More Brill style holsters

[Capt3513]

Quite some time ago I posted a photo of some Brillalikes I had made. Since then I've done a lot of reaearch and learned a lot more about them. Some information came from some gun forums (Colt and S&W in particular), some from Google and some from Will ghormley"s Lone Star holster patterns. Those are outstanding and helped with my pattern making as well as picking up some good tips.

This is the latest one (my pattern), with a photo of an original I based it on. It's for a S&W M-69 .44 mag. I had noticed that there were  a few different sized basket stamps on the originals and some were very small. I found a pretty small pre-1963 vintage one from Professional Leather Carvers and wanted to try it out, so I went with this snubby for the test. Using one that small was a challenge. I'm glad I didn't try a 7 1/2 SAA first.

Most revolver Brills had the trigger above the scabbard, except for snubbies. They had the trigger guards covered like on the semi-autos and often had the strap added as well. Some were over the hammers and some over the trigger guards from what I've found. It doesn't hinder the draw to sweep it off in the draw srtoke, either.

This is the welt stack. 2 1/2 welts and it butts up against the frame for retention. 

This one is made using the Lone Star pattern. The welt stack gives good retention  without needing the safety strap.

This one is also a Lone Star pattern. One of our Deputies wanted a roughout version (to better match his nylon belt). There's a thunb break on the end of this safety strap and front part swings 180 degrees down and out of the way when the break is unsnapped. There is good retention from the welt against the frame, too.

Thanks for looking. Sorry about the lack of clarity, I took the photos with my phone and they lost detail in the resizing (old guy, computer illiterate...)

[chuck123wapati]

21 minutes ago, Capt3513 said:

Quite some time ago I posted a photo of some Brillalikes I had made. Since then I've done a lot of reaearch and learned a lot more about them. Some information came from some gun forums (Colt and S&W in particular), some from Google and some from Will ghormley"s Lone Star holster patterns. Those are outstanding and helped with my pattern making as well as picking up some good tips.

This is the latest one (my pattern), with a photo of an original I based it on. It's for a S&W M-69 .44 mag. I had noticed that there were  a few different sized basket stamps on the originals and some were very small. I found a pretty small pre-1963 vintage one from Professional Leather Carvers and wanted to try it out, so I went with this snubby for the test. Using one that small was a challenge. I'm glad I didn't try a 7 1/2 SAA first.

Most revolver Brills had the trigger above the scabbard, except for snubbies. They had the trigger guards covered like on the semi-autos and often had the strap added as well. Some were over the hammers and some over the trigger guards from what I've found. It doesn't hinder the draw to sweep it off in the draw srtoke, either.

This is the welt stack. 2 1/2 welts and it butts up against the frame for retention. 

This one is made using the Lone Star pattern. The welt stack gives good retention  without needing the safety strap.

This one is also a Lone Star pattern. One of our Deputies wanted a roughout version (to better match his nylon belt). There's a thunb break on the end of this safety strap and front part swings 180 degrees down and out of the way when the break is unsnapped. There is good retention from the welt against the frame, too.

Thanks for looking. Sorry about the lack of clarity, I took the photos with my phone and they lost detail in the resizing (old guy, computer illiterate...)

those are nice indeed plus that rough out is just bada**!!! 

[tsunkasapa]

Very nice. I like the 1911 ones.

[Hags]

Very nice. Although I've always wondered why they felt it necessary to leave the trigger exposed. 

[JWheeler331]

The Brill holster is one of my favorite holsters to look at. Such pretty holsters and neat in design. I have not yet made one but will get around to it one day. Thanks for sharing your work. 

[faraim]

To attempt to answer Hags question, I believe back in the day, early 1900s, the practice was to be ready to fire as soon as the gun cleared leather. With a double action revolver the shooter would begin pulling the trigger as the revolver was brought up to the target. Revolvers and even 1911s had their trigger guards cut away for speed of access. It was a different world and placing your finger on the trigger as soon as possible was considered important.

[Bert03241]

Nice work