JWheeler331 Report post Posted August 23, 2023 (edited) For the last few months I have been reading lots of writings by men like Elmer Keith & Skeeter Skelton. Normally I am a 45 Colt guy. It's prob. my favorite overall caliber. That said, after reading the above mentioned I had started to see how good a 44 Special could be and really started wanting one. Took me a couple months of looking nearly every day but I finally found the revolver I was after. I was looking for a Lipsey's Exclusive Ruger Flattop Bisley Blackhawk with a 5.5" barrel in 44 special. I am happy to say that it arrived I am very happy to have it. While waiting on the components to arrive to load for a new caliber such as brass, dies, bullets etc I decided that of course it needed to have a new holster made for it. I decided on a cross draw holster that hopefully Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton would be proud of. I know Keith liked a Lawrence 120 so I loosely modeled this one after one of those but with a few changes/flairs of my own. I made this cross draw holster with a top strap, basketweave pattern, Ruger logo and borderstamp. I picked saddle tan for the color with some antique paste in the stampings. I lined the holster in suede and finished it with a coat of tan kote and then Fiebings Saddle Lac Here is what I come up with. Photo of the Revolver itself. Edited August 23, 2023 by JWheeler331 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigBore Report post Posted August 23, 2023 Stunning work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted August 23, 2023 1 minute ago, BigBore said: Stunning work! Thanks BigBore. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted August 23, 2023 beautiful!! both the gun and the leather. i 'm a Keith fan too, love his 44 special hot wadcutter loads in my 44 mag Anaconda makes for one sweet shooting gun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrampaJoel Report post Posted August 23, 2023 THE MOST EXCELLENT JOB!! Of a holster, I have seen in a long long time! great going! Joel Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted August 23, 2023 1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said: beautiful!! both the gun and the leather. i 'm a Keith fan too, love his 44 special hot wadcutter loads in my 44 mag Anaconda makes for one sweet shooting gun. Thank you. Yeah, those are nice shooting for sure. I haven't shot any in the Anaconda yet but have with the Super Blackhawk. 1 hour ago, GrampaJoel said: THE MOST EXCELLENT JOB!! Of a holster, I have seen in a long long time! great going! Joel Well th ank you very much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted August 23, 2023 Very nicely done. Probably look even better when it's been worn a bit, it should age nicely. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bladegrinder Report post Posted August 23, 2023 That's a beautiful holster! nice iron too, I'm a big fan of Ruger's. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hags Report post Posted August 24, 2023 Very nice J. Very nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted August 24, 2023 19 hours ago, dikman said: Very nicely done. Probably look even better when it's been worn a bit, it should age nicely. Thanks. I think it will age nicely once in the field. 18 hours ago, bladegrinder said: That's a beautiful holster! nice iron too, I'm a big fan of Ruger's. Thank you. I am a Ruger fan as well. 16 hours ago, Hags said: Very nice J. Very nice. Thanks Hags Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akguy59 Report post Posted August 26, 2023 That is a great looking holster. Really suits that Bisley well. Curious though, where did you find that Ruger logo stamp? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littlef Report post Posted August 26, 2023 That's a good looking holster! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted August 28, 2023 On 8/26/2023 at 8:10 AM, akguy59 said: That is a great looking holster. Really suits that Bisley well. Curious though, where did you find that Ruger logo stamp? Thank you. A friend of mine made the stamp for me. On 8/26/2023 at 9:49 AM, Littlef said: That's a good looking holster! Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted September 18, 2023 Great set up, both gun and holster! How do you decide how far past the snap to extend the retention strap? Yours seems to be a couple of inches... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted September 25, 2023 On 9/18/2023 at 4:45 PM, YinTx said: Great set up, both gun and holster! How do you decide how far past the snap to extend the retention strap? Yours seems to be a couple of inches... Thank you. As far as the portion of the strap that goes beyond the snap I tend to like enough to get my hand on while wearing gloves. It makes it easier to unsnap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msdeluca Report post Posted October 6, 2023 You do very clean work. Another fine example of a holster. I like the Ruger logo amidst the basket weave. The holster complements well a fine revolver. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted October 6, 2023 10 hours ago, msdeluca said: You do very clean work. Another fine example of a holster. I like the Ruger logo amidst the basket weave. The holster complements well a fine revolver. Thank you very much for the nice comment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DoogMeister Report post Posted October 18, 2023 Very nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrampaJoel Report post Posted October 19, 2023 On a re-visit to this post I would like to add. I noticed that the grips and holster colors match almost perfectly ! a very nice detail touch! Joel Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted October 19, 2023 On 10/18/2023 at 3:12 PM, DoogMeister said: Very nice! Thank you. 20 hours ago, GrampaJoel said: On a re-visit to this post I would like to add. I noticed that the grips and holster colors match almost perfectly ! a very nice detail touch! Joel Thanks man. Yeah, I chose that color to be as close to the grips as possible. Although, I do have some Ivory grips being made. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert03241 Report post Posted October 24, 2023 Very nice work indeedI sold one of my BlackHawks and gave the other one to my son in law Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JWheeler331 Report post Posted October 30, 2023 On 10/24/2023 at 6:09 PM, Bert03241 said: Very nice work indeedI sold one of my BlackHawks and gave the other one to my son in law Thanks. I sure they were happy to be gifted such good revolvers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites