When Is It To Thick To Work With For Wet Formed Holsters?

[jlaudio29]

So i bought some Double shoulder leather last week, i thought it was 9-10, but turns out to be 11-12.. pretty thick stuff. So i tried to make an IWB holster out of it and all was going good until after it was wet formed, and put it on a belt and with it being up against my side i could no longer unholster the firearm.... Is this a product of too thick of leather? or poor wet forming of the wings? I think im going to go buy some more leather tomorrow that is back to 7-8 or 8-9. But id like to know where the problem lies.

The leather measured about 3/16 thick on the front side (neck side) of the hide and on the back side i have not measure but it appears to be slightly thinner? did i get a crappy peice of leather or is that how it goes sometimes?

[Lobo]

11/12 oz. veg-tanned is very heavy stuff, probably better suited for belts than for holsters. Even 9/10 oz. is pretty stout for most holster applications.

I like to keep some 8/9 and 9/10 on hand for very heavy duty pieces, but most of my production holsters are either 7/8 or 6/7, depending on holster style and the size and weight of the handgun being fitted.

IWB-style holsters in particular are sensitive to excessive bulk, so I would recommend either 6/7 or 7/8 for most IWB designs.

Each "ounce" of leather weight quoted equals about 1/64", so 8-oz. should be right at 1/8" thickness.

Best regards.

[Dwight]

You might also want to invest 20 bucks in an inexpensive dial caliper, . . . mine keeps me straight.

Even from upper echelon leather providers, . . . the variance from what they said and what you bought can be a real pain.

I made up a little chart using my caliper and a calculator, . . . it's in the caliper box, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[RobDude30]

The guys above are much more knowledgeable than me, but I have a 1/2 cent to add to what they said.

If you want to try to salvage the holster you made and make it usable and you haven't sealed it yet, try this - wet the holster again (not soaking, but damp enough to re-form), put your firearm in some plastic wrap or a baggie, and wear it for a few hours. You can unholster and reholster several times to loosen it up a bit. Work with the molding every so often if you need to. Your body heat will help form the holster and possibly make it more comfortable, as well as help with the fit to the firearm. When you are satisfied with the fit, carefully take it off, let it dry and you should be good to go.

As the others mentioned 11/12 is way too heavy for what you are trying to do, but for the sake of saving a project and getting some use out of it, the above just might work. It is definitely not the preferred method of holster making, but I have used it in the past to salvage a holster that was uncomfortable and too tight.