Back to the start- holsters

[Laura M Hayes]

So I FINALLY got my 1873 4 ¾ Model P 44-40 SA.  After almost a year of trying.  Now my holsters are the problem.  Back to square 1. 
I didn’t want to spend a lot of $$$ on holsters and I got what I paid for.  I wanted made in America- Mexican Loop- historic black holsters.  I bought- https://www.oklahomaleatherproducts.com/Merchant4/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OLP&Category_Code=H1 from Oklahoma leather.  Problem is it feels more like pleather than real leather.  The back of the belt is extremely rough and the entire belt will not soften or bend.

When I put my new gun in the holster and try to draw, the entire holster almost comes apart because of the huge loops.  There is no way I can draw shoot and then reholster in a match.  Maybe I’m just doing it wrong. 

Questions: 
1:  Is there any way to temporarily fix this?  I have an NCOWS match on Sunday. I don’t want to do anything that is not historic.     
2:  should I just sell these and buy new ones?

Laura M Hayes

[Laura M Hayes]

PS:  I'd love to have someone make holsters like these in Mexican Loop.  But I'm not sure if it would be $$$. 

LMH

[James Hunt]

That is to bad, for about $25 more you could have gotten a good product from someone like David Carrico, and there are others. Yeah you get what you pay for, buyer beware and all of that. If it is any comfort the rest of us have been down that road. You usually end up buying stuff twice - first what you can afford, and then what you really want.

I'd not worry about the fast draw aspect, take your time go slow, and have a good time.

[Advertising]

[Ima Sure Shot]

Laura,
Can you sew the loops so they better fit your belt?  I did a cheap one that way.  Not having any linen thread, I used some dental floss.   I cut the stiching and opened the holster up. Punched some holes in the loops and the holster where they were needed with a hammer and small nail, sewed the loops down to fit tight on the belt I was using. Then using the same holes along the edge of the holster just sewed the holster back together. The dental floss was on hand, stronger than regular thread, looks like sinew,and feels like artificial sinew.Celeste

[Pancho Peacemaker]

PS:  I'd love to have someone make holsters like these in Mexican Loop.  But I'm not sure if it would be $$$. 

LMH

Laura,

Contact David at  http://www.petersoncustomleather.com/.   Send him a picture of what you want and what gun you are using.  His pices are very reasonable and none of his holsters 'ride up' like you are experiencing with your store bought rig.  

[OklaTom]

I have a lot of David Peterson's holster.  They are all top notch, and did not cost all that much.  Considerably less than most places.

[Cliff Fendley]

Laura, if you don't want to take the holster completely apart you might get by just tying the body to the skirt. If the skirt comes down close to the end of the holster and if it doesn't have a toe plug (which store bought holsters wont have) see if you can poke a couple holes in the back and reach in and stitch or tie it to the back skirt. If the toe is closed you can still carefully drill a couple holes in the back of the pouch and fish a thread through and tie it to the skirt. That will not be historically accurate but you wont be able to see it and might get you by until you can get custom leather that is right.

Then put your gun in a plastic bag and wet the holster real good and shove the gun in it and let it dry. This should loosen the holster some and shape it to your gun so hopefully it draws easier.

You might try some lexol on the belt and then work the heck out of it. It's probably made of cheap import leather which gets stiff as a board when dyed with commercial dyes.

Go to the leather forum and ask questions and don't be afraid to ask about custom work, us old leather guys don't bite.   I think many people get intimidated and see $ signs about anything custom but don't be. It's really not that much more $ to get custom leather that works, historically accurate, and doesn't look like 1000 others out there.

Your right in you get what you pay for and in the case of gun leather you will realize custom doesn't cost much more unless you really go fancy. The one in packing iron you like would be a lot of work. It would be much cheaper to do the same look by carving the flower rather than embroidery stitching. The hand embroidery would take a lot of time.

You might consider getting a good custom rig made and then making the embroidery one yourself some time in the future. If you can make it to the Nationals or the Convention next year I'll show you how you can do your own holster and I'm sure there are online tutorials on how to do the embroidery.

Once you get a custom rig it will last forever and just get better with time.

[pony express]

My old holsters were done the way Cliff suggested. While they were not in any way historically correct, it doesn't show at all. Mine had a couple of matching holes in the body and the skirt with a piece of leather thong tieing them together. The long ends of the thong searv3ed as tie downs(did I mention they weren't historically correct?) You might also try that farther uo the holster, to "tighten up" the huge loop. A couple of holes and tie it just below the cyclinder so it doesn't interfere with holstering, wouldn't be able to see it from the front.

[Cliff Fendley]

The large loop isn't a problem if the holster is fitted properly and worn properly on a wide belt. The reason for the invent of Mexican loop holsters was to accommodate wide cartridge/money belts.

Most people wear them on too narrow of belt and hanging loose. The belts were usually worn snug in the day.

I personally prefer a wide money belt myself, nothing is more comfortable and the money belt was very widely used.

[Capt. JEB Forrest]

I will see you Sunday and show what I did to mine. Don't have the mexican loop but DID have the same belt loop.

[Laura M Hayes]

Thanks so much for all the tips and suggestions. 

I'm prob going to decide what I really want and then save the $$ for a custom rig. 

Thanks again.

Laura

[Tascosa Joe]

Laura:
Cliff Fendley makes some fantastic rigs.  If you can make it to the Convention or the National you can see his work.
T-Joe

[Deadeye Dick]

I ordered a custom belt and holster from Cliff and just received it this last week. His work is outstanding. Will post pictures of it on the forum sometime next week.
Deadeye Dick

[Laura M Hayes]

Cliff is def on my list once I figure out what I want.   

[Deadeye Dick]

This is the custom holster that I had Cliff Fendley make for me. It is a close copy of the holster on page 120 of the Packing Iron book. The holster is made in the Mexican Loop pattern by F. A. Meanea Saddlery, Cheyenne Territory. It has a sewn in toe plug and a slight swell between the loops to lock the holster in place. I requested the carving to look approx. like the holster shown on page 112 of the Packing Iron book. The money belt is 3.5 inches wide and has thirty 44 cal. cartridge loops sewn into the belt. I was a little apprehensive of the wide belt, but it's very comfortable and I'm glad I went with the 3.5 inch width.  
Cliff does excellent work. I am completely satisfied with the belt and holster. Cliff took notes on what I wanted and made some recommendations. I couldn't be more pleased.  
Laura, you won't be sorry if you go with Cliff.
    

[Cash Creek]

Cliff made two holsters and belt for me also.. excellent work..CC

[Deadeye Dick]

CC,
Nice looking holster. Cliff does such excellent work.
DD

[Cash Creek]

DD
Yes he does...my belt looks just about like your..I just didn't have a picture of it..
CC

[Tjackstephens]

You all know that Cliff is a knife maker too. Tj