2 New Holsters, Getting Creative With Reinforced Throat!

[jlaudio29]

So I had a customer that wanted a primary OWB with an option to go IWB, looking and taking into consideration the other styles that i had seen of this nature i decided to be creative.

Here is what i came up with. One holster, 2 different set of straps and a reinforced throat. Ill throw some pics up of someone wearing it when i find someone more appealing to the camera then myself

Ok the next holster is still on the same them of Reinforced Throat... Its got a 10 degree cant on it which makes it a little tricky doing the assembly, im not sure if it can be done with a sewing machine, i hand stitch so it works for me. I dont have a leather sewing machines im sure someone with one could get crafty and figure out how to do it.

This is for a Glock 30, I also made the Belt but there is nothing fancy about that.

Let me know what you think.

I really am liking the feel of the snap strapped holsters.

[Eaglestroker]

I think they look great, and your molding is really quite nice!

[Wareagle50]

I second that, very good molding

[Nooj]

Beautiful holsters! How do you get such clean lines in your molding, if you don't mind me asking?

I like the dual strap idea- I may actually use that on my next personal holster. I see you used t-nuts; what size screw fits through the middle of the snap?

Great job on those!

Nooj

[Haystacker]

I sure like your creative out of the box thinking. How is the draw? Does the holster stay positioned in a fast draw?

[Abram]

I like that design, looks very user friendly.

[jlaudio29]

Thank you all for the compliments on my molding. I dont use any specials tools, I will post a picture of what i do use.

I get my holster to the wet molding stage, get it wet, insert the gun, then i will start pressing all over the holster basically imitating what a vacuum mold or press would do. Youll get a feel for if the leather is to wet or to dry, if its to wet you can let it dry out a big, or just start your molding and have to come back and rework some of the lines after its dried a bit to put the detail back in them. I prefer to start a little on the wet side it makes pushing with your fingers very easy and helps form the leather to the gun. When im getting ready to do a line or contour of the gun i always make sure i can feel it with my fingers and press it to make sure the contour shows through the leather before i do my forming. Other then that i guess its really just paying attention to detail.

One of the first things ill do is start with molding the sight channel and then mold the dust cover and the trigger guard (not inside the trigger guard that comes later). I think this helps to set the gun into place so its not moving up or down on you, sometimes it dosnt matter though if your pattern is slightly on the tight side. After thats done i proceed to do the slide lines and inside of the trigger guard. I always try to start on the back of the holster because if i mess something up ill know how to do it right on the front. I also always have a picture of the gun up on my laptop, i get pictures of both sides because they can vary from gun to gun.

A good video that shows what i do is the molding video from Particle's website (www.adamsleatherworks.com) It would have been nice to have that video when i first started out, I already had learned through practice how to do it then i saw his video and felt like i was watching myself mold a gun I would make my own video to show you, but adam covers everything that i would do.

Also another good way to see what lines you should or should not put on your holster is to search for a holster of the gun your molding. see what other people are doing or lack there of. The more knowledge you have the better off youll be.

I hope this helps and if you ever have any questions or feel im being vague on any part of this and have more questions please feel free to PM me, im not in this to keep secrets and love to teach people.

Ok so here is what i use, the yellow tools come from Michaels Crafts only cost like $5-7 and you can easily find a 40 percent off coupon online for them, and if you cant then find one for Joann's they accept competitors coupons!! Never go in Michaels or joanns without of 40-50 perecent off coupon!! 3 other tools that i use are clay molding tools that i obtained from a clay supply company in florida, i believe they were all $3-4 each. you can order them from there website which is http://www.flclay.com/ the part numbers are DBS, WT16, and WT18. The WT18 is what i use for 90 percent of my forming, It fits GREAT in the trigger guards.

Once again let me know if you have any questions.

Haystacker - The holster does stay in place very well on a quick draw, it was tested and the customers i made these holsters for both use 1/4inch thick gun belts i can not say that it would be same with something thinner or less sturdy, but we know that a gun belt always makes the world of difference, atleast to me and my customers it has.

Thanks again.

[Sixer]

Thanks for your willingness to share!

im not in this to keep secrets and love to teach people

Statements like this are always refreshing... Good on you and GREAT looking holster

[jlaudio29]

Your Very welcome, and i really appreciate the compliment.

Edited August 12, 2011 by jlaudio29

[Mrs Barry Hicks]

wow! That is awesome! You Sir have just entered into my book of great thinkers. Really cool. Thank you.

[Colt Hammerless]

I have a snap loop OWB mag pouch and was just thinking of converting it to IWB in the exact manner you have there. I wasn't sure if it would ride too high though. There's not much "meat" hanging below the belt on a mag pouch. Then again, there's not much weight above the belt either. Good to see it works well on a holster. Your workmanship is second to none! The finish you use is nice and mellow, I really like it. What are using?

Colt Hammerless

[rgepting]

Great job on the holster. Thankyou for sharing your knowledge.

[jlaudio29]

Thank you all for the compliments, much appreciated.

Colt - When in IWB mode, the weapon and mag pouch would ride a little higher, not much though. This design was made with the intention of MOSTLY OWB use, and the ability to convert to IWB when necessary, i do not recommend this to my customers that want to do MOSTLY IWB and sometimes OWB. So for someone to have a little more high ride for a small period of time is not a huge deal.

As far as the finish, i mix Super shene 50/50 with water, and put a couple coats on until i reach the desired gloss level. which i aim for a semi-gloss. You can also use a satin sheen, and then afterwards apply a light coating of Kiwi Natural shoe polish and it buffs out to a nice semi-gloss.

Here is a pic of my recent work. Its a Sig tacops 1911 reinforced throat with the IWB/OWB conversion. The finish on it is a satin with the kiwi polish done.

rgepting - thanks i try to share whenever i can and am always available for questions

Edited February 25, 2012 by jlaudio29

[glockanator]

Can you show a picture of the holster front and back with out the straps on? I am racking my brain on how they attach.

[jlaudio29]

[Colt Hammerless]

That's really nice work jlaudio29. That's a good concept to have the ability to switch to IWB if needed with just a change of the straps. I really like the mag pouch too. Also, thanks for the info on the finish.

Colt Hammerless

[glockanator]

How do the owb straps attach?

[sgb]

VERY nice work

[ouchmyfinger]

what did you use to reinforce the throat? i took some flat metal bar from home depot and hacksawed a piece off and bent it around a pipe and took it to the bench grinder and rounded and smoothed the edges and can't figure out how i could ever stitch it in

thanks