Thumb Straps On Holsters

[PHIPPS CRAFTED LEATHER]

Hey all, I have a guy that wants me to put a thumb strap on a holster. I have only made open top holsters. I can figure out how to make the straps, my question is what if any inserts would be need for stiffness and retention.

[Mike Craw]

I've had decent success using a fairly short thumb break with double thickness leather. If my leather winds up being too thick for the post on the snap, I punch a hole big enough for the female snap half to fit down into and get clenched on the post. As long as the second thickness is fairly close around it, the whole assembly stays rigid.

Other guys on here have also found a source for the stamped steel stiffener. Somebody will probably jump on here in a little while and provide it, or you could do a search.

Hope this helps.

Mike

Edited December 16, 2010 by Mike Craw

[troop]

i have used .085 thickness kydex as in insert in the past. always worked out well.

Tony

[PHIPPS CRAFTED LEATHER]

Thanks, so you only stiffen the inside strap, nothing on the outside strap. I want to prevent the outside strap from flopping around if I can or should.

[Mike Craw]

I don't set the inside (male) snap until the holster is finished and the gun is inserted. Then I draw the strap tight over the rear of the frame (under the hammer for 1911 c/l or over for d/s action pistols and revolvers, and press the female side against the strap. I usually cheat toward the tight side of the center of the resulting circle, and set the male snap. Worked pretty well for the last 29 years.

Mike

[usmc0341]

  On 12/16/2010 at 10:03 PM, Mike Craw said:

I don't set the inside (male) snap until the holster is finished and the gun is inserted. Then I draw the strap tight over the rear of the frame (under the hammer for 1911 c/l or over for d/s action pistols and revolvers, and press the female side against the strap. I usually cheat toward the tight side of the center of the resulting circle, and set the male snap. Worked pretty well for the last 29 years.

Mike

Do you do this when the holster is wet or dry? This is how I did my one and only thumbsnap and it got loose pretty quickly (maybe a few weeks) and I went on the tight side when I set it.

[Bronson]

  On 12/16/2010 at 10:03 PM, Mike Craw said:

I don't set the inside (male) snap until the holster is finished and the gun is inserted. Then I draw the strap tight over the rear of the frame (under the hammer for 1911 c/l or over for d/s action pistols and revolvers, and press the female side against the strap. I usually cheat toward the tight side of the center of the resulting circle, and set the male snap. Worked pretty well for the last 29 years.

Mike

I'd love to see pics of 1911 c/l holsters with thumb straps. I'm having a hard time placing the strap/snap so it 1) fits nice and tight to the back of the slide and 2) doesn't interfere with the thumb safety. I can get one or the other but not both to my satisfaction.

Bronson

Edited December 16, 2010 by Bronson

[Shooter McGavin]

  On 12/16/2010 at 11:25 PM, Bronson said:

I'd love to see pics of 1911 c/l holsters with thumb straps. I'm having a hard time placing the strap/snap so it 1) fits nice and tight to the back of the slide and 2) doesn't interfere with the thumb safety. I can get one or the other but not both to my satisfaction.

Bronson

One of my first holsters I ever made, and my first ever with a thumb break, so dont expect it to be perfect, but its an idea if nothing else.

I could post some design stage pics if that might help with your layout.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Shooter McGavin

[Bronson]

Thanks for the pics Shooter McG but I notice that the thumb safety has been disengaged by the retention strap. That's what happens to mine if I put the snap/strap in that location. I can move the snap a little foward but then the strap doesn't sit nice and tight to the back of the slide.

Thanks again for the pics.

Bronson

[katsass]

  On 12/16/2010 at 3:37 PM, PHIPPS CRAFTED LEATHER said:

Hey all, I have a guy that wants me to put a thumb strap on a holster. I have only made open top holsters. I can figure out how to make the straps, my question is what if any inserts would be need for stiffness and retention.

I have had good luck doing as Mike Craw has described, however I use(d) a steel stiffener in them. Waaay back (35 yrs or so) I would break off the ends of old hack saw blades to use as stiffeners. I'd grind the edges smooth and shape as necessary and drill a second hole on the un-drilled end. Now I use stiffeners obtained from High Desert Leather in Utah. I make very few holsters with a thumb break however. Here are a couple of ones done over 20 years apart.........the first is for a little Llama .380 (basically a mini-1911) and had no problem with the 1911 style safety......made in the early '80s. The second is for an old Beretta 'Brigadier'.......made about a month ago. Mike

[PHIPPS CRAFTED LEATHER]

Thanks everyone, looks like a few people out there need the help.

[Mike Craw]

Yeah, I knew somebody would jump on with a source for metal stiffeners. Thanks katsass!

This is a holster and belt combo I did for a buddy at work. One of the guys asked him why he wanted me to put the Puerto Rican flag on it. My Tejano buddy Adrian certainly enjoyed that little joke...not.

Anyway, I build the holster and seat it cased, not wet, and do the molding. I mold the rear shirt guard/thumb break at the same time and bone the hell out of the area around the thumb safety in the on position until it fits into its own notch. I rough form the front strap and let the whole thing dry. Once dry, I set the thumbreak snap half (female) above the area where that safety sits and then stretch the front strap under there. Once I get that ring impression from the female half I set my awl on the tight side of the center of the circle and set the male half.

Adrian rides this rig on his Harley to work, and if it had loosened up any, I would have heard about it!

Mike

[Rayban]

Check these guys out for metal thumb breaks (and belt clips)....very economical.

http://www.jrmclips.com/

Edited December 18, 2010 by Rayban

[katsass]

  On 12/18/2010 at 2:38 AM, Rayban said:

Check these guys out for metal thumb breaks (and belt clips)....very economical.

http://www.jrmclips.com/

Thanks Rayban..........they look really good with a great selection. My only problem is that I won't live long enough to use anywhere near their minimum order for thumb breaks.

[Rayban]

  On 12/18/2010 at 3:14 PM, katsass said:

Thanks Rayban..........they look really good with a great selection. My only problem is that I won't live long enough to use anywhere near their minimum order for thumb breaks.

Oh contrare....... I just ordered 10 of one clip, 10 of another, and 2 (two) thumb breaks....no problemo.

I'm not sure thumb breaks are good for a field/range/hiking kind of gun, so I just want to try one out to see how it turns out for me.

You'll pay a few pennies more ea....and I do mean pennies.....for a small order like mine....my order including shipping came to about $13.

Order by phone.

[katsass]

  On 12/18/2010 at 3:30 PM, Rayban said:

Oh contrare....... I just ordered 10 of one clip, 10 of another, and 2 (two) thumb breaks....no problemo.

I'm not sure thumb breaks are good for a field/range/hiking kind of gun, so I just want to try one out to see how it turns out for me.

You'll pay a few pennies more ea....and I do mean pennies.....for a small order like mine....my order including shipping came to about $13.

Order by phone.

Thanks again! That's good news. I have been playing with a competition holster for the 1911 that really needs a steel shank.........and they sure do have them. The holster is good, but needs a stand-off.....and they have more than enough to work with. I'll give them a call. Years ago almost everyone wanted a thumb break holster, but they seem to have fallen out of use around here. As I said, I've only made one in the last year or so. Mike

[Rayban]

Just got my order in from these guys, the clips are great and for only a fraction of the cost as I had been paying for them.

[Kok]

Hello Master. may i ask the correct or optimum length I should put on my thumb break strap? I referring to the corner rear edge of the slide to the tip of the backstrap wrapping itself onto the pistol's slide?