horsehide holsters made my Kramer Leather

[antipaladin]

I have a few horsehide holsters made my Kramer Leather, and a few

double thick horsehide belts from them as well. They were not at all

happy with my asking where they got their raw material from so I thought I'd

ask here.

Does anyone know of a source for top grade horsehide? I'm looking

to make a few belts. If you've never seen one of their x2 HH belts,

the stiffness has to be felt to be believed. Absolutely the best CCW

support system I've used. Holds the largest 1911's or Glocks in place

IWB.

[Luke Hatley]

HAVE YOU CHECKED WITH , SIEGELS OF CALIFORNIA ?

[Art]

Siegel carries horse butts which are the leftovers from cordovan shoe tops. I think I have gotten a hide from them also, I wouldn't say they stock it regularly, but ask anyway. I have used it primarily to line holsters. It takes dye pretty well. Even when jacked pretty hard I don't find it that stiff, however it is abrasion resistant. If you want a really stiff belt, put sole bend in it. The horse butts from Siegel will be ok for straight belts but you won't be able to do anything but the slightest contour with it; you'll be scratching your fanny trying to get a western holster out of one, but even the largest cc holster shouldn't be a problem.

Art

I have a few horsehide holsters made my Kramer Leather, and a few

double thick horsehide belts from them as well. They were not at all

happy with my asking where they got their raw material from so I thought I'd

ask here.

Does anyone know of a source for top grade horsehide? I'm looking

to make a few belts. If you've never seen one of their x2 HH belts,

the stiffness has to be felt to be believed. Absolutely the best CCW

support system I've used. Holds the largest 1911's or Glocks in place

IWB.

[whinewine]

You also should call Kevin at Springfield Leather. THey just started carrying better quality horsehide butt sections. What the quality is, I don't know, but I received a flyer stating that they are now doing that. They price by the pound. Also Brettuns Village carries cordovan & horsehide from time to time (pricey??).

[Mark Garrity]

To my knowledge, Horween Leather in Chicago (www.horween.com) is the only U.S tannery producing horsehide and shell cordovan. All of the horse-butts I have seen from other distributors (Siegel's, www.siegelofca.com) come from Horween.

As stated, horsehide is sold by the pound, not by the square foot like cowhide. It comes it strips that are generally 35-40 inches long, 6 inches wide at the ends and 12-18 inches wide at the widest point in the center. And it is not consistent thickness it's entire length; the ends are thin are more maleable which makes it tough to get in lengths long enough to kae good belts out of without requesting them. I also believe horween has a minimum quantity order so if you just want one or two butts to try out you may want to go with Siegel.

Also there are two varieties of horsehide offered by Horween (and Siegel) - hard-rolled and soft-rolled.

If you want it stiff you want the hard rolled type. Soft rolled is rather supple, more-so than cowhide. (Bruce, you may have had a piece of soft-rolled because the hard-rolled stuff is denser and firmer than even cowhide. I've had hard-rolled in 7-8 oz. that had less bend and give to it than 12-13 oz sole leather).

There is a general misconception, particularly amongst gun folks, that horsehide is thinner than cowhide. That is simply not the case. Horsehide can be gotten in just about any thickness that you can get cow in. It is just that hard-rolled horsehide is denser and firmer than cowhide, so a thinner piece can be used to accomplish the same project that may require a thicker piece of cow.

Do I think it is the be-all, end-all holster material. No, not necessarily. I don't see much advanatge to it for the main body of the holster. I do use it for IWB straps because it wears better than cow and doesn't soften as quickly. I also use it for reinforced mouthbands and thumb-breaks, to keep them stiff but thin in those areas. And yes it does make an excellent belt if you can get it in the appropraiate length. Another alternative is to use the horsehide as the belt liner with cowhide as the top slightly longer layer.

[antipaladin]

Mark, thanks for the information. Based on your response, I took a look at the Kramer

belts I have. It looks like the inner layer is the "hard rolled" horsehide and the outer is

"soft rolled".

[StevenSiegel]

Mark, thanks for the information. Based on your response, I took a look at the Kramer

belts I have. It looks like the inner layer is the "hard rolled" horsehide and the outer is

"soft rolled".

''

My experience: have a custom made shoulder holster made for a handgun fo which Kramer did not have a mold. There is no comparison in stand up between the horse and cow for longevity. . The holster makers that have been doing this for years seem to prefer the hard rolled horse butts. it's about 15 years old and has not been taken care of .... but you would be surprised how nice it looks and most importantly how well it has held its shape.

the gun was only made for a few years... it's a knock off of a CZ75, produced to handle 41AE ammo, but re-chambered for 40S&W which gives it some very nice properties...

I'll see if I can post a picture later if anyone is interested.

Steve