Doc Savage

Close to what I did with my first holster. Made the flat back out of two pieces glued and sewn flesh to flesh. Then formed the leather top. Took my pattern, rather than halving the barrel height to determine size just used the full height. Used a wood board to clamp it all to while forming it, then after it dried, just stitched it to the back. Robert

That looks familiar Glad you like it., I'm loving the one I did. Wore it quite a bit this last week, and comfort never was an issue. I'm glad I went with more leather on the backing for mine, the pistol is beginning to form into it some (hey I do carry a full sized 45). Love the design. Enjoyed the process enough that I made a quick belt slide holster for it, and working on a belt slide for the wife's 9mm (bit different molding it as she's a lefty). This can get addictive.

Thanks for the input. I'll admit I really would have preferred to have had the trigger guard covered more, but given the angle, couldn't figure how to do that without having the holster protrude above the belt. I also was trying to keep it below the rear sights so they wouldn't be covered and catch (have that problem with the generic nylon holster I have when using it small of the back). Thinking on it, I probably should have carried the top plate to the outer edges. The back plate is two pieces sandwiched together. Retention seems pretty good. I've been able to hold the holster upside down and the gun stays in place. Glad I did the second forming, doubt the first time would have done that. Yea, I'm kinda cheap and used what I had, thus the clamps. Got kinda tight in there some of them were so close. This was lots of fun. Will probably play around with it a bit more now. Always loved leather finishes on things. Thanks everyone for the inputs.

Think the super tuck may have been one that I looked at when coming up with the design. The back is just smooth leather. I purposefully went with the larger backing piece to help spread the force of the gun pressing into me. I carried a little with my nylon holster and it wasn't too uncomfortable except when driving my wife's van. Had too much lumbar support and really dug in and hurt. Wanted to keep that from happening. I've practiced with the gun and don't think drawing it with the holster is much different than just with my back there up against the gun. Actually looking forward to trying my hand at another holster not

Hello all, spent quite some time lurking and reading here before joining while starting my first work. I've been looking for holsters for my carry gun, but as I prefer older S&W autos, it is hard to find ones to fit. Just out of curiosity, I started looking into making my own. Found this forum and got lots of great info. Finally joined to be able to see more and to share my experiences. One issue I've had in looking for holders is finding a comfortable way of carrying. I thought I'd like small of the back, it is the most comfortable place for me. Played with it with a nylon holster I had and while it carries great, I did have issues with the exposed part of the gun digging in. I had seen some pancake style holsters that looked promising and when I looked into making one, thought I'd give that a try. Oh this will be IWB for concealment, I don't wear many jackets/untucked shirts. I researched some and found some decent heavier scrap pieces of leather at the local Hobby Lobby ($6) and picked up some thread at the same time ($3). I drew out some plans and settled on this one: I picked out some good pieces to use and traced out the pieces. I sharpened my pocket knife real good and cut the leather. Was like cutting warm butter. Never thought the knife would work so well. I picked up some Weldwood Contact Cement at Lowe's ($5) and glued two pieces together for the pancake. I then tried wet forming the piece for the holster. I didn't work it enough and didn't like the result, so I ended up reforming it a second time and liked the results much better. I worked it with my fingers and a chapstick tube to better form it.. I liked the results I got and then cut the piece to fit. Then stitched the pieces. I did some searching and found some T nuts at Lowe's. Got the smallest, shortest I could find there, then matching screws, and washers ($3 total). I found some decent snaps in the sewing section at Wal-Mart and picked them up ($3.50) to use in making the belt snaps. I played with placement and layout and ended up getting them mounted. Tried the holster out and like it. Will probably redo one of the belt straps. The one mounted closest to the formed section needs to be a bit longer. It has to bend out to get under the holster due to the width of the gun in place and I hadn't accounted for that, It was folding the belt I was wearing (only a cloth belt). It works for me and I did much better than I expected for my first time working leather. I'm now thinking of making an OWB holster. I have enough materials so It won't cost me anything. And not too bad for $21 dollars for two holsters. Here's the final product. Any inputs for how to improve will be appreciated.