Distressed Leather Holster For M&p Shield.

[GaryNunn]

A recent project for someone that wanted the "old bomber jacket" or "Indiana Jones" look.

[Dwight]

Gary, my man, . . . get on them edges, . . . they haven't shaved for a week

Seriously, . . . good looking holster, . . . just needs some serious edge work done, . . . it'll turn into a great looking holster.

May God bless,

Dwight

[George B]

Have to agree on the edges. A little more time and they could look good. Also, try to keep the barrel end of the pistol up inside the leather at the bottom. Keeps the additional wear off it from being exposed.

Otherwise looks pretty dang good. Keep it up.

George

[TinkerTailor]

What do you think the edges of Indiana's coat look like? Probably not pristine and shiny. Nothing wrong with a raw edge if it is done with artistic intent.

[seabee]

Garynunn,

I like that holster very much. Went and looked at my 60s leather flight jacket, and some of the edges look just like your holster. My jacket has been around the block a few times (30 years of military). How did you finish it, or was it pre-dyed leather. The leather weight also looks good around that pistol. Great job.

Where did you get the pattern?

Thanks for sharing,

Howard

[GaryNunn]

Howard,

Tanks for the compliments!

It's a small piece of Kodiak oiled leather (pre-dyed) from Tandy's scrap bin. It's all beat up, and was perfect. Since it's oiled leather, it didn't want to wet form as easily as standard veg tan. I glued the Kodiak to a piece of 4/5 ounce veg-tan and used 8/9 veg-tan on the back. I cut it from the pattern, and wet formed it. I usually only have to soak my holsters for a minute or two before wet forming, but this one had to be soaked almost 10 minutes. I was afraid the veg-tan would end up being mush, but it was fine after it dried. When I form my holsters, I insert the blue gun and press them between thick foam sheets. usually I press for about 2 minutes, but this one had to be pressed almost 15 minutes until it kept the shape.

Once dried, I smoothed the edges of the veg-tan, but intentionally left the Kodiak a little frayed to get the old worn look.

I didn't use any oil or finish on the Kodiak, The Kodiak tends to look distressed when pulled over edges, but after it dried, I used the flat edge of a steel ruler to scrape wear marks in strategic locations, and then smoothed it over with my thumbs until I got the look I wanted. The awesome thing about this leather is that if I didn't like the distressed area, I simply smoothed it back over with my thumb and started over, it's almost self healing.

On the veg-tan parts, I used standard water based dark brown dye on the edges and a lighter brown on the back.

I made the pattern myself.

Gary

[mustangman2]

Very nice, i like the edges the way they are, it fits the looks of the distressed look. It gives me ideas for a glock holster thanks

[Toney]

Very nice