Need Holster design help

[yldbill]

After a friend saw the holster I made for myself, he asked if I could make one to fit a pistol he built. The pistol is a 1911 auto (colt-style) equipped with a scope. The weapon is going to be used for hunting so he wants the holster to be a side carry design. Does anyone have any info on such a creation ?

[ks1911]

After a friend saw the holster I made for myself, he asked if I could make one to fit a pistol he built. The pistol is a 1911 auto (colt-style) equipped with a scope. The weapon is going to be used for hunting so he wants the holster to be a side carry design. Does anyone have any info on such a creation ?

Here's a couple of ideas: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=501378

[yldbill]

Thanks for the link.

[Dwight]

yldbill, . . . looking at the link, . . . the bottom picture (silver scope on belt mounted holster), . . . is the model of one I made some time back for a fellow to use his Ruger .22 auto with a scope.

The problem I had, . . . he had one of those big green plastic front sights on his pistol, . . . as well as the scope, . . . and I had to work around both.

I wound up building a holster similar to the picture, . . . with the front of the holster cut out far enough down that the weapon actually had to be tilted into the holster, . . . muzzle first. Point the weapon to the ground about 5 feet behind you, . . . in goes the muzzle, . . . tilt back and straighten up the weapon, . . . and it positioned itself so that the entire weight of the weapon was held in place by the front of the trigger guard.

I fully lined it with suede leather, . . . contact cemented and machine stitched, . . . and finished it with an "over the top of the grip" snap strap that holds the weapon in the holster.

The strength of the whole thing came from the bottom of the holster, . . . from where the trigger guard meets the grip all the way out to the muzzle end, . . . the holster was just shy of a full inch thick. I used my Tippmann sewing machine to make the holes through the leather, . . . but I had to end up hand sewing it, . . . the machine could not work on that thick of leather, . . . kept breaking my thread.

I forgot to get a picture of the thing, . . . wish I had, . . . because I really believe it was one of the prettiest ones I ever made.

Good luck, . . . it is a project, . . . but it can be done.

May God bless,

Dwight

[yldbill]

Thanks for the suggestions Dwight.I took a look at the link and came up with some ideas. Before I get started,I have to finish one for my son-in-law for his Springfield XD. Before I start on the next one I'll post my design and you can make any suggestions on how to improve it.

Bill

[katsass]

yldbill. Here is a holster I did for a gentleman last year. It's for a Colt target gun that he uses in Steel Challenge matches. It has a red dot glass on it.

I used the same method I learned about 40 years (or more) ago (shown here on a 1911 holster) I start with an inexpensive manila file folder, lay the gun, sights down, in the fold; lay the gun over and trace the outline (on one side only) up to the fold. Remove the gun and start working a design 'till I like the aesthetics, cut it out and.....go for it. The last pic is of the 1911 holster (plus mag pouch) made from the pattern shown in pics #2 & #3. Mike

[TwinOaks]

I made this suggestion on a gun forum I also visit.

Here's a little backwards thinking on the subject, it's a little more work on the molding, but it's worth it.

When you make the holster, make it backwards. Instead of cutting out the notch for the scope, then wrapping, and stitching, start at the belly of the pistol.

(For this explanation, 'belly' means the bottom of the slide and trigger guard). Fold the leather, starting at the belly, and wrap it to the top of the slide. Continue as you normally would for making a holster. When you are ready to stitch it up, add a welt to the seam. This will give you a nice built in sight channel, and can easily accomodate different front sights by changing welt thicknesses and widths. If you want to allow for a scope, it's easy to do with this design. At the seam, you simply widen it out where you want the scope. This also has the advantage of being able to sew/glue in reinforcement strips and finish the edges of the scope cut-out before final assembly.

Now, unless you've taken some pretty extreme steps in the molding process you may have a little bit of a triangle between the trigger guard and the muzzle. Inside this little triangle is an ideal place to put a tension nut, if you like, or you can simply cut-out-to-shape if you want a holster that is more form fitting to the gun.

One of the things I like most about this style is that if it's done on a non-scoped gun, it can be made with a single straight, one pass through the machine, stitch.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned anything about the attachment portion of the holster. You can make whatever kind of loop or slot form you like and sew to the back of the holster (prior to assembly). It's also quite possible to make the whole thing out of a single piece of leather and have a folded over loop for belts (kinda like a Mexican loop holster). Doing the latter means the holster can be made with a total of two straight stitches (or two straight and a little bit of curved stitching if you want to follow the profile more closely).

I should probably add that this is not a high retention holster design, and recommend a thumb strap, hammer loop, or flap. For concealed carry, I prefer something that is molded and boned for highest retention, and my preference is the pancake style.

Do I need to toss in some photos for this?

Edited August 16, 2009 by TwinOaks

[Tac]

Twin Oaks... Fold on bottom, welt on top.... got it... But pictures would still be cool

[dirtclod]

Hi vldbill here is a picture of a holster i made about 8 or 10 years ago. Best i can remember i did the same thing katsass did with the file folder lay the pistol in hold it up by the folder "don't let the gun slide out " then gently lay it down on it's side and trace everthing out. Then cut a slit in the pattern up to about where the scope ends. It will be stiched togeather and have a piece sewed on the top of it cover your seam.

It's hard to explain but take a look at the scans and the picture it shows better what i am trying to say. Yea my drawing is pretty bad but maybe you can figure it out. After you get the piece sewed over the barrel and get you holster shaped then sew the bottom.

If any of this helps you great and if you have a question ask. I'll be in and out all day today and i will look for a better picture. Plus i'll look for the prignal pattern i made. Pretty sure i saved it.

Dirtclod

[dirtclod]

I forgot the scans. DUH

Dirtclod