How To Make A Double Action Revolver Holster And Gunbelt

[bronco72]

I want to get started in leather craft mostly for personal need, I want to start off making. A holster and gunbelt for my ruger 44 mag super redhawk with a 7.5" barrel. If its possible id like it to convert to a shoulder rig as well. Im looking for simplicity, durability, and a plane yet ruged beauty. I have been reading up on posts here, I think I have the basics but I need step by step detail as I am a perfectionist and I want this to look professional and last years to come. So info on products needed, where is best to get a good deal on good leather, any do's or don'ts, hand stitching techniques, and as stated if someone can figure it out id like to convert from sholder rig to hip rig if it takes making two belts so be it so long as it is secure both ways. Any advice will be welcome or even links to "good" step by step instructions. Thank you all in advance and I hope one day to be able to help others with their projects, and id really love to be able to make my own saddles some day to they sure do get expensive

PS if anyone could figure a way for this holster to have a swivel point when in sholder rig mode I would just love that as its a very long revolver!

Bronco72

Edited August 9, 2011 by bronco72

[Dwight]

If you were my customer and gave me the requirements as stated in your first post, . . . I would tell you that you are asking a lot.

But,............it is not beyond reach. Dual purpose holsters are often hard to get, . . . instead of being a great hip holster or a great shoulder holster, . . . it becomes a mediocre, half baked, compromise of both expectations.

Start out with the hip holster: define where you want to wear it. Some folks wear your style weapon high, so the cylider is basically level with the belt ( that's my preference ) and others like it hanging lower, . . . some even down so far that it looks like an Old West rig, . . . or a thigh rig like the military uses.

Once you have the "Where" figured out, . . . you need to define belt attachment: I prefer a simple, large slot of leather behind the cylinder through which I pass my gun belt, . . . others prefer folding down the back of the holster, sewing it, and making it the belt loop, . . . while others want a slot fore and aft, . . . like an OWB pancake.

Once you have the holster, . . . do the belt. For a gun your size, . . . at least 1 3/4 inches wide, . . . and I prefer 2 1/2 myself. If it is for hunting only, . . . I'd put a couple of speed loader pouches on the off hand side, right above the center of the off hand britches pocket.

Doing these two projects first, . . . will give you a good measure of how willing you are to take on the shoulder holster. Hip holsters are very forgiving, . . . can often be altered a bit if necessary, . . . but shoulder holsters need that "fine touch" to get em right, . . . and it takes experience and patience. You can begin to develop them if you do the hip holster and the belt first.

If you decide to do that, . . . PM me with the style you want, . . . we'll go from there. I'm including a picture of one of my all time favorites for wearing out in the bush or for hunting.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Sixer]

My best advice would be to pick up a copy of Al Stohlman's "How to Make Holsters".

It gives you simple step-by-step instructions and even provides patterns for various holsters, as well as a shoulder rig.

Well worth the $13

http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Holsters-Al-Stohlman/dp/1892214989

[TwinOaks]

A perfectionist you might be, but you won't turn out a perfect holster on the first try. A couple of years into it, I still occasionally add to the scrap bin, so don't get frustrated. Probably the simplest method for making a dual use holster would be to make a clam shell/ western rig hybrid, with a belt tunnel loop on the back, and add D rings to the top of it so you can suspend it from a shoulder holster's yoke.

Look up Jim Simmon's holster tutorial in the 'Holter, Sheath, etc." forum. It's one of the pinned topics, located at the top of the forum. It's about as "step-by-step" as you'll find.

[Billsotx]

Here's a photo of a clamshell holster made by the now defunct Safety Speed Holster Co. It was made popular by the TV series Highway Patrol in the early 1950s. The again made an appearance on Adam 12 in the 70s. I have never seen one as a shoulder holster, but there are high ride models. The company eventually ceased production of clamshells due to a flood of lawsuits. The clamshell design was one of the first attempts at a retention holster. The so-called secret button located inside the trigger-guard invited a finger on the trigger even before the presentation was started. In my files of self-inflicted gunshots, I have some 40+ incidents involving this design. I personally witnessed 5 of these injuries. This design was used mostly by police officers, with double-action revolvers, but there were semi-auto models too. All of the semi-auto models that I'm familiar with, were activated by a thumb-tab, rather than a push button located inside the trigger-guard as seen on this model. Safety Speed Holster Co. also made breakfront holsters, which have a open front; the breakfront employs a flat style spring rather than a coil spring as found in the design pictured here. The most poplular breakfront holster was the Berns-Martin, and they usually cover the trigger guard and depend on pure friction rather than a mechanical action or spring actuation as seen here. If you're interested in copying one of these the metal shell is fabricated from sheet metal. All that I have seen were covered with chrome tan leather, but I recovered a number of these back in the 60s and 70s with veg-tan. I didn't know the differnce in leathers back then, but at least one of those I reworked still functions. The officer has owned it for more than 40 years, but it's been retired for at least 20 of those years. Anyway, I was surprised at how crude the metal fabrication actually was. I happened to have this photo handy so thought I'd post it since clamshell was mentioned. You won't see many clamshells outside of collections nowdays. They were once touted as fast, but my experience with a Pact Timer proved otherwise. The draw is two distinct movements - there is an actual pause while you wait for the spring release to allow access, i.e. let it pop open. As far as the retention aspect - even kid in the projects knew the secret button was right there next to the trigger.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Billsotx