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. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

2 hours ago, Mablung said:

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. 

Just for fun!  Not too many 6" barrel 9mm pistols out there - you get higher velocities than you can with most other 9mm handguns. Just something to have. 

[Mablung]

8 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

Just for fun!  Not too many 6" barrel 9mm pistols out there - you get higher velocities than you can with most other 9mm handguns. Just something to have. 

Always a good reason. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

I'll tell you what I did run into with this holster ... The snap arrangement fit perfectly when I made it - I established the position for the female side of the snap while in wet moulding and then punched it when dry. Everything lined up nicely. BUT ... 

After I dyed the holster and let it air dry all night, the holster shrunk a bit, most noticeably the retention strap. I had to pull on the strap for a while to stretch it a bit to re-establish the snapping geometry.  It's easy enough to unsnap, but getting it re-snapped can be finicky. 

I reckon I should have left the gun in the holster when drying, but I didn't want dye on the gun and also wanted the interior to have air circulation to dry. 

I think I'm going to try coating the inside of the strap with neetsfoot oil and wrap a thin piece of leather over the back of the pistol to stretch on the strap overnight and see if that helps. If not, I may get in there and do some surgery to move the female end of the snap up a mm or so. Concealing that work will be the trick, but I think the head of the snap will cover any changes on the exterior. And whatever it looks like on the inside will be hidden and dyed black, so hopefully not noticeable. 

I reckon it was the alcohol in that pro dye that caused the holster to shrink. I went at it pretty heavy. I do love how stiff it made the holster though, overall. This was a pretty spongy piece of 8/10 oz veg tan, and it's nice and hard now. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[Southerngunner]

Very nicely done and that welt is insane.  Whenever I'm forming a wet or a dyed holster I  wrap the gun or knife in a couple layers of saran wrap to keep the  moisture off. Perhaps just wet the retention strap and cover your glock and snap it and let it dry. Just a suggestion. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

25 minutes ago, Southerngunner said:

Very nicely done and that welt is insane.  Whenever I'm forming a wet or a dyed holster I  wrap the gun or knife in a couple layers of saran wrap to keep the  moisture off. Perhaps just wet the retention strap and cover your glock and snap it and let it dry. Just a suggestion. 

Thank you - good idea. I wonder if water would work better than neetsfoot to re-wet mold the strap? I hate to reintroduce water, but it may be the only way to get some stretch. 

I know what I'll do - I have a dud holster that has the same issue. I'll try it on that one and see what effect I can achieve with water. That way, if I have a problem, it won't matter. 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[Southerngunner]

3 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

Thank you - good idea. I wonder if water would work better than neetsfoot to re-wet mold the strap? I hate to reintroduce water, but it may be the only way to get some stretch. 

I know what I'll do - I have a dud holster that has the same issue. I'll try it on that one and see what effect I can achieve with water. That way, if I have a problem, it won't matter. 

 

The neatsfoot would probably work as long as the strap is wet enough to stretch.

[Dwight]

Actually . . . if you DO NOT put either water or oil on the strap . . . just stick a piece of 8/9 oz strap under the one on the holster . . . do the big boy "UGH" pull and get it snapped.

Leave it lay on the dinner table or some similar place overnight . . . get up tomorrow . . . it'll fit . . . guaranteed.

I often get a question from my customers "How can I get my holster just a bit looser . . . not quite as tight a fit.

I tell em to put the gun in a gallon freezer bag . . . stuff it in the holster overnight . . . take it out of the bag . . . check the fit.  Very seldom do they have to resort to two bags together.

Leather WILL STRETCH . . . just don't get in a hurry for it to do so . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[DeWayne Hayes]

Thanks, guys. I have the gun wrapped in Saran wrap and in the holster, with the strap wet on the inside surface and re-molding itself in the proper position. I'll leave it in there for several hours. Already felt like it was loosening up. 

I was spurred to action as i took the pistol to an indoor range today, and it was so cold in the range, I couldn't get it re-snapped! That's just too tight for good service - needed to be stretched.  I learned my lesson though - next time, I won't mount the female snap until after the holster is dyed and dried and shrunk all it's going to. Good to know. 

Good news is the pistol is a shooter! 

 

[Mablung]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:21 PM, DeWayne Hayes said:

Thanks, guys. I have the gun wrapped in Saran wrap and in the holster, with the strap wet on the inside surface and re-molding itself in the proper position. I'll leave it in there for several hours. Already felt like it was loosening up. 

I was spurred to action as i took the pistol to an indoor range today, and it was so cold in the range, I couldn't get it re-snapped! That's just too tight for good service - needed to be stretched.  I learned my lesson though - next time, I won't mount the female snap until after the holster is dyed and dried and shrunk all it's going to. Good to know. 

Good news is the pistol is a shooter! 

 

So's the one shooting it.  What distance?

[DeWayne Hayes]

That was 22 rounds with 3 at 7yds and the rest at 10 and 15 yds. Slow fire - if I was shooting fast, it would be all over the place! 

[chuck123wapati]

11 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

That was 22 rounds with 3 at 7yds and the rest at 10 and 15 yds. Slow fire - if I was shooting fast, it would be all over the place! 

if you left the strap as thick as the holster you could skive or sand  it down a bit on the inside. as Dwight says it will stretch bit naturally more so if thinner.

[Sinbad395]

After a visit to the Texas Ranger museum, where there were several holsters with that thick welt, I've been told its called a Texas bridge

[Mablung]

17 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

That was 22 rounds with 3 at 7yds and the rest at 10 and 15 yds. Slow fire - if I was shooting fast, it would be all over the place! 

Sometimes gotta dial something in at closer distances before pushing it faster.  I'll bet that long slide and barrel help with recoil attenuation, though.

[DeWayne Hayes]

7 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

if you left the strap as thick as the holster you could skive or sand  it down a bit on the inside. as Dwight says it will stretch bit naturally more so if thinner.

I tried skiving a strap and ruined it. My little Tandy skiver tool takes nose dives in the material and randomly cuts too thin. I ruined the piece. So, if I ever try to skive again, it will be with a different tool, more like a chisel I can control better. But even though this strap is fairly thick (8/10oz) it is supple enough to work well, so I'm happy leaving it full thickness. 

5 hours ago, Sinbad395 said:

After a visit to the Texas Ranger museum, where there were several holsters with that thick welt, I've been told its called a Texas bridge

I had a major technological breakthrough today, based on Dwight's talk of using the drill press. I realized if I chuck up my single point chisel, I can easily drive it right through four layers no problem. Next time, I'm going to pre-cut the holes in my welt with the chisel, not a drill bit. Should provide more room for needles when it's all glued together.  Heck, from now on, I'm doing all my holes with the drill press - perfectly straight, and no more picking up/putting down a hammer 10,000 times a project. 

That's progress! 

Edited December 13, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[chuck123wapati]

7 minutes ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

I tried skiving a strap and ruined it. My little Tandy skiver tool takes nose dives in the material and randomly cuts too thin. I ruined the piece. So, if I ever try to skive again, it will be with a different tool, more like a chisel I can control better. But even though this strap is fairly thick (8/10oz) it is supple enough to work well, so I'm happy leaving it full thickness. 

I had a major technological breakthrough today, based on Dwight's talk of using the drill press. I realized if I chuck up my single point chisel, I can easily drive it right through four layers no problem. Next time, I'm going to pre-cut the holes in my welt with the chisel, not a drill bit. Should provide more room for needles when it's all glued together.  Heck, from now on, I'm doing all my holes with the drill press - perfectly straight, and no more picking up/putting down a hammer 10,000 times a project. 

That's progress! 

I use my belt sander lol.