Any particular name

[Davem]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/714907118/cartridge-belt-2-ply-our-finest-quality?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=old+west+gun+belt&ref=sr_gallery-1-21

There there a name for belts that narrow for the tongue and buckle, rather than sew them on?

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I've always just heard them referred to as tapered belts. The sewn on would be a ranger style belt. The prairie style belts generally have tapered ends.

[Rube Burrows]

And some have a billet on the buckel end and a taper on the other end. Personally, I like the tapered belts better. They are just more comfortable to me even thought I have more of the Ranger style. 

[Davem]

Thanks, I'm making my first of the tapered style- just to see how I like it.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Looking forward to seeing how it looks.

[Davem]

Well I make paper templates. Not very durable but I can tell how they look.  So far, I realize that if you make the tapered style with the hole in the tongue in the correct spot that there is an equal distance on the taper of the buckle and the tongue but if you gain or lose weight and start using a different hole in the tongue there will be a non-symmetrical appearance.  On the loops, I haven't yet done the style where you snake the loop piece in and out the same hole so I am opting for that.  I finally finished my  design on the floral carving, I hope it will come out okay.  Designing the thing is 90% of the fun.
I'm going to learn how to post photos and do so when done.  My first holster carving is "okay", there are obviously better leather workers than I am however in looking at original holsters, my job is a bit better so I can live with it.
I haven't done a Buscadero style as I'm pretty much tied to period correctness however I might try any how. Does the word "Buscadero" mean anything?

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I attach buckles with Chicago screws so the belt can be adjusted at the buckle end to compensate for a hole longer or shorter. The billet can be long enough to cover what you do there.

In years past, I have stretched a belt as much as two holes by getting it wet and stretching it on a board with the buckle on a nail and nails in every hole to hold it longer until it dries. If you do just one hole, it will elongate the hole drastically.

Buscador means "person who seeks" or "seeker of (pleasure, fortune or treasure)" or something like that. Maybe it is to mean a bounty hunter, soldier of fortune or something of the sort.

[Davem]

Thanks, I'll try it that way.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

One more thing, belts I've stretched were single thickness leather, not double like some modern cowboy rigs are. If your belt is tapered, expect the ends to stretch more than the wider part so you may not get as much length out of the whole belt.

[Davem]

Thought I'd update my project. I'm happy with it but every time I do something like this there are always a few "unexpected" things.  The idea was a light weight, easy to carry rig.  At first the difference from the bullet loop or wide area to the buckle and tongue ends seemed excessive so I cut that down a little. That helped but the overall belt is still a little thin.  On a double layer belt , the belt is stiff and carries the weight of the gun and cartridges very well.  On a tapered end type belt, you really can't do a double thickness because then the tongue is cumbersome getting through the buckle.  On the loops, so far I really like the method of the loop going in and out the same hole but I suddenly realized I've never seen such in any of the picture type books on the Old West.  Anyone know if this in and out the same hole is something new?

[Graveyard Jack]

"Tapered". I own a couple made by Chuck Burrows but have never actually used one.

[Davem]

The reason I'm doing all this is to test one style against another. For example on a California/Slim Jim you need to have the revolver "low" in the holster and the belt loop high so that the gun doesn't become top heavy.  On the belts with two layers, the thickness makes carrying the gun and ammunition more stable but the rig itself is sort of heavy.  Every style has some pluses and minuses.  My Great Grandfather's rig had the "in and out" method for the loops and had 30 loops- all the way around.  The holster was a double loop for a 4 3/4" barrel.  The belt was a little over 1 1/2" all the way around and no sewed on buckle strap or sewed on tongue.  It seemed pretty crude.  Once you buckled up; the belt was rotated so that the buckle was under the holster. There were bullet loops right in front.  The belt was so narrow that the bullets were as wide as the belt. I made an exact copy for my own use.
   The funny thing is, the whole deal balances pretty good, since the bullets encircle you  except for the holster where the weight of the gun is- the whole thing hangs pretty good, you aren't aware of a big hog leg on one hip and you have 30 rounds of ammunition.  On the more common set ups I so far like a single thickness belt with 18 sewn on loops- the sewing impacts the integrity of the leather the least and then a sewn on tongue and buckle strap and a center bar clipped corner buckle. For the holster, still pretty hard to beat a double loop. On the California/slim Jim- I like a liner of thin leather the "beef up" the holster.