chiefjason

It's become my trademark at this point. First one was a mistake, that I liked a lot. The only color I dye solid is black. But then again, most folks see pics and know what's coming.

Lol. After making rigs for G19's and full size 1911's, I chuckle when dealing with the little guns. Cute is a good word for them.

My LGS is going out of business and I got a deal I could not pass up on a Sig P238 Scorpion. Took it out last weekend and broke it in. I absolutely love this little pistol! Well, with a new carry gun I need some new gear. So I worked these in with some orders I was working on. Gratuitous pistol pic. First, a pocket set. I plan on carrying this in my back, right pocket occasionally. So this looks a bit different than most pocket holsters. The hook is on the slide side so it will catch on the way out. Borrowed the design idea from Dwight and wrapped it from the trigger side. Worked out pretty well. Made it pretty wide on the bottom to stay upright in the wide pockets on my Wranglers. Made a sheath for the extra mag to keep the grime out of it too. Then to the OWB Avenger. I figured a small gun needed to take up less real estate on the belt. And I have been wanting to do the brown with Ostrich for a while but it was a bit overkill for the Glock. Works well with the Scorpion though. I'm very happy with how this came out. Got the back belt slot a bit too close and it's tight enough I don't even need the trailing belt loop. Not a lot of real estate back there and I cut things a bit too close. But it should break in a bit soon enough. Wearing it now BTW. Ahhh, the smell of a new gun and new leather!

Another way to think about it is that retention means that there is less volume in the holster initial than that of the gun. You want to be putting a slightly larger object into a slightly smaller space. At that point friction takes over and retains the gun,some of the detailed boning can add to that friction, but most of it should come from a good slightly tight fit. To do that you have to get those stitches in close or the holster will open up too much. It will always open up some, just the nature of leather breaking in, but if the stitch line is too wide it will open up out to the widest point where it is not stitched/glued.

Retention is not about molding behind the cylinder. Retention is about building a suitably tight holster. And that goes back to getting the stitch lines in tight, and molded to all the right curves. That said, I find revolvers to have slightly less retention than semis. Mainly because I do all flat back holsters and the revolver simply is not flat. Not that it has no retention, just less retention because the main contact on the back side is just the cylinder. If you make a more standard style holster, then there is probably equal contact front and back. I've had no complaints doing them flat on the back though. This is 4.5 lbs of S&W 500 that had to be pulled out. I put the strap on it because he mentioned riding 4 wheelers with it, but it was plenty snug.

That WA law is absurd. I heard where one of the gun rights organizations was going to rally and have everyone passing their guns around and doing a show and tell to demonstrate the absurdity of it. Here in NC, I have a CCP so no worries on my end. Heck, I can show you that and just buy the pistol from you if I wanted too. Makes things easy.

Got my 3 today. Thanks again Jeff. That was quick. Now to put them to work.

MorningStarL, I generally tinker with it till I get it where I want it. If it's consistent it works, even if it's not absolutely square. Main thing is to put any lean into the holster instead of towards the edge. But Dwight has a good idea there. Might try that. I have seen some awls with rounder shafts, but have not picked any up yet.

I lay out my stitch groove on the front. Run my stitch spacer over it to place my holes. Chuck my awl in my floor drill press. Use the press to punch all my holes. Flip the holster over and groove the back where the holes are, connect the dots. I have a wooden table mounted to my regular drill press table. I drilled a hole for the awl to pass through. I also put a piece of stiff cardboard between the leather and the wood table. Otherwise the wood can mark the leather. I pre punch all my holes.

I prefer the liquid. FYI, you will have to cut the top off that bottle and put it in another one so you can use a dauber to apply it. Or if you are cheap, get the bar of saddle soap, shave if finely, mix it with very hot water and you have liquid saddle soap. I've moved completely to liquid saddle soap and an oil/wax treatment at the end to fill in any small gaps. I will not be going back.

Be really careful with the switch on the pro tech. It's a poor design and flimsy from a holster makers standpoint. I recently made an IWB hybrid for one. I had to block out a channel just for the switch so it would not trigger it or grab and break it. Another issue is you end up with a very open end around the trigger. You have to leave a channel the length of the holster for the light to travel. So keep that in mind too. I hate tac lights. But this guy was local so I had access to the gun/light combo and did a lot of blocking out and tweaking. He was happy.

Yes, I have tried to do it. I'll risk the embarrassment to save you some. If you use a silicon that is thin to make the outside mold, it will (and I mean IT WILL) get into every crack, crevice, and hole in the gun. I tried it with a Walther P22 that I had JUST BOUGHT. I did not get to shoot the gun for over a year. I made a lot of holsters with it, but it was completely locked up from the inside where the silicon had penetrated the gun. I had considered laying thin plastic wrap over it but was worried about the extra width. And I assumed the liquid would be thicker. Nope. There's gotta be a way, but the kits they sell at Hobby Lobby is not it. BTW, I got an OK mold out of the deal but not good enough to use. I should probably re cast it and try for a good one. The silicon outer mold came out fantastic.

I had one come out similar a while back. But I kind of mottle my browns anyway, I like the extra character of it. But every little nick, bug bite, weird spot, and dimple took the dye darker. Looked freckled. It was for a buddy so I just walked it over to his place. He loved it. lol

Repeat after me, "Sorry don't have anything to mold that one with." Had one come up on a local board. I commented in the thread. Then a couple folks told him to go with me. Then I saw the list of things he wanted and quickly backed away from the post. lol The problem with someone that knows exactly what they want is that it's like bomb disposal. Total success or abject failure. I'll do custom stuff, but I'm starting to get a feel for the ones I want to steer clear of too.

I was told with my last order that my supplier was going up. Not HO, so might be safe to expect it all to bump up.

Cheaper to buy the one or two in there I don't have. lol Good deal for someone though. Looks like somebody realized you can't get rich doing this.

I keep an eye out at gun shows and my LGS or local gun boards for used mags. I figure I can sell the used ones better than the plastic ones. Like Lobo said, a lot of similarities in older guns. But it seems the new wonder single stacks all have some kind of odd mag shape to them. Shield and XDs come to mind off hand. And let me add, if I have to buy a mag, and can't find a used one, I buy a real one. Molds don't include a round in them, they are empty. I figure I'm better off buying a new mag and loading it. I chalk it up the same was as buying a blue gun. Cost of doing business. I've got a drawer full of mags.

Petsmart and Petco should have machines that will laser engrave them. My dog has one. I riveted it to the collar I made him. Might be easier to just figure in the price of buying one if you have a store close by. Not sure what material they use for the tags, but ours have held up well. Sometimes it's good to re invent the wheel, sometimes it's not.

FWIW, the Avenger can be re configured into a cross draw. You have to adjust the belt loops. The 1911 grip angle might be a bit easier to deal with too. Seems to offer more room than a lot of other guns.

I've done a few that I really like. The S&W 500 being the best. And a number of them that have driven me nuts. lol I have a crazy idea in my head that involves a cross draw range holster if I can get time to work on it.

I use the shoe rack in my dryer on high for 40 minutes. But I'm doing holsters and I want to stiffen the leather. Fan would help without the heat. I've also used a box with an incandescent bulb in it for heat. Like was said above, if you don't mind the leather stiffening heat is fine. If you don't want to stiffen the leather you will have to stay away from heat.

If it's left hand IWB ignore my advice. If it's right hand clip on OWB, don't expect it to carry very tight to the body. I made one recently and it's sitting on the dresser. I'm back to the paddle holster. Eventually I'll make another one with a plastic paddle. The clip just did not hold well for me OWB. And I second clearing the mag release.

Springfield leather sells single sets too. Keep in mind the caps come in different post lengths and covers. A lot of times I just swap out the cap from a Line 24, they look more generic than the ones I got from Dot. And I got the short ones.

The difference in the real guns is the wall thickness of the barrel. The 9mm has a thicker barrel to work inside the same frame as the .45. FWIW, the 3.3 has been more popular for me. The 4.0 is more hit or miss.

Cut long, glue, trim, sand. Especially handy on welted knife sheaths. The one thing worse than lining up 2 pieces of leather is lining up 3 or 4.