Ranger Buckle on a holster belt.

[Davm]

This is for a new 454 Casull single action, which is really a slightly longer 45 Long Colt.  I have had this ranger belt buckle lying around and thought I would use it.  The belt loop is metal and there is a metal tip.  Need some help.

1. On the tip. The tongue end of the belt must be as thick as the opening in the tip. If I look at photographs- the edge of the leather is even with the metal tip so the part of the leather going into the metal tip must be rebated?  There are two small holes on the back of the metal tip for? Nails? They hold the tip in place? What about glue?

2. The metal loop. On the section holding the buckle- stitch along the edge front and back on the doubled over portion to hold in place/

3. The width on the main piece holding the bullet loops. About 2 1/8" seems as narrow as I could go.

4. In a lot of photographs the sections holding the buckle, buckle strap, and also the tongue- it is pretty common for the ends to be in a bulb shape to make them wider.

Any tips appreciated.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Davm

[tsunkasapa]

As to #1; skive a bit off the back to get it to fit the tip.  There usually set screws that hold the tip on. Some tips are pinned on, but the hole goes through both front and back.  #2; Usually the various pieces are held in place with snaps or Chicago Screws.

Al Stohlman's Belts Galore has all the information you need to make a Ranger belt. I thought it was available through Tandy's Leathercraft Library, but it seems it is not.

But there are several Youtube videos on them.

[Davm]

Thanks

 

[chuck123wapati]

23 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

As to #1; skive a bit off the back to get it to fit the tip.  There usually set screws that hold the tip on. Some tips are pinned on, but the hole goes through both front and back.  #2; Usually the various pieces are held in place with snaps or Chicago Screws.

Al Stohlman's Belts Galore has all the information you need to make a Ranger belt. I thought it was available through Tandy's Leathercraft Library, but it seems it is not.

But there are several Youtube videos on them.

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/category/79/ebooks?pagenum=1  I think its here still.

39 minutes ago, Davm said:

Thanks

 

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/category/79/ebooks?pagenum=1

[Davm]

I'm going to record my progression on this project just in case anyone is interested. I think most ranger belts are dress belts, not gun rigs so the gun rig is different.

1. The tongue has to be thick enough to snuggly fit the metal tip. I used leather a tad thicker and skived it just a bit plus trimmed the sides so the metal tip is even with the leather.

To make the belt strap and tongue appear similar they ought to be the same thickness but then the belt strap is too thick to bend over the bar on the buckle and too thick for the metal belt loop so the buckle strap end needs to be skived down quite a bit.

2. Question. When a gun (cartridge) belt uses a center bar buckle the tongue and buckle strap can be 1 1/2" wide whereas with the Ranger the two pieces are much more narrow, 1" or less.  On the 1 1/2" width of a center bar buckle there is a lot of strength (top to bottom stability) which is greatly reduced with the ranger set up.  I'm worried tha the downward weight of a large revolver may put a kink in the main belt and then the tongue and buckle strap are out of alignment. I may be worried about nothing but I'm thinking about adding a second main belt loop so the main belt is held even with two loops and the tongue and belt strap just tighten everything up, they aren't used for lateral strength. Hope I described it okay.

I'm going to color with vinegaroon as I've never had the color bleed when wet and this is going to be a working item- not just for show.