Which blue guns to start with

[Denster]

What Jeff and Dave related is excellent advice. Trying to be everything to everybody will soon result in your being nothing to anybody. Come up with a good design that fills a niche or that you can make as well as other but sell for less. One design can translate to several guns, the Glocks allready being mentioned, say a good design for 1911 styles can also be used for Browning HP, CZ75 etc. with just a different stitchline. I only take exception with Jeff on one point and that is cllicker dies. If you don't own a clicker press you loose control of hide selection and where on the hide the parts are clicked. You also can not make small design changes later on without buying new dies. Invest in a couple of good round knives, I like Weaver mastercraft, and learn to use them. Doesn't take long. I can trace out and cut out all the parts for a holster in three to eight minutes depending on complexity. Prioritize your work schedule ie: I finish holsters from the previous week and cut patterns for the current week on Monday. On Tue, Wend and Thurs I work on assembling by batches of like types. On Friday I wet form them all. They dry over the weekend and ready for finish on monday. You need to know how to price your work. Know the overhead cost of an hour of shop time, the material costs, etc and add in your hourly rate plus a 10% fudge factor to arrive at a price. Have a place to sell. From my experience in decending order of success. eBay, internet forums, gunshows, gun stores (not on consignment). I would stay away from custom work in the beginning that will come soon enough and after you have some experience in the costs associated with a new design likely to be a one of. Get a state sales tax liscence. This establishes you as a business and allows you to buy at wholesale. It really isn't much of a hassel and the savings are great. Above all remember that working smart with a plan trumps working hard without a plan every time.. I know this went way beyond what blue guns to buy first but these are all things that have to be considered. Making holsters is satisfying it's just more satisfying making money doing it.

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

The idea behind the clicker dies is three fold. First of all, once you get your designs down you don't want to be making changes as that costs you time and money, and opens the door for too much custom deviation. It's not to say that custom work can't make money, but you need to be established and get well paid for you work (as I imagine Dave does). Second, using clicker dies doesn't just cut down on cutting time; it also drastically reduces the time it takes to dress up your edges. Finally, it makes it more expedient to produce consistent reslults (especially if you do several holsters at a time).

As far as spending money goes, you don't have to have a clicker press to use the dies; I don't even own a clicker press. I modified a shop press to quick change between rubber press pads and clicker dies. I definitely get where Denster is coming from, but I am also giving the best advice I can, and my second biggest regret to do with this business is not getting dies made sooner (the first is diversifying too much in the beginning). All that having been said, if you don't know how to cut patterns well without the dies or form holsters without a press, you need to get all that worked out long before you decide to go into the business of making holsters. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people who jump right in without really knowing what they are doing both both in regards to leather work, and with pistol craft (tragically both can be learned, but many are too lazy or unwilling to make the necessary effort).

[Denster]

Should have knowen that Jeff would come up with a simple inexpensive (relatively) solution to an expensive situation. My statement on hand cutting patterns relates to my own personal prediliction to change things. I might decide after making a couple hundred holsters from a pattern that it might look better if this curve or that were a little different. Just gives me an option to satisfy my whims. Yes it does take a couple of minutes to level the edges but I've pretty much got it down to a science. We all do things a little different to get to the same end and as long as it doesn't add materially to the bottom line and the results are good. Who cares? Anyway what Jeff related business wise is spot on.

[Randyc]

You guys have really given some great advise for new and future holster makers. I started out in this business trying to be everything to everybody. Like Jeff indicated, it just doesn't work. I've taken on a few custom jobs just for the challange. I sure didn't make any money with them. I started in the business making pocket holsters then advanced to one model of IWB and one model of OWB. By luck I was able to buy out another makers clicker dies, blue guns and was able to add 2 more IWB styles to my product line. My origional IWB design is still holding it's own and my 2 newer styles are selling well. Besides a couple of minor design changes, my product line is established.

I was able to come up with my basic designs based on my own experience as a police officer for the past 34 years. Bottom line, I've packed a gun for a really long time.

With the current surge in concealed carry permit holders, we don't just build holsters, we have to educate the carrying public too. We not only build holsters were also educators of sorts.

Jeff, Tac, Ray (Lobo) Bruce Gibson, Monica (Shorts) and a few others that hang out on this forum have the knowledge and experiance and are not afraid to share it. That's one of the great things about this forum

Now back to the topic at hand. I think it was Blue Guns.

After a few bad experiences with discount police suppliers, I order directly from Rings. If a customer requests a holster for a model I don't have, I can pickup up the phone and speak directly to John Ring. If he has it in stock, I will have it in a few days.

Randy

[Bronson]

I seem to remember being told that if you order directly from Ring's you can get the blue gun without the blue coating of paint that tends to rub off on the holser. Is that correct?

Bronson

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

I seem to remember being told that if you order directly from Ring's you can get the blue gun without the blue coating of paint that tends to rub off on the holser. Is that correct?

Bronson

Yes, you can request a blue gun without the blue paint.

[mooshi]

Glock 17, 1911, and 9mm. Those are the ones I started with after talking to multiple people who make holsters.

Mooshi

[Shadowsbane]

J frame revolver or some sort

1911

Glock 19 or 17.