Gluing Rawhide To Leather For Cowboy Holster

[camano ridge]

Looks pretty nice.

[bushpilotmexico]

Looks pretty nice.

Much appreciated. When I first started this thread I had figured I was going to use rawhide between the layers on the holster but Chris Andre ( Slickbald) from where I bought the pattern just relies on the two layers for rigidlity after wet forming and drying.

He uses 7 oz for both layers but all I had available was 8/9 oz that I use for my knife sheaths. It will be a little tougher to wet form but not impossible. My understanding for fast draw is that the holster has to be frictionless and the cylinder should be able to turn inside the holster. The trigger guard actually sits on the welt and is outside the actual holster. When you tip the holster upside down it should actually fall out.

I picked up a glass 6 oz Coke bottle that I'm going to use initially to begin the forming process then I'll refine it with the pistol. I've also got a friend who's making a drying box for me using two light bulbs, a dimmer switch and a thermometer. I read on Google that 130 degrees is the best temperature to dry leather to get maximum hardness.

Pistol should be here next week.

[Dwight]

Looks pretty nice.

And I agree, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[Mongo]

I do a lot of cowboy action gun belts and I have to agree with Dwight on this one; I've never had a problem with a belt shrinking.

My cowboy action holsters are 9 oz. with a 7 oz. lining. I pretty much follow the John Bianchi method for wet fitting these holsters (from his DVDs). After running the holster under running cool tap water, I open up the holster with a bee's waxed hammer handle. I pay special attention to making the bottom of the pouch close to a cylinder in shape. Then I use a small leather cement bottle to open up where the revolver cylinder fits (Bianchi used a round leather maul in the DVD). Next I flair out the top lip of the holster for easy re-holstering. My last step is to place the revolvers in the holsters and let them sit there for a few hours. Bianchi only put the revolver in for a few minutes in his DVD, but I've never had a problem leaving them in longer. Sometimes with blued revolvers, I wrap them in one layer of plastic wrap.

With revolvers in the holsters, I lay them flat on my tooling granite slab for a few hours. Most of the time I put a little support under the bottom of the revolver grips so when the holsters dry they will not be flat against the body (most of the cowboy shooters I make rigs for want their pistol butts to be away from their body a little so they are easier to grab when on the timer).

Once they have sat for a few hours, I take the revolvers out and wipe them off and hit them with a little gun oil. I leave the holsters on the granite slab to dry. They are almost dry after sitting overnight, but most of the time it takes at least a day. After they dry, I check the fit with the revolvers again before dyeing the holsters. Please note that after dyeing and applying a leather finish, the holster may fit a little differently. If they are too tight I can open them up a little by carefully using my rubber cement bottle. Some other holster makers wrap the guns in several layers of plastic wrap and let them sit in the holsters for a day or two. If the fit is a little to loose I carefully squeeze the pouch of the holster with two hands (squeeze just a little and check the fit) until it feels right.

Good luck with your project. From what I can see from the pictures, you have done a good job so far.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Mongo

[bushpilotmexico]

I do a lot of cowboy action gun belts and I have to agree with Dwight on this one; I've never had a problem with a belt shrinking.

My cowboy action holsters are 9 oz. with a 7 oz. lining. I pretty much follow the John Bianchi method for wet fitting these holsters (from his DVDs). After running the holster under running cool tap water, I open up the holster with a bee's waxed hammer handle. I pay special attention to making the bottom of the pouch close to a cylinder in shape. Then I use a small leather cement bottle to open up where the revolver cylinder fits (Bianchi used a round leather maul in the DVD). Next I flair out the top lip of the holster for easy re-holstering. My last step is to place the revolvers in the holsters and let them sit there for a few hours. Bianchi only put the revolver in for a few minutes in his DVD, but I've never had a problem leaving them in longer. Sometimes with blued revolvers, I wrap them in one layer of plastic wrap.

With revolvers in the holsters, I lay them flat on my tooling granite slab for a few hours. Most of the time I put a little support under the bottom of the revolver grips so when the holsters dry they will not be flat against the body (most of the cowboy shooters I make rigs for want their pistol butts to be away from their body a little so they are easier to grab when on the timer).

Once they have sat for a few hours, I take the revolvers out and wipe them off and hit them with a little gun oil. I leave the holsters on the granite slab to dry. They are almost dry after sitting overnight, but most of the time it takes at least a day. After they dry, I check the fit with the revolvers again before dyeing the holsters. Please note that after dyeing and applying a leather finish, the holster may fit a little differently. If they are too tight I can open them up a little by carefully using my rubber cement bottle. Some other holster makers wrap the guns in several layers of plastic wrap and let them sit in the holsters for a day or two. If the fit is a little to loose I carefully squeeze the pouch of the holster with two hands (squeeze just a little and check the fit) until it feels right.

Good luck with your project. From what I can see from the pictures, you have done a good job so far.

Hi Mongo,

I really appreciate your input. I think when Chris Andre talks about adding an extra inch or so for shrinkage he's not talking about actual shrinkage but what you'll lose when you add the liner, etc plus taking into account the thickness of the completed belt when you put it around your circumference.

Pistol arrives Monday....my buddy did make me the drying box with 2 100 watt bulbs and a dimmer switch. I tried it today and had the temperature up to 130 degrees and was able to control it by using the dimmer switch.

I appreciate what you say about dyeing and the leather having a tendency to shrink some. I was careful after dyeing the belt to insert dummy rounds into the loops for the shells and leave them in until it dried.

Thanks,

Cliff