Bullet loop tutorial of sorts

[jbird]

Howdy all so this is a mine tutorial of sorts there was some questions on how its done and this is how I do it.

First Pic shows lay out and goes down the line from there.

PS I used rough side out on this

Josh

[badger]

Josh,

I use a similar method if the customer hasn't specified sewn loops.

The difference is I use a single slot directly under each round. The looping comes up the slot, around the casing and back down the same slot. It gives a much tighter row and you can't see the slots when the rounds are in the loops. I set a rivet through the belt and the looping between each slot to keep it all in order and then fully line the belt so the inside is blind. No visible fixings.

It's neat and tidy.

Cheers,

Badger

[Rayban]

Josh, good show!! I've been thinking of doing that to a rig I recently made....but for .22 rounds, I haven't exactly been looking forward to it....I believe I could live through your method however.....what do you think of doing the loop business on a separate piece of leather, then when it's done, sewing it to the belt?

Badge....so when you're done, you see bullet, rivet, bullet, rivet, and so on?

Try saying that real fast six times.

[rcsaddles]

Great job, Josh. I have been thinking about the best way to do bullet loops. Between yours and what Badger does, I think I can do it now. Thanks for taking the time to take the pics and posting it.

Badger, thank you for your input here. Great idea.

There is a thread about who's work inspires you. Seems to me it is everyone on here.

Joe

[jbird]

Badger sounds good I would like to see a few pics of this.

Josh

Josh,

I use a similar method if the customer hasn't specified sewn loops.

The difference is I use a single slot directly under each round. The looping comes up the slot, around the casing and back down the same slot. It gives a much tighter row and you can't see the slots when the rounds are in the loops. I set a rivet through the belt and the looping between each slot to keep it all in order and then fully line the belt so the inside is blind. No visible fixings.

It's neat and tidy.

Cheers,

Badger

Rayban

You can use a seaprate piece it works nice as well I like in the belt my self.

Josh

Josh, good show!! I've been thinking of doing that to a rig I recently made....but for .22 rounds, I haven't exactly been looking forward to it....I believe I could live through your method however.....what do you think of doing the loop business on a separate piece of leather, then when it's done, sewing it to the belt?

Badge....so when you're done, you see bullet, rivet, bullet, rivet, and so on?

Try saying that real fast six times.

[jbird]

Hay Joe

Glad you got a little something out of it and I agree I browse this sit and every one does great inspiring work.

Josh

Great job, Josh. I have been thinking about the best way to do bullet loops. Between yours and what Badger does, I think I can do it now. Thanks for taking the time to take the pics and posting it.

Badger, thank you for your input here. Great idea.

There is a thread about who's work inspires you. Seems to me it is everyone on here.

Joe

[badger]

Here you go, looks like this.

Can't see any rivets when the loops are loaded, they're hidden.

Cheers,

Badger

[Jordan]

I did one the badger way but left off the rivets, just sewed the ends of the strap that end up on the inside of the belt then covered with a liner. the leather going through the same slot twice around the cartridge, holds everything in place by friction. Good job Josh & Badger, shows to go ya there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[jbird]

It looks very nice badger but I am still not sure about the rivets were thee at got any ideas on how to beat that part of it in to my thick skull.

Josh

[tashabear]

It looks very nice badger but I am still not sure about the rivets were thee at got any ideas on how to beat that part of it in to my thick skull.

Josh

They're hidden between the slots by the rounds. Each round gets a single slot with a bight of leather strap coming up through and around.

What I want to know if how you measure for it. I have a project for which this would be useful.

[badger]

Centre to centre, the loops are spaced slightly over one round-width apart.

I usually measure one and them step off the lengths with wing dividers along the looping, then do the same with the slots. Another advantage of this system is that looping can be skived and joined invisibly in the bits between the slots under the leather, glued and then secures with the rivet, if you run out on a 30 loop belt.

I usually skive the tail end and glue it to the underside of the leather and secure it with a final rivet.

All you see from the outside is a single rivet, then a row of neat loops and then another rivet, nothing else. Neat and tidy.

Cheers,

Badger

[rhall]

I also use one loop per cartridge but I use four stitches between each loop a lot of needle work but I like the final product!

[JohnD]

Sorry to revive an old thread, But, I was asked to make a shotshell holder for a 12ga. I did a search and found this thread. As I was working out my measurements with some scrap, I came up with this, which I thought some folks might be interested in if you didn't want to use rivets. I plan on using Badger's method of one slot per loop..

I cut my loop material the same width as the belt. Then I trimmed the areas for the loops.

Then I pushed the trimmed areas through the slots and checked the fit of the shells.

[JohnD]

This makes it so you can just run your stitching along the top and bottom of you loops, or just stitch everything when you sew your lining. I thought this might be a nice clean way to get your cartridge loops in without any extra fastening.

Just wanted to share with anyone who might be interested. Sorry about the crappy pics, this is why I don't post much in the way of work I've done.

And Thanks Jbird for starting the thread. The people on this site are the reason I can feel comfortable trying new things with leather.

John

I case anyone is curious: my slot spacing on the belt was 7/8" ( 3/4" would probably be a little tighter though). The loop length was 2-11/16" and is a nice snug fit to the shell. I plan on using 2/3 oz leather for the loops, unless someone thinks it's a bad idea? The customer was worried about it being too bulky. And the loops will be a bit deeper when I do the real one.

Edited June 22, 2009 by JohnD