Dorado

I always forget about Etsy. I'll take a look

Been a while since I've been here. Got a question. My brother is in need of patterns for Chelsea men's boots. He's not able to get any himself and I'm drawing a blank. Can anyone help us?

I get lots of people trying to sell me stuff I don't want or need for much more than I'm willing to pay. I've read Jim's tutorial several times. I've also made a set of those holsters and have used them successfully in several SASS matches. I really like how mine came out. But now that I know I can make something that's good and works well, I find myself wanting to try more and different things. I've been playing with my WWII 1911 shoulder holster and I think I can copy that and add a Slim Jim holster to it in a more vertical position then add a small tab with a D-ring on it to attach a waist belt on back and have a small buckle on the front for adjustment, or even just attach it to the left side of my gun belt and save me the trouble of making a waist belt.

Well, what I was wondering is. To me the holster itself looks similar to the California Slim Jim holster pattern found at the top of this forum, just modified with an outcropping to attach the shoulder harness in three places. At the top, front and back. Could I simply modify that pattern to add the straps? Texas Jack, I think this is the holster you were thinking of. Like I said the holsters themselves look like Slim Jims. It shouldn't be that difficult to modify the pattern to accept shoulder straps. Is there anything I'm missing in my thought process? Or at least something I should know before I start?

I'm trying to find a pattern for a Huckleberry rig. What I'm talking about is the shoulder holster that Val Kilmer wore in Tombstone. The one in question is, I'm no good at making patterns. I've tried several times but I just can't seem to get one that'll work. On top of that I don't know how to measure for the shoulder straps. What I'm wanting to make is a shoulder holster similar to the Huckleberry rig, that'll fit a Colt SAA with a 4 3/4" barrel. I'd also like to add a holster for a Bond Derringer on the right strap at the belt line. This will be for CAS. I have a double strong side rig, and a cross draw rig with a strong side holster as well. I'd like to try this. I think it's similar to the WWII shoulder holster for 1911 but I'm not sure. I have one, I could probably use it as a pattern for the shoulder rig and modify a slim jim holster to make the actual holster but I'm not sure if that'll work. What do y'all think?

The edges are beveled. I don't have much of a beveler but it is just enough to make it comfortable to wear. I've been wearing it with my finished belt for the past week. I do need an edge slicker though. I've been using Gum Tragacanth and the handle of my mallet. Works well enough, but I'd like to get something I can chuck into my drill press. I've read somewhere that Beeswax gives a nice clean edge. I'd like to try that sometime and see how that turns out. I do have a bit of a problem getting to my gun while seated with this holster but it's doable. It's almost easier for me to just put the gun in my center console while driving and holster it when I get out. Since I'm in Texas I do have legal protection if anyone sees me holster it. Then again, where I live, no one cares.

That's what I get for not double checking my thread supplies. I've ordered some more thread as well as a belt buckle. Once I get the buckle in I'll mark the center hole and punch out from there. Luckily I have a good oval punch. I got it when I made my CAS rig and it fits me near perfectly. I like to space my holes a bit differently. Instead of 1" apart I go with 3/4". Not much change but it allows me some finer adjustments according to what I'm wearing.

I've tried that. I always end up making it too tight. Once I get better at making standard patterns I'll give making my own pattern a shot again. I'm still not good enough in basic leatherworking to do more advanced things. I'll get to where I can make any design holster for whatever gun I want, eventually. I just need more practice.

Yeah...sorry I misread what you said. I'm putting together a belt right now. According to my caliper it says I'm about .227 or so depending on where on the belt I'm measuring. It's going to be a 1 1/2" belt or just under as I had 1 1/2" strips and they've been sanded down a little bit. Not much though. It is definitely the thickest belt I've ever had and the strongest built, but it'll last and will look good enough for casual wear which is what I'm after. I'm matching it to my holsters so no dye, a light coat of neatsfoot oil and sealed generously with SnoSeal. That should allow it to keep it's flexibility and still not be damaged by sweat. I've run into a problem though. I ran out of thread. I thought I had two rolls of the brown thread but it turns out I only had one. I used it up now I'm stuck until I can get some more ordered in. I may have to wait a week or so. As far as length, I wrapped the belt around me and gave myself 6" for overhang. I'll wait until I have the buckle before I punch the holes. I can still shorten the belt as needed once I have the buckle so that I have the right length. Once this is done I think I'll try making a shoulder holster rig for CAS. I have a good belt rig. I'm just wanting something different. I'd like to copy the rig Doc Holliday had in the movie "Tombstone".

I see. I was thinking of the 1 1/4" as I cut a belt hole a bit on the small side. I can widen it to allow a 1 1/2" belt. As far as the thickness goes. From what I gather 1/4" or a bit thicker would be best?

Thanks guys. I'm getting better with stitching. I'm going to invest in a stitching pony before I start my next project. I think that'd help with my stitching. Also, I could use a better groover. I slipped in a couple of places but I was able to compensate and hide most of that. I do have a couple of spots that I don't like. I would have finished the edges and still might, except that I got something on my edger and it leaves some weird colors behind. I'll get me a new one when I get a stitching pony and I'll see if I can't fully finish out the edges. As far as functionality goes. I wore these for the second half of the day yesterday and other than the weight I could hardly feel that they were there. Very comfortable and I was able to get in and out of my truck easily and without hanging on anything. I can still access my gun while seated if I need too. I think I'll be using this one for a while. I need a better belt though which will be my next project. I'll start on that this next month. I'm thinking that I'll carry the look of the holster over to the belt. I'm thinking that two layers of 6/7oz leather at 1 1/4" wide should do I could probably go to 1 3/8" without problem. I don't really like wide belts. Would 1 1/4" be wide enough for a gun belt?

Here's what I ended up with. When I have a pattern to follow I'm fairly quick and I don't think I do a half bad job. The color is simply neatsfoot oil and finished with SnoSeal. I wanted to avoid dyes as there's always the risk of bleeding. I used 8/9oz veg tan leather and brown Ritza (sp?) tiger thread. For sewing I first punched the holes with a diamond punch awl and followed that up with a stitching awl. I ended up breaking the needle on the sewing awl and had to switch to a saddle stitch and finished by hand. The leather I used had some of what you'd consider flaws but I though added a lot of character included the stripes on the holster and the spots on the mag holder. I rather like the rough finish on the edges and the character marks on them. I still need to get better at stitching. I know I'd be better if I had a stitching horse to hold my project while I sew. It's kinda hard to hold the leather with one hand and stitch with the other. The sewing awl made it quite a bit easier but I'd still like a stitching horse. I don't suppose any of you have one that you could spare for a poor guy just starting out do you? I'd probably ditch the sewing awl and switch to saddle stitching full time if I had one. I like the looks of saddle stitch much more that what the sewing awl gives me. So, what do y'all think? Did I do alright. It is comfortable to wear and holds my pistol nice and close to the body. Even with just a polo style shirt over it, it disappears. I hardly notice that it's there while driving.

Those look great Greg. I'm just not skilled enough to make my own pattern off of a picture just yet. This is really my second holster to make and my fifth leather project. I still need a pattern to follow. I'll invest in some in the future as my skills progress. For now the ones that JLS provided are more than enough for me. Honestly their great. Simple enough to follow and easy enough to modify to fit my needs. I already got the holster made and I took it for a test run yesterday. Worked great and was extremely comfortable. I really like how it came out. Right now I'm working on a mag holder that will hold two magazines. I've got it stitched and I'm wet forming. I'm waiting for it to dry at the moment. Once it's done I'll take post some pictures for y'all to see. I'm a bit miffed though. I broke my awl. I wasn't paying attention and torqued it wrong. Before I realized it the blade snapped. I need to go find me a new one.

I was meaning in personal opinion. You'll have proponents of both. It's down to personal taste and what the user perceives as better. Of course there'll be differences in the way they feel, and the way they'll operate. It's a matter of what works for the person, how they're carrying, what they're carrying, how they dress and various other variables. It's all subjective.

I've heard that where the backing and the front meet makes a difference in shoulder holsters. 50/50 being more desirable. But I see little advantage to one or the other for an OWB holster in actual use. I could see that the left one would be more comfortable and possibly less likely to collapse when empty. The right one could possibly hold it tighter to the body by making the front slightly smaller. Still, I think it's six of one, and half-dozen of the other.

I had to set my project aside for a while as things got a bit busy. I came back to it yesterday. It looks like it's been chewed on. I must have dropped something on it or hit it with something heavy. I don't remember. It's got a big gash across the middle. I'll have to start over. As much as I like your design Dwight, I don't have the skills necessary to make it at the moment. I need more practice before I attempt it again. Instead I think I'll go with JLS's OWB Pancake design. It's similar to what you did and should give me the experience I'll need to make your design. I can always use a good holster anyways.

Well...yeah. I know you're right on that. It's just not as good as what I can do is the problem. I made a stupid mistake and now that's eating at me.

Dwight, I've been working on mine using some left over leather from my gunbelt. I'm doing the best I can but it's not near as pretty as what I'd hoped it'd be. I didn't quite have enough leather for the main body and I had to cut out a bad section of leather after I had glued it. I got turned around and accidentally glued the bad spot on. So one side where the belt loops will go is thinner than the other. I'm going to start stitching it up soon and I'll use it until I get enough material to remake it properly. I've never had to reverse engineer something before. It was kinda fun but my results are gonna be ugly.

Thanks Dwight, I'm hoping to get started on mine sometime soon. I have a couple of other things demanding my attention at the moment.

As much as I hate to. Dwight, I think I'm going to copy your cactus design. I'll modify it a bit to make it my own. I'll try to taper the bottom a bit but leave it more open. I'll be using my 8/9 oz leather. I may have enough to do the entire thing.

Oh, I know the shoulder holster is impracticable. I more or less wanted to do it for shits and giggles. I do want one like the WWII issued shoulder holster. I have the Issued belt holster, I'd like to also have the shoulder model as well. I'm getting the materials ready to do one similar to your Cactus design. I have some 8/9oz leather handy and I should have enough for one. Double layer on the inside and single on the outside that rides against the pants. I've never wet molded something with detail like that. How would you suggest I go about that? Do I cut a rough pattern first then mold with it clamped to a board? Or should I mold first, sew, then cut off excess?

Dwight, I like that Cactus design. I'd hate to just copy your design though. However that is along the lines of what I was thinking of for IWB carry. It would be a problem sitting though. That's why I was looking at multiple options. If I'm going to be seated a lot then I'd prefer the shoulder holster, if I'm going to be up and moving then the IWB. Wear according to what I'd be doing. What I was thinking on the shoulder holster was something like the Galco Miami Classic with a strap to connect the holster to the mag pouches behind my back. That way if I do need to draw it'd be held in place and not pull forward. It'd also help if I bent over to keep it from rotating out. I would not attach it to my pants. I'd have three pockets, Two for spare mags and one for a flashlight as I'm always finding myself needing a flashlight. Even a small one would work.

I've gotten myself a 1911a1 government. It's a Rock Island Armory GI model. I really like it and would like to start carrying it as my concealed carry gun. Problem is, I don't have a good holster so I'm looking at making one. I was wondering if y'all have a design that seems to work for you. I'm looking at a few options: IWB Kidney carry. Shoulder Appendix carry. I currently use a smart carry holster with my Springfield XD40 service model. It works fine for that but the hammer on the 1911 digs into me so I'm leaning more towards kidney carry and the shoulder holster. I do want a shoulder anyways just for fun, but I'd like something easily concealable. What are y'all's opinions?

What I was thinking of was a western style of a Yaqui Slide. Basically a California Slim Jim with less of an entrance lip, and only covering to just past where the barrel meets the frame. I would have most of the trigger guard covered. I'd feel better having the trigger covered somewhat. Really I was just wondering how much I could cut away and still have a functional holster. My pistols are SAA's with the 4 3/4" barrels. Crossdraw on left. Straight draw on right. I would be making it 2 ply. The outer would be an 8/9oz veg tan with an inner liner of 5/6oz. I would have rough sides glued together and would wet form to the revolver. I am also considering adding a third rawhide ply between the veg tan leather plies. It would be stiff as hell but should hold fairly securely wouldn't it? I also will have hammer loops to keep the guns from falling out while walking around. I'm not building for speed. I just want something different from what I see every one else using. Then again, there's probably a reason for that.

Back in March I made a gunbelt for CAS. It has worked out greatly. However I'm finding that the holsters themselves are very long. I used the pattern posted here :I like it and I'll continue using them but I was wondering if I could possibly shorten them to only cover the cylinder and frame and not the entire gun. That's the only part that's holding the guns in. I was thinking that I could trim the top lip off flat just even with the middle of the trigger guard and cut the bottom just past the cylinder leaving the barrel exposed. This will only be used for CAS so I don't need a lot of protection, and I was thinking that it would make the holsters more comfortable to wear without all that extra length. I'll be making a new belt and holsters so that I can play around with the design. I have enough excess 8/9 oz leather to potentially make four cut down holsters. Basically I'm wondering if I can shorten the design and still be safe.