Dwight

Thanks Cattledude . . . It will drop 5 of them under a Sacagawea dollar coin at 100 yds . . . hoping for some coyote action if I can ever get my rifle ready . . . my quad ready . . . and the weather to cooperate here. Seems like one of them wants to argue all the time. May God bless, Dwight

Don't know for sure, Chuck . . . Bassett makes it from Dripping Spring, Tx . . . But I'm not sure about the Garand . . . I think the empty rounds go pretty much straight up . . . the M14 tosses em out the side. My empties all land in a nice little 4 ft circle about 6 ft in front of my shooting stand . . . and 2 ft to the right. My Garand shooting always saw em go up high past my face . . . usually to the right and behind me slightly. My AR's all shoot that way too. But give em a call . . . worst they can say is no. May God bless, Dwight

Got a new 50mm scope . . . had to change the mount . . . new cheek riser. Added the logo from Destroyer Squadron 7 out of San Diego . . . both my Navy ships were part of it . . . May God bless, Dwight

I dye my own leather goods for the same reason cars come off the assembly line in different colors. They are done to order . . . one red, two black, one grey, three blue, etc . . . I can basically dye my leather any color I want (within reason) . . . except white. THAT I do buy . . . white. May God bless, Dwight

I was asked if I could do one . . . fortunately it was a small semi auto . . . with a laser that really looks and acts like it is a piece of the original equipment. All the sides were smooth transitioning from gun to laser . . . no humps . . . no bumps . . . etc. That made just adding an inch or so here . . . another over there . . . round it all off in front . . . etc . . . The trick was making it tight enough to be secure . . . loose enough that it did not cause problems . . . As it turned out . . . I shipped it to the fellow . . . he responded that he was not ready to place the order . . . did not have funds to pay for it as they were going thru a serious couple of problems in their lives . . . and the reason he thought about getting one was for his wife to have with her as her transit to work or back . . . was at zero dark thirty . . . and he was laid up and could not work at the moment. Wound up being a charity job . . . May God bless, Dwight

Now that is a good thing to know . . . thank you. May God bless, Dwight

Take a needle and poke it . . . it's a straight thru hole . . . all you need to do is clean it out. May God bless, Dwight

I've never seen one "in person" . . . but like you . . . have in the movies and television programs. It's a "safety" type . . . supposedly only if you know the secret . . . I wouldn't make one or have one . . . too complicated in my book . . . because like Murphey says . . . "If it can go wrong . . . it will . . . and at the worst possible moment". I couldn't have my holster (or a customer's) failing to open at that critical time. May God bless, Dwight

There is a guy who hits our county fair . . . all his belts are about 50 inches long. He measures you . . . cuts the end off the belt you chose . . . punches 5 holes in it and he's done. They're generic belts . . . all pressed, none stamped . . . but the would-be wranglers lap em up like candy. May God bless, Dwight

Looks like rivets at the top of each strap . . . they should be about 3/8 of an inch . . . making the straps 1/2 inch . . . 3 wide makes the rectangular strap holders 1 1/2 inch wide . . . print a picture . . . keep resizing until you get the rectangles 1 1/2 wide . . . then measure the picture. May God bless, Dwight

Good luck . . . I'm pretty sure I've made my last laser holster. One was enough for me. May God bless, Dwight

OK . . . I'll bite . . . I don't understand what's going on with your post . . . Are you wanting to make it . . . being asked to make it . . . or looking for someone else to make it??? May God bless, Dwight

AND . . . don't forget you got change from 3 20's and a ten . . . $69.95 A nickel ain't much . . . but it was change. May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . gifts are great . . . what you might do is send them a very pretty envelope . . . inside is a well designed and ornate "gift certificate" for a belt from your shop. Then either send them this picture . . . or at least these directions . . . so far I have never . . . NEVER . . . struck out using this system. The belt just plain fits. They use THEIR belt that they use . . . regardless of any other factors. You might also send in the gift certificate . . . some sample designs . . . so they can be a part of the decision making process. I know there are probably designs you COULD make that I would not wear to a cat fight . . . just depending on taste. Involve them . . . and the gift will be received even better as there was "anticipation" built in to the gift itself. May God bless, Dwight

This is the latest one I've done . . . 1917 S&W .45 DA revolver. Turn it upside down . . . it won't fall out . . . can be shaken out . . . but ya gotta work on it. May God bless, Dwight

If you take beeswax (the real stuff) and neatsfoot oil . . . NOT the compound . . . mix just a tad heavier than 1 to 1 . . . more oil . . . heat it in a jar until it melts . . . pour it into muffin pans . . . you get a soft paste that rubs in easily . . . hit it with a hair dryer or heat gun . . . melts the oil into the pores . . . wax stays on the surface . . . you get a really good piece of leather that with a little bending and flexing about 24 hours later . . . will become relatively soft . . . and the oil will not rub off on other clothing, furniture, etc. And you can add several treatments if the first does not do what you want. May God bless, Dwight

From the voice of experience . . . paddle holsters are good for S&W shields . . . but a paddle holster for a 1911 is not really a good idea. My first CCW holster was exactly that . . . from a respected holster maker . . . but just turned out to be not a good investment. The weight of that size pistol makes it flop around . . . it sits so far out you need a winter coat to disquise the fact that you are wearing it . . . and especially with the 1911, the mag release is prone to being pushed at the wrong time. Just a few notes from "been there . . . done that" May God bless, Dwight

Sure fooled me all to pieces . . . that being the case . . . the holes had to be cut first . . . at least that is how I would do it. That is one pretty holster . . . are you going to copy it or make one similar?? May God bless, Dwight

What you are missing here is that the front is not cut to make a loop. Another piece of leather is actually added on this holster to give the appearance of a Mexican loop holster . . . but it is of the John Bianchi style . . . two pieces of leather bonded (glued) together make the body of the holster . . . a third piece is used to go around the holster as a "loop". That is my favorite western holster to make . . . May God bless, Dwight

Rob . . . not sure what kind of attachment you made here . . . but they would not open . . . got some goofy "Want to add this to messenger" page from some google or MS page. Try putting a *.jpg or *.bmp so the rest of us can see them. But if I understand your question: yes glue it all together first . . . make the holster . . . then do the cutting. Otherwise you have to fiddle with the edges . . . never really getting them a good as if they are cut together at the same time . . . glued together. May God bless, Dwight

Ashley55, . . . quick . . . don't wait . . . don't slow down . . . go buy yourself some reducer. Mix that dye 50/50 with the reducer . . . and your buffing problems will take a serious nose dive. Yes, hard buffing even after reducing . . . will get "some" rub off . . . but not very much at all. When you see a good shine on your project . . . quit buffing and get to the Resolene . . . and . . . yes . . . reduce it the same way . . . 50/50 . . . but use water. You should really like the results better with two small caveats: Depending on how dark you want that saddle tan . . . you may have to dye it a second time. I only dip dye . . . no brushing or patches . . . and I get a nice saddle tan color. If you are using USMC black . . . find a hole to bury that stuff in . . . you can buff seriously with that . . . and it'll still kick out pigment. May God bless, Dwight

The only caveat with Weldwood . . . on the hair side (slick side) you need to wire brush it a bit to break up that slick layer. Once you have done that . . . if you put on the light first coat . . . let it COMPLETELY DRY then a follow up light coat . . . let it dry and then put the two together . . . then lay a small weight on your project for a couple hours . . . yeah . . . you'll cut it apart or you won't get it apart. I had a holster I was doing several years ago . . . piece got on wrong . . . pulled it apart with pliers and some hard grunts . . . literally pulled off the lowest layer of the leather fibers. BUT . . . I was able to salvage the project . . . just re-glued it. May God bless, Dwight

If you lived closer I'd drive over and make you a deal for them. Punch a hole the diameter of the shaft . . . and from that hole . . . go the width of the head with a slot. When you use these . . . one piece has the slot going to the left . . . the other to the right . . . and they'll work. I would use them on suspenders . . . military straps . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Double Daddy . . . and it is comfortable . . . more so than any other one I've ever worn. I almost didn't do the serpentine . . . there is only one place in the whole movie that I could see that . . . and it was a fluke that I even found it. Then I pondered if they even used that kind of stamp . . . back in 1944 / 1945 . . . but went with "that was the original" so I did it. May God bless, Dwight

Sometimes making a leather project . . . can be tiring if not just plain aggravating. Got a request some time back for a shoulder holster like Brad Pitt wore in Fury. Had a time getting the pattern right . . . but finally did. Finished it yesterday . . . put it together today and put it on . . . dang I like this thing. But we all have to have something to keep us covid busy. May God bless, Dwight (pictures posted in the gallery)