Bersa firestorm 380 pancake

[Stetson912]

Just finished this one up for my uncle. 8 oz. Wicket and Craig, hand stitched, saddle tan and mop n glo finish. 

I experimented with this one and it came out pretty well. I wanted more of a 80/20 pancake instead of the regular 50/50 to avoid binding. Let me know what you all think. And as with most of my posts, critique is welcomed. 

[battlemunky]

I think it's beautiful and your getting the ratio on the pancaking looks about where you want it. The only think I see is that the belt loops look a bit small, but I'm sure you measured it so I don't mean to be insulting by asking.

[Stetson912]

They do appear  that way. I thought the same thing. But it fits an 8 oz 1 1/2" strip through it so, that'll do lol and you could probably get 10-12 oz through them. 

I used an airbrush to dye it this time. And I'm never going back. It's the most even I've been able to achieve.

[Stetson912]

Oh, and thanks for the kind words. 

[battlemunky]

Yeah man, I really like the airbrush the more I use it. I do miss the penetration but the evenness can't be argued and is a really fair trade imo. It is a pain to clean all the time. Maybe if I was more efficient with going out to dye things in batches of like color it'd be different but I'm usually doing odd things or experimenting and end up with vastly different colors which require cleaning in between, not to mention the final cleaning. It cleans easy enough, just a lot of small parts and time running the alcohol through it all, etc.

[JLSleather]

I like it   No stitch at top of stiffener?  Oversight or design?

[ScoobyNewbie]

Does the ( I’ve forgotten how to spell applicay, the brain, she is melting) on the front, for a purpose, or is it just for pretty?

Because it is. Beautiful color, as well.

[Stetson912]

Bahahaha @JLSleather that is a total oversight. Guess what I'll be fixing haha! I'm really kicking myself now because I looked at it for a solid 20 minutes trying to figure out what was missing!

@battlemunky, I agree. The depth may be less but I like how even it is. And I'd rather have that than splotchy. I just run alcohol through it. I want to try a gravity feed brush because I think it would be easier changing between dyes and such. I like the siphon feed because it holds a good amount of dye and I can mix right in the jar. So maybe just more jars? I just run denatured alcohol through it or water for the mop n glo. Easy enough so far. I'm also using a cheap brush from harbor freight. So if it dies oh well haha. 

@ScoobyNewbie, are you referring to the stiffener pannel? That's a debate in it's own. It really just makes the front panel stiffer. It doesn't really reinforce the mouth so much. But I like how it looks too. So I put it there for both added rigidity and asthetics. I apparently just forgot to finish the stitching bahahahaha!

 

[bikermutt07]

Great job Stetson. 

[Stetson912]

Thanks @bikermutt07, always good to hear from ya. 

[JLSleather]

8 hours ago, ScoobyNewbie said:

Does the ( I’ve forgotten how to spell applicay, the brain, she is melting) on the front, for a purpose, or is it just for pretty?

Because it is. Beautiful color, as well.

"Stiffener" or "reinforcement" panel largely just 'for pretty'.  Pretty STORY, to be precise.  Years  back, somebody told a story about how "beneficial" that was to have another layer on the front.  And then a few thousand people copied that - to the extent it became fairly common.  When I put out a pattern, I generally include one simply because some people look for one.  And hopefully it adds to the look of the finished rig, not take attention away from the rig.

Problem is, those "pancake" holsters rely on tension of the belt for retention of the gun, so if there's no "reinforcement" of the back, then it collapses anyway (from the back).  Better solution is to make the holster on a curve, much like what he has done here --- front piece longer than the back piece.  And if you want to further firm it up, try two layers of 4 oz leather instead of a single layer of 8 oz.

Note -- Wickett & Craig sells pre-dyed skirting leather in roughly this color, which they call 'chestnut'.  All you have to dye is is the edges (and please, inside the slots -- don't be lazy  ).   They will split this leather to the thickness you want - no extra charge.  It can be stamped, tooled, dyed, and oiled as "usual" - so if you're doing a lot of "saddle tan", might save some time and effort.  Here's a piece shown stitched with natural color thread.

[ScoobyNewbie]

Cool, I’ve heard a lot about Wicket & Craig. How are their prices for shipping to the US?

[Stetson912]

I'm not sure, I haven't ordered from wickett and Craig directly. I use makers leather supply because I don't have a lot of money and I can order just a few feet instead of a whole side. 

But that said, I think shipping was 15-20 but I don't quite remember. 

[Clintock]

Last order from WC was one side. Matter of fact it was chestnut. Here’s an invoice to give and idea. Granted this is the highest their shipping has ever been. It’s usually right around 30 bucks 

[JLSleather]

Must be the size of the package -- and then the next ones aren't much at all.  I have an order from recently where 3 backs (sides minus bellies) shipped for $38.29 - PA to MN.