My Latest Leather Project

[treadhead1952]

Hi All,

RMKS2000, glad to know that you got some leather to work on for your project.

I have been tinkering at this new project a bit. I got the major pieces sized and cut out for what I have in mind, and it only took the front half of a cow hide and a whole hog to do it.

I decided that I would use 8 to 9 ounce thickness leather for the outside of the holster and gun belt. In the usual Western tradition, it will be a cartridge belt as well as holster and I will be adding a knife sheath for one of my Bowie Knives to counter the revolver on the opposite side. While I could have just finished the grain side of the leather, I decided to go with a pigskin lining overall. Luckily for me I found a fancy 1 and 1/2 inch wide belt buckle set at Tandy Leather that is on sale at the moment to add to this set up. I may change to a different one later, but to just get it up and running for now, it will do. Now all that I have to do is tool it all up and then assemble the pieces. A commercially made holster of this type with all these features would run in the $300 to $400 range, doing it at home on my own it will only be a fifth of that much.

[rmks2000]

Not only do you save a lot of cash, you have the satisfaction of making something. Will you be doing any tooling?

[treadhead1952]

Hi rmks2000,

Oh yeah, it wouldn't be a Buscadero Belt and Holster if it didn't have some sort of tooling on there.

The only problem I am having is that none of the tooling patterns that I have on hand that I can trace from pattern sheets and books fit the holster and belt pattern I have settled on exactly. I finally just broke down and made my own drawing on the holster and will cut and carve it, the same thing will have to be done with the belt.

[treadhead1952]

Hi All,

I finally got my first gun belt and holster set done. It sort of grew when I got another revolver, an 1858 Remington .44. That required another holster and then I got a nice old shotgun to go with things which lead to even more leather working. It all wound up like so.



And of course, I had to have a few spare rounds handy on the belt.



Funny thing about the Cowboy Action Shooting game, you need to have a pistol or two, a shotgun and a rifle or carbine to get into play all the various games they have. So I had to confine myself to just a few of the matches until I acquire a rifle or two to add to my arsenal. I am looking for a replica 1892 or 1893 Winchester to add, probably next year.

I did make up an individual holster and pouch set for the 1858 Remington as I could compete in the black powder cap and ball matches with it on its' own. I added a bullet pouch and powder flask holder as well as a new sheath for my trusty old Arkansas Toothpick.



So you can see what sort of took my attentions away from paper modeling for a while this past summer.

[treadhead1952]

Hi All,

I have been having fun in the guns and leather department here of late. While my tooled leather "Buscadero" type gun belt was okay, I wanted something a bit more traditional after trucking around with it for a time. I came up with a nice little holster design that I added a bit of a cant to so that it would offer the grip of the gun at a hand friendly angle. I also discovered that one can never have enough ammunition on hand when out and about so I added a few more belt loops than my first attempt. It is hard to go wrong with basic black for gun leather so I chose that for this one.



A few months ago one of the older members of the Veterans group that I am a member of here in town passed away and about a month or so later his roomie dropped of a box of stuff that the old guy had accumulated that "roomie" had no use for. Amongst the items in the box was a Ruger New Model Blackhawk revolver frame in .357 Magnum., no cylinder, just the frame and barrel assembly. It was a model from around 1985 so it did have the newer lock work, i.e.. no three clicks to cock and it has a transfer bar ignition system so I can carry 6 rounds in it safely unlike my older style .45 Colt which has the original Colt style lock work which only allows you to carry 5 rounds. If you try to carry 6 in them, you wind up with a live round under the firing pin which a sharp blow to the hammer or dropping it can set off that 6th round with possible dire consequences.



I sent the frame off to the Ruger factory back in New Hampshire where for the tidy sum of $175 they replaced the cylinder and the two small parts that completed the cylinder locking pin, test fired it with a proof round and a cylinder full of regular rounds and shipped it back to me, all within three weeks. So now I have the newly refurbished .357 with the 4 and 5/8" barrel to go with my .357 with the 6 and 1/2" barrel. I already have one holster for the longer one, but since I am making a new one for the "shortie" I might as well make a new one for the long tom as well.



I also have a new, yes, I did say new, which for me is highly unusual as I usually seek out used and bargain deals on most things as a rule; single shot .243 Winchester rifle. It is a little inexpensive Brazilian made Rossi break open single shot but none the less is capable of putting five shots into a jagged little 1/2" hole at 100 yards. It is probably more the 6 X 18 power scope that I slapped on top of it than me, but none the less, I do need to make up a sling for the little guy. I got it mostly because it is very light weight and I can carry it afield while looking for yodel dogs and bob kitties, two of our local pests and some of my favorite quarry's out in the desert scrub around here.

So watch this space as I will have some new entries in this old thread as I play with leather some more.

[rewalston]

That is some mighty fine work, when I lived in Washington State I was a member of the Washington Arms Collections, and sold custom gun leather that I made. I have been tooling leather for over 30 years. I live in Ontario, Canada now. I still work with the leather but holsters are a little more difficult up here because my holsters (western holster and belt, shoulder, or other) require the actual gun for the pattern. I was charging $250 for a gunslinger style holster and belt. I love working with leather, not much I can't make and tool.

Rusty

[treadhead1952]

Hi Rusty,

Leatherwork is a lot of fun and all the hammering involved in tooling a pattern surely does help to get your frustrations out.

Having the a model of the actual firearm a holster is intended to fit is always nice. It is one of the reasons why I have a number of the revolvers and pistols that I do. I make a lot of black powder pieces and sell them to folks all over the country. Making a lined and fitted holster for Colt 1851 Navies, 1860 Armies and Remington 1858 revolvers is getting to be a rather expensive proposition from commercial makers. As far as a period correct one like a shoulder holster, well not many bother with such things.

I do enjoy tooling as well, although I am still what I consider practicing more than producing. It takes far too long for me to get one completed for commercial work, but for my own purposes and uses it is just fine.



That is one that I made up for my Colt 1851 Navy .36, I am now working on another opposite side one for my Colt 1851 Navy in .44 that I rebuilt. While the .44 is a modern day Italian idea rather than an original type, it is still fun to shoot and having the pair of them on one gun belt will be a hoot when I go shoot them together, the .44 having a much different report than the .36 but looking pretty much the same.