dbusarow

BobH, I suggest you start out making a simple belt holster. The old cowboy style where a flap from the body folds over to make the belt loop is the easiest. One piece of leather, two seams to sew. Shoulder holsters pretty much require a thumb break. That and the strap attachements will be a bit much for a starter project. Once you work out the actual construction process on a simple holster you can move on. Also, let us know make and model on the guns just in case there is some special consideration that the model requires. Dan

Thank you Dave! Very nice. Dan

Too bad all they have is the Glock 17. But I put one on order. Can't beat that price. Dan

The PM9 is the tiny gun. The CW9 and P9 are Kahr's standard, small guns. Rings doesn not appear to make one. I'd use it as an excuse to buy a CW9. The CW9 I bought a while back has not replaced the Glock 19 as my EDC, but I find myself wearing it more and more. I always carry a spare mag with the Kahr, not so often with the Glock. Dan

I know it has been covered elsewhere many times. But it's easier to answer than search for the threads. When hand sewing I use #1 harness needles with 4 cord linen. I'm sure they will work with 5 cord too. It is soooo much easier with these small needles than those huge ones from Tandy. Try it, it's night and day. http://www.csosborne.com/no517.htm Dan

I agree with rayban. My first W&C order was for tooling since that is what they showed for holsters on their website. Next order I tried some skirting since I wasn't crazy about how pale the tooling leather was. I've never ordered tooling again, skirting all the way. Dan

I apply Tan Kote with a damp sponge. No streaks. Wet the sponge, squeeze out all the water you can, then apply Tan Kote to sponge. I apply with a circular motion. Works great for me and I prefer the matte finish of Tan Kote to the gloss of resolene. Dan

If you look closely in the lower right hand side of the hood you can see lines running both directions, roughly 60 degrees apart. I think those are tooling marks. Dan

I've purchased a couple from Boise Foundry, go to http://www.boisefoundry.com/saddlecatalog.htm for a catalog of all the different styles. Nice folks to work with. I did NOT install mine the correct way, I just routed out the swells a bit, screwed the horn in place and then wrapped it in leather. It worked for me since I was just adding them to my wifes endurance saddles that she had ordered without horns. If you want to do it right you may be better off buying a tree. Here's the steps from Rod and Denise Nikkel's website. That's the Denise who answered you earlier. http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/index.php/building-a-saddle-tree/building-a-metal-horn-fork/ and http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/index.php/building-a-saddle-tree/rawhiding-a-saddle-tree/ So retrofitting a horn properly is fairly involved. But, as I have proven myself, simply screwing the horn to the tree and covering it works too. Dan.

You come up with the coolest designs KT Dan

Tinneal, I agree with dirtclod. You will be able to get close without the rifle but pictures and measurments will only go so far. I've used my own rifle, of the same make and model as the customers, as a pattern when building scabbards. Even that is risky though. Just the difference in scope brands and slings will make a difference in the fit. Dan

I've made saddle bags with 4/5oz veg tan gussets. Accordian gussets. The explanation in the Stohlman book does not make it easy, but it does make it straightforward. You wet form, use a hammer to get the corners flat and then tack the whole thing in place until it dries. When done you have a very impressive bag. I've used the same technique for a bag similar to the OPs, though just two side panels and 1 gusset. It was easier than the accordian gussets. Dan

The only part that needs to get good and wet is the edge where the gusset is glued to the main side panel. And the little bit where you fold the gusset over. The main part of the gusset, the part that you want to look nice, can stay as dry as you can keep it. I guess I'd worry a little about water stains if I only wet part of it but probably just a quick splash vs soaking would do for the middle. Dan

Get the gusset wet and mold it to the shape it needs. Hold it in place with clips of some sort and let dry. Once dry you should have no problem. If you'd like a really detailed explanation with pictures get the book/pattern pack, Custom Made Saddlebags by the Stohlmans. Dan

BearMan, campchair's the builder. I was just stating that I need them for 1 1/2" belts and how wide I think the buckle should be. Dan

I do all 1 1/2" 1/8" on each side for stitching seems like it might be a little tight. I'd be more comfortable with about 3/16 on each side. Which would make the buckle 1 1/8" I'm just guessing though. Any of you who have done it and want to comment, please correct me! Dan

Another 10 here. Stainless. You may have found a new sideline Dan

I want to echo TwinOaks. Save up and buy the biggest you can. I originally thought I could get by with a GA5. Then decided to go with a Artisan 3000/Cobra Class 3. Talking with Steve at Cobra I decided that whether I needed the extra throat or not the extra accessories paid for the Class 4. So I bought a Cobra Class 4. Guess what. I was trying to exceed ITS capabilities within a couple of months. And there have been times I wished I had the 25" throat. This is just doing holsters, rifle scabbards and the occasional piece of horse tack. You don't know what you really need until you start abusing some poor piece of equipment! Dan

I can only speak about the Cobra. If you use the feed dog it ships with, it is smooth and will not mark the leather. Mine is a Class 4 and it came with extras including a blanket set dog with aggressive teeth. If you use that you will mark the leather but it will be your own fault, not Cobra's. Dan

No tutorial that I know of. If it's any consolation it took me quite a while to get the tension figured out too. I just thought I was stupid... Pick what you sew the most, e.g. 2 layers of 8/9 veg tan. Work the tension out on those. Steve mentions in his English manual that you need both the top tensioner and the one on the side to be syncronized. I forget the phrase he uses but something about always adjusting both at the same time. Once you get them both in the ball park, and it was just a lot of trial and error for me, stick to that sentence. Adjust them both at the same time. I find that the lower one on the side takes smaller adjustments but if you are tightening, tighten both. If you are loosening, loosen both. You'll eventually get it and once you do even making huge changes in the leather (going to say 3 layers of 16 oz from your 2 layers of 8 oz) only require a little bit of adjusting. To give you a ballpark to start in, mine are showing about 6 threads of the top adjuster's bolt and about 2 threads on the one on the side. Good luck! Dan

Good points Lobo. I think I may start following your example. With loss rates that low self insuring makes a lot of sense. Dan

I just went and looked. In my opinion that's a terrible style for horseback. 1) it hangs too low and will probably cause the gun/holster to hit the cantle. Plus just be in the way in general. 2) you can't slide the holster to a better position, you have to rotate the belt and buckle. As I said before I almost always slide the holster around to the weak side, sort of cross draw, when I'm wearing a western style holster. My 2cents, you can use the holsters from the pattern pack, they look fine. But change the belt to a straight 2 1/2 inch belt (or whatever size the pattern says, just big) without the holster slots. Just make sure the loop on the back of the holster is big enough to go over your belt. Having the holster up higher and being able to slide it around to find a comfortabe spot is important for a working rig. If the guys are just riding horseback in parades and such it won't matter, the buscadero will work fine and look like a TV cowboys. Dan

To answer the question you pose, if the choice is between those two, the regular gun belt. The buscadero sits too low. And with that regular gun belt you also want to slide your right handed holster over to the left side (for a right hander). It's more comfotable than wearing it strong side. You didn't ask this, but more often than not, what I actually wear while on horsback is more along the lines of katsass description. A 1.5" belt made of 2 layers of 6/7 veg tan with a pancake holster. I disagree with him on the retention strap. It's no more necessary horse back than it is in a car or truck. A good pancake should hold the gun in place untill you want it to come out. And I've confirmed this theory with some painful testing Dan

Go to books.google.com and search for harness repairing louis roehl First non-ad link is a free ebook. Well worth the download! Dan