Hello And First Holster

[Doc Savage]

Hello all, spent quite some time lurking and reading here before joining while starting my first work. I've been looking for holsters for my carry gun, but as I prefer older S&W autos, it is hard to find ones to fit. Just out of curiosity, I started looking into making my own. Found this forum and got lots of great info. Finally joined to be able to see more and to share my experiences.

One issue I've had in looking for holders is finding a comfortable way of carrying. I thought I'd like small of the back, it is the most comfortable place for me. Played with it with a nylon holster I had and while it carries great, I did have issues with the exposed part of the gun digging in. I had seen some pancake style holsters that looked promising and when I looked into making one, thought I'd give that a try. Oh this will be IWB for concealment, I don't wear many jackets/untucked shirts. I researched some and found some decent heavier scrap pieces of leather at the local Hobby Lobby ($6) and picked up some thread at the same time ($3). I drew out some plans and settled on this one:

I picked out some good pieces to use and traced out the pieces. I sharpened my pocket knife real good and cut the leather. Was like cutting warm butter. Never thought the knife would work so well. I picked up some Weldwood Contact Cement at Lowe's ($5) and glued two pieces together for the pancake. I then tried wet forming the piece for the holster. I didn't work it enough and didn't like the result, so I ended up reforming it a second time and liked the results much better. I worked it with my fingers and a chapstick tube to better form it.. I liked the results I got and then cut the piece to fit. Then stitched the pieces.

I did some searching and found some T nuts at Lowe's. Got the smallest, shortest I could find there, then matching screws, and washers ($3 total). I found some decent snaps in the sewing section at Wal-Mart and picked them up ($3.50) to use in making the belt snaps. I played with placement and layout and ended up getting them mounted. Tried the holster out and like it. Will probably redo one of the belt straps. The one mounted closest to the formed section needs to be a bit longer. It has to bend out to get under the holster due to the width of the gun in place and I hadn't accounted for that, It was folding the belt I was wearing (only a cloth belt). It works for me and I did much better than I expected for my first time working leather. I'm now thinking of making an OWB holster. I have enough materials so It won't cost me anything. And not too bad for $21 dollars for two holsters. Here's the final product. Any inputs for how to improve will be appreciated.

[steelhawk]

Interesting design. It's kind of like a Supertuck, only with leather. Is the back side lined? One thing you could change would be to use less leather around the grip area so you can get a good grip on the gun when you draw it.

[Doc Savage]

Interesting design. It's kind of like a Supertuck, only with leather. Is the back side lined? One thing you could change would be to use less leather around the grip area so you can get a good grip on the gun when you draw it.

Think the super tuck may have been one that I looked at when coming up with the design. The back is just smooth leather. I purposefully went with the larger backing piece to help spread the force of the gun pressing into me. I carried a little with my nylon holster and it wasn't too uncomfortable except when driving my wife's van. Had too much lumbar support and really dug in and hurt. Wanted to keep that from happening. I've practiced with the gun and don't think drawing it with the holster is much different than just with my back there up against the gun. Actually looking forward to trying my hand at another holster not

[malabar]

A couple of thoughts......

You need to more fully enclose the trigger guard. That sort of angled cut across the top plate of leather generally doesn't serve very well. Take a look at the profiles on other similar holsters and you'll see what I mean.

I understand you cut the back plate large because you think it will increase comfort, but it creates other issues. For one thing, it it interferes with getting a good grip on the gun. You actually have to work your thumb in between the leather and the gun, and that can be tough. For another, the leather back can press against the mag release and cause the mag to pop loose. That's why almost all designs like that have strategic cuts in the back.

I would make the outer edges of the top plate match up with the outer edges of the back plate. Makes for a stronger design.

Pick the holster up, and turn it upside down. If the gun falls out, you don't have enough retention.

Is the back plate two pieces sandwiched together? That's a good idea on a holster of this type.

You've clearly put a lot of thought and effort into the design. It looks a lot better than MY first holster did <g>.

tk

BTW: The use of clamps is clever. Besey makes some inexpensive, hand-sized ratcheting clamps that have a variety of uses in making holsters.

Edited February 14, 2012 by malabar

[Doc Savage]

Thanks for the input. I'll admit I really would have preferred to have had the trigger guard covered more, but given the angle, couldn't figure how to do that without having the holster protrude above the belt. I also was trying to keep it below the rear sights so they wouldn't be covered and catch (have that problem with the generic nylon holster I have when using it small of the back). Thinking on it, I probably should have carried the top plate to the outer edges. The back plate is two pieces sandwiched together. Retention seems pretty good. I've been able to hold the holster upside down and the gun stays in place. Glad I did the second forming, doubt the first time would have done that.

Yea, I'm kinda cheap and used what I had, thus the clamps. Got kinda tight in there some of them were so close. This was lots of fun. Will probably play around with it a bit more now. Always loved leather finishes on things.

Thanks everyone for the inputs.

[Nosmokin]

I read somewhere, Can't remember where (old age I guess) that over time the leather on the trigger guard will sag and lay into the trigger guard. The article was talking about how the gun went off and shot the owner when he was sitting in his car and moved his leg causing the saggin leather to "pull" the trigger. He now has a nice double scar in his hip. With this in mind I would recommend that you cover teh trigger and guard to aviod this. 2 cents for what its worth.