Cartridge Belts: Curved or Straight?

[Littlef]

10 hours ago, Dwight said:

This is how I do the loops on a curved belt.  The little tool that looks like a T is simply two pieces of 1/4 " plywood glued together at 90 degrees.

On it . . . there is an arrow you can see jut to the right of the up and down bar.  The distance from the bar to the arrow is 5/8 of an inch . . . the proper spacing for 44 and 45 cartridges.

On the up and down bar are two lines that come out to the edge . . . they indicate the length the hole needs to be.  I take an ink pen and draw a line from one line down to the next . . . while my arrow is pointing to the line I drew last.  When I get done marking the lines . . . I get my slotting tool . . . and go to work.  

The line is made just the length of the slotting tool . . . so I put the top of the slot at the top of the line . . . bring the bottom down so it is centered . . . and I hammer a hole in the leather.  Repeat until the proper number of holes are done.  For modern six shooters I usually do 24 . . . for the old fashioned ones without a transfer bar . . . I do 25.

The punch is made from a piece of 1/2 inch EMT conduit . . . smashed in a vise . . . and a 1/8 inch piece of flat stock steel forced into the hole to make both sides parallel . . . took it to a belt sander and sharpened the outside . . . took a round file and took off the burrs on the inside . . . have no idea of the number of cartridge holes this rascal has punched.

But anyway . . . that is how I do it . . . never any complaints so far.

May God bless,

Dwight

 

wow, that's a slick simple solution to follow the curve.  Thank you for showing this Dwight!

[Dwight]

Cdk . . . Littlef . . . now you got the crown secrets . . . use em wisely

 

May God bless,

Dwight

[dikman]

Personally, I reckon you're overthinking the whole thing. Any curve on the belt is unlikely to be great enough to be an issue for boolit loops.

[Littlef]

19 hours ago, Dwight said:

Cdk . . . Littlef . . . now you got the crown secrets . . . use em wisely

 

May God bless,

Dwight

lol, that you sir.  With great knowledge comes great responsibility.