Another "had to roll my own" pistol holster

[DeWayne Hayes]

This is my latest project - a leather holster for a Glock G17L "long slide". This is a fairly rare kind of Glock with a much longer barrel, and finding a factory holster in leather is almost impossible, and in cross-draw, just non-existent. It would be a custom order, if you could find anyone willing to do it. So - I had to roll my own. 

The holster itself was simple as I didn't use a lining - I reverse engineered a pattern from a standard Bianchi Glock offering and added extra length for the barrel, but with a six layer welt of 8/9 oz leather, my gosh - I wanted to cry. Even though I used my drill press to drill the holes in the welt, and they seemed to line up with my chiseled holes on the holster shell, my drill holes were too small, just slightly larger than my needles. This means you add in a little contact cement gunk, and those holes became a nightmare. I had to use my awl and my chisel to work on each hole stitch by stitch, trying to get it where I could see daylight for my needles. Painstaking literally - my fingers and wrists are aching today. By the grace of the leather clad gods, I somehow got it done and the stitching turned out looking really nice, if I do say so myself. Always trying to make a factory-looking stitch by hand ... 

Finished the edges with Fiebings foam tipped edge dye applicator, and finished the leather with Leather Balm + Atom Wax (I really like this stuff). It's not really waterproof, but this is a target pistol - I can't imagine a rainstorm scenario. 

I suspect it's the only cross-draw leather holster for a Glock 17L in the world! (Which just means I'm the only person who wants one, I reckon!)

DeWayne

 

[DeWayne Hayes]

I will NEVER attempt a welt this thick again! Yikes! 

Edited December 10, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[chuck123wapati]

I like that sleek design but I agree on the welt yikes!

[MarshalWill]

Beautiful holster. Clean and to the point. Yeah, stacking leather for a welt like that are a bugger but it sure does make it nice. Of course, you could probably get by with a couple layers and wet mold the holster to fit.

That cross draw is good. It's the most comfortable place to wear one in most situations.

Edited December 10, 2023 by MarshalWill

[Mablung]

Holy crap, that's a whomping welt. I was trying to figure out why you would need a welt that thick, then realized you were stacking it up the thickness of the trigger guard. Definitely not busting that thing. Nice work. 

[Hags]

Nice job! I've done a few thick welts. Always a challenge, but dang they look nice.

[DeWayne Hayes]

4 hours ago, Mablung said:

Holy crap, that's a whomping welt. I was trying to figure out why you would need a welt that thick, then realized you were stacking it up the thickness of the trigger guard. Definitely not busting that thing. Nice work. 

Right, that's why I did it - I was matching the thickness of the trigger guard. I think most (including Bianchi) make a thinner welt and just flair the shell out at the trigger guard during wet mould, but I had it in my head to just match the trigger guard. 

That idea is now out of my head, and will never be acted upon again! 

[Dwight]

Actually what you can do if you ever need (or want) to do that again . . . put a needle in your drill press . . . DO NOT TURN IT ON . . . swipe it up and down with bees wax . . . thread the needle (you'll need a size 22 or so . . . large sewing machine needle . . . or one out of the handy stitcher Tandy sells) . . . push the needle thru nice and straight . . . when you start to pull back up . . . it will form a loop . . . you thread the other thread from the other side thru that loop . . . pull the needle out . . .  pull the stitch tight . . . and move on to the next one.

It gives you the same type stitching you would get from a sewing machine.

I have a Tippmann Boss for jobs somewhat like that . . . it''ll stitch up to about 3/4 inch.

Edited to say what I forgot . . . beautiful work . . . I'm not a glockster fan of any sort . . . but you sure did put it in a beautiful piece of leather work.  Great job.

May Godbless,

Dwight

Edited December 11, 2023 by Dwight

[DeWayne Hayes]

That's a brilliant idea - kind of a 'semi-automatic sewing machine!' 

[Mablung]

What's the 17L for? Hunting, competition? Wouldn't think the latter, since it's in a thumb-break crossdraw holster, but the model is just an oddball mostly used by competition shooters. I like the balance of long-slide models, though.