Building The Beast- S&w Stealth Hunter

[chiefjason]

I managed to snap some pics in the process of building this monstrosity and thought I would post them up. I have pretty much settled on an Avenger based cross draw for most of the big revolvers I have to deal with. Carries well. And cross draw lends itself to the longer barrel. And with a 7.5" barrel, you need all the help drawing it you can get. So here goes.

Inside of the pattern with the gun.

Outside with belt loop/reinforcement stitched on and ammo loops stitched on. I prefer doing a full length reinforcement on the back. A 4.5 lb gun, unloaded, needs a little over kill on the stiffness of the holster IMO.

How do you case this thing? Why, in a trash bag how else?

Quick shot of the glue line inside.

Rough cut.

Trimmed, edged, dyed, and stitched. Notice the strap is not there yet. I cut the pattern and pre stitched the reinforcement and ammo loop between my buddies trips up. But I waited until he came back up with the gun to fit the strap and attach it.

Complete rig loaded up. The holster can be worn on the belt if he wants it in warmer weather. Or on the chest rig over bib and jacket when it's colder.

Test fit.

And showing off the Ruger Alaskan holster he picked up when I patterned the S&W.

[Toney]

Very nice

[JLSleather]

Is that flat in the back, or curved a bit? Either way, i'd wanna bring a buddy ta help me carry that thing

[chiefjason]

JL, mostly flat. You know me, flat back holster fetish. In reality, my style lends itself well to it. Hand molding, loose patterns, and hand stitching. If I ever wrap my brain around how to machine stitch a pre molded holster I will probably buy in. My hands would thank me. But flat backs brought me to the dance, so to speak, and I can't give them up for standard holsters.

That holster went from the pattern, to casing, molding, glueing, then stitching in the order of the pics. As opposed to pattern, glue, stitch, mold. So the back stays really flat, just a slight curve where I try to push it up a bit around the bottom of the gun. It was surprisingly tight too. Took a sharp pull to remove the gun the first time.

My buddy bought it to carry as a back up bear and hog hunting. Backing up an M1A with a 7.5" stealth hunter, lol. He's a big bore, revolver junkie though.

[mattsh]

Nice rig Chief! I just finished a chest rig for a scoped SW500 in 10.5 inch. He had the same purpose. It is his backup gun for a 308 AR10 when he goes hog hunting.

[wangqhd]

nice

[Jarhead44706]

Very nice

[SLP]

That finish is beautiful! What did you use, and how did you achieve that mottled look?

[chiefjason]

That finish is beautiful! What did you use, and how did you achieve that mottled look?

Thanks. Med Brown cut with alcohol. Hand applied. Oil and wax coat, then M&G, then Atom wax.

[Pounder]

Very nice.