Metal Lined Holsters For Sass/cas

[MadMorbius]

I've had a request for a Mernickle-style metal lined holster for fast draw. I've never handled one of these, and neither has the client. My question is, how far does the metal extend between the two peices of leather laminate? IE, I know it's used to keep the mouth of the holster open, and usually extends up and around the shank to provide a stiff draw angle away from the body...but how far down does the metal go on the holster side? Does it extend only to the bottom of the cylinder, or is the entire holster lined with the metal?

I'm thinking that lining the whole thing might make it a little difficult to seat the holster within the loop after it's rivetted down

[MadMorbius]

Nobody has any insight into this question?

[markush]

I have one that I never paid attention to how the reinforcement was done until seeing your post. So I just snapped a quick and dirty pic to draw on. It only extends about 3/4" below the cylinder, wraps around, and extends up the shank but doesn't bend over and through the belt. The images should clear up the confusion of what I just said.

Edited May 9, 2012 by markush

[Treed]

Most depends on the customer and what they are actually doing with the hostler. Most SASS shooters I build metal lined holster for are wanting the metal to more position the butt of the gun for the draw. This type are usually only metal starting as the bottom of the cylinder up through the flap. This controls the placement of the gun handle to the shooters draw. Other customers only want the mouth of the holster and the cylinder area opened up so that it is easier to re-holster. If they are into fast draw then they want just about the whole holster lined with metal. The back to position the gun butt, the cylinder area so that they can cock the gun as they draw (room for the cylinder to spin in the holster as it is being drawn) and metal deflector shield at the bottom in case of misfire as the are drawing ( fast draw uses wax bullets).

Bobby

[MadMorbius]

Collectively, thank you!

The images are most helpful. Bobby, the customer seems to want everything but the deflector shield.

Would the Hand og God template (aside from the skirt and the chape, which I would modify as per customer request) lend well to this? IE do the dimensions lend well to 8-9oz lined with 5-6oz, with the metal sandwiched in the middle or is the holster likely to be too tight for the application? Perhaps I should increase the size by about a half inch all around?