TexasGeezer

Brought a new Ruger LC9 home from last week's gun show and needed a holster so threw this one together. I like to carry crossdraw and this one works both cross and strong side carry. The leather is not the best quality and I was not able to get as much detail in the boneing, but the gun fits tightly and serves my needs using leftover material so cost me nothing but time.

See http://www.comp-tac.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21 Perhaps a bit on the pricy side, but maybe it is what you are looking for. I have one of their holsters - good product and quick service on orders.

Thank you! Jim, I vacillated over your question awhile before I made my first and now this holster. All of the "commercial" snap on type holsters I've seen have the straps as you suggested. My rational for making it as you see was that: 1. I think it looks better with the straps pointing down. 2. Seems like, over time, with the straps pointing up, they might tend to pull away from the body and sort of protrude out. 3. I wear my belts pretty snug and, should a snap open, the strap would have to pull away behind the belt, with the snap tending to hang up on the edge of the belt. 4. I have to "suck it in" a bit to remove the holster while wearing it, so I don't think it could pull loose very easily. 5. The P3At is a very light "pocket pistol" so doesn't really add much weight to the holster and the fit, while firm, is not tight enough to move the holster when I draw the pistol. 6. I did pose the question on this forum and a professional holster maker answered, voicing about the same reasoning you did, fearing that if the straps were like I made them, the holster could come along with the gun in your hand during a draw. Bottom line --- After considering all of the above, I just decided to go with it as shown. L'Bum, The leather mic's out at just a hair under 0.1", so that makes it about a 6 to 7 oz leather, based on what I could find out on the Internet, comparing thickness to weight of leather. The guy at Tandy sold the skin to me as "5 to 8 oz", which I guess is about right. As I said above, the P3AT is a small, light pistol, @ about 7.2 oz empty and maybe 12 oz max loaded, so this weight leather works well. I suspect it may be to thin for a larger pistol, although it does form nicely. I'll probably try to make a similar holster for my S&W M&P 9mm compact, which weighs 24.6 oz empty and probably around 35 oz loaded, so it's about 3 X heavier than the M&P. I'm thinking about perhaps using a heavier leather for the back piece and some of the 6 oz for the front.

Decided to make a combination crossdraw holster and mag carrier for my Kel-Tec P3AT Seems to ride fairly well, but next time I need to raise the loops and reduce the cant a bit so the gun rides lower.

Thank you, but no, I just made this one for myself. I'm not a custom maker, just decided to try making one in my garage, using a few basic tools from Tandy. My next effort is a crossdraw for the P3AT

Mainly by reading a lot of postings on this and other leather working forums. This post is a good place to start, but there is good information in a lot of individual postings by various people. Just read everything that you can find about the type of project you want to start with, then press on with confidence! :biggrin: I learn most new skills by simply deciding that I want to accomplish something. I know that either someone else has done it before and I'm just as capable as they are, just not as experienced --- yet, or knowing that I will somehow figure out the individual steps when I need to - and it all works out in the end. My first step in the "learning something new process" is browsing the Internet to learn how to do it and seeing how someone else may have already solved a particular part of the project. If I try something new and it does not work out perfectly, that's not failure, it's learning. I'll be better next time! My wife has a philosophy which I've adopted--- "You have to believe it to see it!"

Thank you for the kind words. Yes, it is my first attempt at making a holster, or any other leatherworking project, for that matter. I'm reasonably satisfied with the outcome - learned a lot and will probably try to make a better version and some holsters for some of my larger pistols in the near future. Thanks to all the forum members for all the great advice posted here.

Based on what I learned reading this forum and several others, I tried my hand at making a wet formed holster for my Kel-Tec P3AT. A lot left to learn, so any comments would be appreciated.