Lever Gun Scabbard Lining

[shaneruss]

Hi everyone. My first post here....... I had some questions about what material to use for the lining in a rifle scabbard. The rifle is a Henry Golden Boy .45 Colt. The guy I'm making it for wants something that will be used when he's riding and can also be slung on his back. We live in Ohio so the humidity in the summer might be a factor?

I was considering...

Wool or synthetic wool. The problem would be the front sight. Its tall and has a brass pin insert that will definitely snag either one.

Suede. I don't know what would happen if it got wet? Would the humidity effect it?

1 to 3 oz leather?

Pigskin?

Any advice would be appreciated. I am deathly afraid of scratching or hurting the finish on this rifle, it's a beautiful and expensive firearm.

Thanks.

[Red Cent]

Sounds like you have a mixed bag of problems. I would line it with thin veg tan leather. If you mean rust when you say humidity, material will not matter. Condensation happens almost anytime you go from cold to hot. Capturing that condensation is a problem also.

I would think the customer will ultimately be responsible for rifle maintenance what ever the conditions may be.

[camano ridge]

_{For the type of scabbard you are talking about I would go with veg tan leather. Most of mine I do that way. If you line a scabbard with wool or synthetic wool every corner on the gun especially both the front and rear sights are going to grab bits of the materail and you willl have wool lint hanging from the rifle. If you do not use the right suede you may have some problems with the finish on the gun. Any material felt etc is going to wick up moisture. I would reccomend a drain hole in the bottom and use two pieces of veg tanned leather glued together fuzzy side to fuzzy side then treat it as one piece in the construction. THe two scabbards below were built that way and shark trimm added.}

[shaneruss]

Thank you Red Cent and Camano Ridge. Did you dye or treat the leather you used for the lining in any way?

[Art]

If it is a working gun, then there is not much you can do to the scabbard to protect the finish. On horseback, it will wear in the scabbard, on foot it will wear in the scabbard. If you don't want any wear, keep it in a gun locker at home.

That being said, any lining and outer leather that will breathe is ok. Don't put acrylic finish on anything. Working an in shape horse will make him sweat, working an out of shape horse will make him sweat squared; and of course it does rain.

If properly designed, the barrel will dip down and drag along the bottom of the scabbard when the gun is drawn. Think of being on horseback or having it on your back; you pull up on the butt of the rifle and the muzzle rotates down. A little extra clearance will help clear a high front sight. Shearling will work, and you can shear it even more in the required areas. Well clipped shearling (the real wool stuff) is pretty dense and somewhat resistant to hang-ups.

Another liner I like is calf. I get that from using calf as boot lining. Good enough for my foot, good enough for my gun. My ccw is a Series '70 Gold Cup National Match. I love that gun and will never trade for one of it's multi stack brethren. It got some wear on that beautiful finish after carrying a few years, and I reblued the slide. Simple fix. Either the blue job I did was great, or the new holster I made with the calf lining is treating her better. 20 years on that blue job and still holding.

Simple maintenance will take care of any salt and acid problems from use. Clean after use even if not fired and keep in a cotton or wool sleeve instead of the scabbard.

Art

[shaneruss]

Thanks for the advice Art. Do any of you have any advice on a finish for the outside of the scabbard? Does neetsfoot rot the stitching? Satin Sheen maybe?

[oltoot]

Absolutely DO NOT use wool of any kind. In all my 70+ years of making and using experience any kind of lining can cause problems. If he must have a lining the thinnest, toughest veg tan you can find would be my choice.

[camano ridge]

As to finnish, I have heard of the Neetsfoot oil rots thread thing. If it is over used with unprotected linen thread it might. However I have used Neetsfoot for over forty years and have never had a problem and there are hundreds of museum specimens made over 100 years ago with good stitching and no doubt have had neetsfoot applied to them. Having said all that neetsfoot oil is not a finish.

[shaneruss]

Thanks again for the all the responses. He does want it lined, so I will see about getting either thin veg tanned or calf skin for that. As to the outside, I use satin sheen on the holsters I make, would that work on something like the scabbard? I just finished a painted holster and had some fun with resolene too. So I guess my question is, how would any of you much more experienced craftsmen finish the scabbard after the dye?

[Art]

After dyeing and a good buffing to remove residual dyestuffs, Pecard's, or Montana Pitchblend. I am not into sealing-up any outdoors leather with acrylics.

Art