast shipping. Painless transaction. Thanks again and be safe, Doc

http://www.exotichides.com/ was lead here by a member while looking for other exotics. no direct interaction with them - just was pointed in that direction. I found frogs there and they seem to be of good quality. Good luck, Be safe, Doc

Dickf In the USN I learned to shut up and listen to those with more experience. I did not get to where I am in life by not adapting and learning – any advice people offer is taken. So thank you for the feedback and the assist. One of my greatest attributes is the ability to take constructive criticism and making the appropriate corrections. I agree with what you are saying – just need to implement. Thanks again and give me a few days to finish up my current orders and I will post images of the correction on the 1911. Thanks again and be safe, Doc

Thanks - I agree with the belt slots and have since picked up a 1/2" rounded punch for the slot ends. Working on a leather holster at this time and also another elephant holster. WIll post images when done. Let me ask you dickf - I traced my mock gun and then took a wing divider at 1/2" to mark my stitch line around the firearm including the trigger guard area. Also there is a molded sight track in there as well. What spacing do you think I should use? Currently like I said I am going exactly 1/2" on my 1911s and other slim firearms and 5/8" on my Large glocks (45acp /10mm). Are you saying to use 3/8's or 1/4" space between 1911 and my stitch line. Thanks for the assist. Be safe, Doc

Michael, Sorry so long but I had to put some thought into this one and still working on getting my first cup of coffee down lol. Honestly I have to charge more because of the cost of the elephant hide and also the hardware used on this particular design. Also, I decided to ship the holsters with elephant via 2 day insured fed ex vs standard USPS priority mail. Even with my Fedex business account it costs 20.00+ to ship 2 day delivery with insurance. I had an elephant holster get "delayed" by 2 weeks with USPS during the storms in the NE USA. Another client (lives 4 miles away from the first ordered the same day, shipped the same day) paid extra fed ex cost and got his... lesson learned - elephant holstes are going fedex. Costs too much to replace the elephant hide used. I am a start up, so customer serice is key - even though he opted to go with cheaper cost shipping I would have replaced it to make it right. In addition to the cost of premium cowhide there is the added cost of buying exotic hides - not remnants mind you - actual grade 1 hide costs significantly more. You can buy sqft pieces of unknown quality or from unknown section it comes from for around 18.00 for a sqft piece (plus shipping) this is a great deal for your own personal gear - but when you buy grade 1 elephant panels the cost is 265.00 for a 8sqft panel (Roje Leather). Tooling leather cost significanly less than that at 6.00-9.00/sqft (retail cost). Needless to say I did do a lot of thinking before even taking my first special order for ones in elephant. The first ones I sold were from sqft remnants that I picked up from SLC and priced as such and shipped via usps priority. They were decent pieces but after visiting a local car upholstery shop and seeing what grade 1 looks like I had no choice but to make the switch and buy a whole panel from Roje. Would 75% of my clients know if I choose to use seconds? Probably not but I would. In the end it only takes one client bashing your quality all over the web to destroy what you attempt to accomplish. To be honest - when you compare what I am offering at that price compared to many cowhide only holsters going for significantly more I feel confident in our pricing. Not interested in being one of the big boys - just interested in maintaining my good name in the community and passing on a business to my sons some day. Our Elephant front holsters are: IWB/OWB holsters - sold as a combo only (holster and mag carrier) Premium Tooling Side 8/9oz Grade 1 Elephant hide panels Eyelet Reinforced cant adjustment slots Eyelet Reinforced attachement points elephant full front elephant front iwb loops (removable for OWB carry) Mill/Spec snaps handstitched - holster and iwb loops Fed Ex insured 2 day delivery Let alone time put into each holster elephant or cow. Thanks for the question and be safe, Doc

Thank you to everyone on the board who has offered feedback and made suggestions. I took to heart the suggestions and moved my rear stitch line in on my 1911 holsters to better fit the curve. My design was only recently adapted to 1911's - prior to this the bulk of my business came from LEO using Glock polymer guns (square trigger). As you know Glocks have square trigger guards. Also, I shortened and rounded more around the edges to make it about .75" shorter across. Thank you dickf and others. (added information - this is for my clients 1911 Commander order I mentioned earlier) Be safe, Doc

I dye both inside and out before I glue and stitch - I prefer the look compared to unfinished inside.

Hey buddy - I appreciate your advice. I have another order that I am working on this morning for a Colt Commander. Will implement the stitching as suggested and see how it works. Not claiming to be a know it all as I know that there are many who have much more experience than I. No shame in reevaluating is right - clients make suggestions and I implement. No supervisor to explain changes or why I had to make a holster 3 times because I did not think it was perfect. Which is why I love what I do - I answer to only one person and thats the Mrs lol. Thanks again and will post pictures of the implemented stitch lines. Be safe dickf, Doc

Thanks for the feedback - always welcome. To be honest with you I had my design tested for over a year before I started making them available to the public. Were talking some hard daily use by leo at the fed and state levels, as well as concealed handgun folks here in texas. The shape of the holster is unique to Lonestar Tactical. In my opinion, it is better to swim apart from the crowd then with it. The edges are well rounded to avoid anything that may poke/rub/dig into you - and as an OWB the shape works great. The MagPac II is not rounded off as much because pockets are not round. I designed the shape of the MagPac II to take into account the pointy bottom end of the inside of our pockets. I did originally make it more round and it tended to shift more than I cared for. I do have a more traditional shaped holsters comming out shortly. Something along the lines of an avenger type holster and also something similar to the Kirkpatrick IWB holster. Those will have more of what you mentioned. Thanks again dickf and much thanks for the food for thought - if we don't adapt we get left behind Be safe, Doc

Had a client request a duplicate set up for his 3.5 RIA 1911 with elephant I encourage people to try out elephant hide. Be safe, Doc

Honestly the best that I have found - and I can not find the exact type anywhere else - is at www.knifekits.com The rivets they have available come in different sizes but the ones that I have really been using are the size 8 for .93 kydex. I am able to use the rivets to re-enforce the holes made to attach IWB loops for my holsters. They make them smaller as well for thinner materials. Good Luck Be safe, Doc

The Tandy snaps have failed more times then I care to discuss for my IWB loops. Some would not set properly - others just did not stay fastened. The star snaps, the "heavy duty" snaps the sell did not hold secure. Ordered from http://www.fasnap.com/index.php they had very fast turnaround time and inventory was onhand to ship. Minimum order of 50.00 BUT I have enough snap sets to run 50 holsters. (picked up bags of 100 on the heavy duty snaps, hard action screw stud sockets, heavy duty caps). Have been fantastic - they hold nice and tight and do not come undone unless you want it to. information added: http://riteonscrew.com/allproducts.html has chicago screws sold as pairs or as individual parts. The best eyelets that I have found for leather are found at http://knifekits.com they are the only eyelets that I have found that are deep enough to handle 2 layers of leather at a time (8/9oz). I started using these when I was making kydex holsters and have not found a better eyelet for leather. Be Safe, Doc

Hey OP IT looks like shark to me as well. I just finished up a holster for my Glock 30 using black shark bought from SLC. It kind of had a rubbery hand to it - the elephant I picked up did not have that feel to it. Side note - I am thinking of picking up a 2lb bag of the ostrich - how big and what quality were the pieces in the bag you picked up?

Casing the leather - use a damp sponge to wet the leather lightly - Do not SOAK. Typically I will wipe my leather down with a damp sponge, once it has returned to its almost original color it has been cased. This allows the dye to be absorbed in a more uniform rate. Be Safe, Doc

recently I had a client give me the wrong address for his shipping information. Sent it to NC when he now lives in FL. Of course this took place as the huricane just passed thru and everything got delayed. It took an extra 5 days to get to NC from TX, then it was forwarded to him in FL. I have a feeling the only reason it got forwarded was because he knew the new residents. If not I fear I would have been remaking the holster. I did not have to offer since this was his confirmed paypal address, but did so because I love my clients. The post office will be able to track it to the delivery address but possession in 9/10ths of the law (so they say). Did you get insurance on you package? Be safe, Doc

There is a guy on there who was doing the pick up of gator hides in Fl and then shipping out from his location... talk about dedication. Think it was 100.00 for a 3-5 footers belly cut. Wish I was looking for gator....

Bottom gear lol... have to agree thats my favorite too

Hey folks - I have been on the hunt for some Texas Rattlesnake Skins to use on a few holsters. I was given some leads and one of the leads got me to thinking (I know it can be dangerous before my 5th cup of coffee lol)... so I searched and found a taxidermy website that seems pretty active. After searching I found some individuals selling gator, snake, and a bunch of others. Not sure if it helps anyone but I thought it was worth a look. Didnt even consider calling taxidermy folks or checking websites... http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php Thanks and be safe, Doc