Crossdraw holster

[dikman]

I mentioned in another post that a chap asked me to basically duplicate his strongside holster as a crossdraw (he saw Gene Barry's holster in Bat Masterson and liked it). No big deal, although trying to copy an existing one is a bit of a pain, but I got pretty close. Two pieces, 8-9 oz. and 4-5 oz.all handstitched. I fitted a small spacer for the trigger guard, as per the original, but after it was finished realised it should have been thicker. Oh well, never done that before so didn't know how it would turn out. After gluing the pieces together I gave them a coat of Fiebing's black to put some colour in before working it.It came out patchy, which didn't matter as it was getting another coat, but interestingly when I wet it down to shape it the colour lost a lot of the patchy look. (Word of warning - if the gun being used to shape it has synthetic ivory handles wrap them up before messing with dye!! Fortunately the black marks cleaned off! Dumb!).

The original holster has steel liners in it (which I don't use) and I eventually realised why - I reckon he used pre-dyed leather, which remains soft and won't hold a shape.

The last photo is the back of the belt that he bought. Although the guy obviously had a decent sewing machine I thought the stitching left a lot to be desired.

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by dikman

[garypl]

Nice looking holster!  I remember watching Bat Masterson on tv when I was a young boy back in the 50’s!  Are they still playing reruns on tv over there?

Agree with you about the belt stitching - the bunched up thread doesn’t look too good.

Gary

[dikman]

We don't get re-runs of the good old Westerns on tv here, it's mostly "reality" -type programmes (I call it garbage!!). Other than the news we don't watch a lot of commercial tv (funny that).

I don't understand how the maker could think something like that was acceptable. I stitched a belt once (on a machine) and part way along I got the same thing, nothing for it but to remove all the stitches and start again.

[Mattsbagger]

Steel liners are used in quick draw rigs. Invented by the guy Matt Dillion kills in the opening credits of Gunsmoke. If I remember right.

[garypl]

1 hour ago, Mattsbagger said:

Steel liners are used in quick draw rigs. Invented by the guy Matt Dillion kills in the opening credits of Gunsmoke. If I remember right.

That would be Arvo Ojala - I used to enjoy reading about him and Thell Reed, another fast draw legend.

 

[Lobo]

On ‎5‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:05 PM, garypl said:

That would be Arvo Ojala - I used to enjoy reading about him and Thell Reed, another fast draw legend.

Arvo Ojala made quite a business out of Hollywood westerns, movies and TV series both. The US experienced a nationwide craze of "fast draw" clubs and events, primarily caused by Hollywood influences. Most of the leather gear featured on TV and in movies was far removed from anything authentic to the 19th Century period usually portrayed, and everything involved in the fast draw sports was radically different than anything actually used by working cowboys or lawmen of the period.

During my years in the holster business, whenever a customer expressed an interest in a western-style rig I learned to ask "Hollywood western or authentic western?"

It has actually been refreshing over recent years to see more emphasis on period-correct designs by makers more focused on historical accuracy, rather than the glitzy nonsense cranked out by the film makers.

The incredible popularity of western films, and especially all of the 1950's and 1960's TV shows, had one very positive impact. By about 1957 Colt's Patent Firearms Company had decided to discontinue the Single Action Army revolver (model of 1873), but demand created by the movies and TV shows resulted in a huge spike in orders. Prices went up like a rocket, older guns became highly desirable collectibles, and eventually a flood of lower cost copies started arriving from Spain, Italy, and other sources (like Los Angeles-based Great Western Arms, a big source for the movie-makers) to meet the demand. A few of the prizes in my little collection are a Colt Single Action Army manufactured 1887, a Colt Bisley Model manufactured in 1902, a Colt SAA Frontier Six Shooter .44-40 made in 1914, a Colt Model 1860 Army revolver made in 1862, and a couple of Remington New Army revolvers from 1863 and 1864. All are fully functional for regular range use today, as well as being significant assets for my retirement plan! Guns that wouldn't bring a $20 bill at a pawn shop in the 1950's and 1960's (when I was a kid and didn't have $20 for anything) are now bringing more than my first couple of houses cost, back in the early 1970's.

On ‎5‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:05 PM, garypl said:

 

 

[dikman]

Thanks for that, Lobo. I've watched some of the "fast-draw" things on youtube, and while they are impressive (in their own way) they do nothing for me. My abilities in Single Action are such that even with a fast-draw holster I've still got Buckley's chance of winning!. As my interest has grown I've found that I'm getting interested in the more traditonal style of holster. I can see where I'll end up with several different styles of holster/gunbelt combos (one for every day of the week! ).