K-Man

Both the SIG 229 and 239 are fairly popular models, especially for concealed carry. With respect to which "versions" to get is going to be dependent on how you make your holsters. The vast majority of the custom holster makers I know utilize the specific model, i.e., 229 or 229R because there is a difference. There's also a difference in size between the 239 .40/.357 sig versus the 9mm frame. The .40/.357 sig is slightly larger. IMO, if you use something other than the specific model in this instance, you're taking a greater chance of the gun not fitting properly and/or the gun becoming loose in the holster down the road. Not the kind of reputation a custom holster maker really wants IMO.

Very nicely done, Ed.

I think it's an interesting concept, but not very viable IMO. Like Dave mentioned, you would have to have quite an inventory just to meet potential demand, even on a small scale. I make holsters for over 100 guns, and the great majority of those are the most popular guns in the marketplace today. So having an inventory of five guns for say 20 popular guns creates an inventory of 100 guns needed. At an average cost of $40 per gun, that's a $4000 initial cost outlay. In addition, there are quite a few guns that are popular choices that are not on the Ring's available list. That means you would most likely have to go to Duncan's to get those, and that means your price just went up. What's your contingency plan when one of the gun's get damaged in some way - a piece breaks off or die gets onto the gun itself? I would not use the service. In part, because there's too great a risk IMO that the gun I would need would not be available at the time I'm ready to make a holster. That means potentially that the customer is going to have to wait longer (and who knows how long) in order to get a holster that we've quoted them a turnaround time on. That makes for a very unhappy customer. Trust me when I say that 98% of the customers become very unhappy very quickly when they've got to wait longer than advertised for their holster. I would think that the majority of your customers would be the hobby guy, rather than a holstermaker who makes holsters for a living. You might get a few of the "pros" if you happen to have a gun on your inventory that they rarely get a request for. But I wouldn't see that happening until 2 or 3 years down the road.

I had this pair of edge slickers made up to mimic what I use on my ryobi grinder machine. My edge slicker tool is much larger (on both sides). These are the sizes that I use most often in slicking the edges on my work. These can be chucked into a hand drill or drill press. These are made from aluminum. This is a sample of the edges I'm able to achieve with them: I have the opportunity to have these made up and offer them to the members here. The price would be $22.50/each plus shipping.

That's outstanding work, Bobocat. Some of the best I've ever seen anywhere. Any chance of getting the pattern/tutorial for the tiger's head in particular? I've got the opportunity to get some genuine siberian tiger skin and would want to incorporate the tooling of the head with the inlay of the skin on a piece of leather. Again, simply outstanding work.

I picked these up the other day from the post office. They are exceptional - much better than some of the other mauls currently available in the marketplace. I got to use the larger one yesterday for a bit, and it was a welcome relief (in weight) from what I had previously been using. Thanks again, Ed. You did yourself good here.

Nice looking holster. With respect to the clips, I suspect if you took a poll of the users who have those clips you would find that they have either already trimmed off below the third hole down or want to do that. We often did that for the customers. Are you buying those clips direct from Comp-Tac? Do they still require the $400 minimum order for them?

Yes, Duncan had some available a few months ago. I've had mine for 3-4 months, if I recall correctly. Hopefully Ring's will get off their tail and tool up for it soon. I do quite a few XDM holsters.

Here's another picture of the mauls and stand that Ed sent me:

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of these. Ed was great to work and communicate with. Took him just under a week to complete the mauls and stand. The wood is the amboyna burl and, as you can see, has some awesome grain and burl in it. It just always presents a striking appearance. I've used it on other projects, and have it planned to use on others. It's a very durable wood. I had been considering for quite some time the purchase of a new maul, as I'm in the process of upgrading some of my tools. After seeing earlier pictures of Ed's work, I knew I wanted one from him. I could only find the wood in a small enough piece to do the two maul handles. So I figured what the heck, let's have two made! The stand became an added necessity, as I did not want these rolling around on the workbench. Thanks, Ed, for the great work, and I look forward to receiving everything.

I'll take the set, if still available. Send me a pm with payment info, etc.

Nice job on the tooling of the sub pin. So your friend was a machinist's mate in the usn?

Very nicely done. PM sent.

Looks like the gallery is in the city proper, rather than at Panama City Beach. We're slated to send them another 4-6 pieces. Most of those will be available for sale, a couple of them will be for display/loan only.

A couple of months ago, a prior customer of mine contacted me and asked if I did any other type of leather art (outside of the holsters and related). He mentioned that they had taken over management of an art gallery and was looking for something to display. I sent him this picture that I did 3 or 4 years ago. I also did the matting and frame work on it. (Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.) The gallery is having its grand opening this coming weekend. I'm thinking about jumping on my bike and going up for it. The art gallery is in Panama City, FL, if anyone is nearby and wants to take a gander. http://www.mainstreetgallerypc.com/

Sent you a PM. (You're email address is blocked.)

I add 8.5" to whatever measurement they provide (measured from the tip of the buckle to the hole most often used). That becomes the overall length of the strap. That provides for a 6" length from the center hole to the tip of the belt. Another consideration is to do something like this. Take and make up a belt in the same basic configuration of your gun belt. Make it so it would fit up to ~ 55" waist. Punch and distinctly mark holes beginning at the 28" mark and each 1" measurement thereafter, up to 55". Put a buckle on it that you will ultimately add to the customer's belt. Then charge the customer a $25 deposit, plus shipping costs, to ship the belt to them. Have them put the belt on and tell you what the measurement is. They then send the belt back to you. You apply that $25 deposit to the cost of the belt you're making for them. The $25 cost covers the belt in the event they don't return it. (You could use scrap leather to make up the sample belt.) The customer is only out the cost of the shipping of the belt to them and return shipping. Doing it this way should ensure you're getting the correct measurement, based on the style of belt you make.

The following gun is sold, pending receipt fo funds: S&W Model 60 (3" barrel) - Ring's Blue Gun Thanks for everyone's interest.

Mike: Email sent. The T9 came out 2003'ish and the TP9 came out 2004'ish.

Actually the Kahr T9 has been in the marketplace for a number of years: http://www.kahr.com/PA-1B/review_gw_0103.html

The following gun is sold, pending receipt of payment: SIG P225 - Ring's Blue Gun That leaves the following guns as still available: S&W Model 60 (3" barrel) - Ring's Blue Gun S&W 6906 (square trigger) - Ring's Blue Gun SIG Mosquito - Ring's Blue Gun Walther P22 (3" barrel) - Duncan's aluminum Ruger Blackhawk (4 5/8" barrel) - Duncan's aluminum CZ-75B - Ring's Blue Gun The price is $25/each + shipping. Will combine shipping for multiple gun purchase. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

The following guns are sold: Ruger Blackhawk 50th Anniversary - 6.5" barrel Ruger GP100 - 3" barrel Ruger Alaskan - 3" barrel The following guns are sold, pending receipt of funds: Beretta 92FS - Ring's Blue Gun Walther P99 - Ring's Blue Gun Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Yes, Ring's has both the LCP and the LCR available now for order.

Have you done any research with respect to the cost to make dummy guns, whether they're cast from aluminum or some other material? It's not as cheap as one may think....

Blue guns generally have the better detail and are truer to size of the original gun. The red ASP guns are out of spec more times than not. The aluminum guns from Duncan will do okay, but oftentimes require some additional attention to clean them up. There are some dummy guns for sale in the "for sale" section here on the forum. There may be some in there that you can snag for a good price.