A new Wild Bunch design

[Slowhand Bob]

After several designs and changes over the past month or so I have finally arrived at what I consider my best (and hopefully final) Wild Bunch pattern.  It was done with competition being first and foremost in mind.  Since I was not sure that this would be 'the one', rather than just another proto, I assembled it very plain but without dye it is perfect for showing the details more clearly.  It fits like a glove without any wet molding and the lines are very trim and neat, even though it is made from some pretty stout leathers and all of this while still maintaining a bit of the overall appearance of a western design.  Got to go for now but pictures to follow soon.

[JD Alan]

Way to go Bob! Now I've got another project to build.  I did the original SAA you posted, then the wild bunch holster, and the badge holder, with and without bullet loops. I've not done the last 1911 holster, but I've downloaded the pattern with the hope of getting to it. I'm really looking forward to the next one

BTW I'm still hacking away at the shotgun belt, but other projects seems to scream louder for attention. I will get one made from your design, and I appreciate all the help very much. JD

[Slowhand Bob]

These are totally unfineshed and I was not sure how close this pattern was going to be towards my goal but it is very close with just a tweek or two to go.  It pretty much has all of the features I wanted and the fit is great and no wet fitting necessary.  It has a 10degree muzzle forward cant, my favorite for a strong side, and though some had said that flared mouth and grip pitch out wasnt necessary, I figured better to add them than not have them IF.  The back view simply shows the T-Nut and screw tie down.  Though I always liked single mag pouches everyone is telling me that they are not rigid enough for duty as a matching Wild Bunch accessory so it will be back to the drawing board on this.  Look close and you can see where the sewing machine and I are still battling over who can ruin a perfectly good holster the quickest!

[Slowhand Bob]

These two pictures simply show the belt tunnel from both sides.  This one does not have a metal skeleton but I will keep an eye on it and add one to the pattern if necessary.  The holster is made from 6/7oz leather with a 4/5oz liner and is pretty rigid on a heavy two inch belt.  Note how heavy that mag pouch is, thats 8/9 oz of single ply and it required lots of water to get it to wrap!  The holsters main seam filler is also a piece of 8/9oz.  Later I will take a couple of pictures of the dead bodies (holster carcasses) that led up to this one.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Looks like that'll certainly do the job, Bob. Good design.

[Slowhand Bob]

Marshall, being the old scairdy cat that I am, I did stay a fraction of an inch higher at the front than SASS regs require.  I think they had a brew haw haw over one of the more popular holsters recently due to that dip in the front.  If you look at the angle of the line formed by the screws radiating out from the flat front line of the holster you can see where I lost some of my 10* cant at the belt loops top line of angle.  This was due to the gamey way I shaped the belt loop and will need to be adjusted for on my pattern.  I hate those type adjustments because the pattern fits a 2" belt just perfectly without any rocking but who knows what another trip to the banch will yield.

[Dalton Masterson]

Looks good Bob!
I like the looks of the single mag pouch, but would probably prefer a double in competition as well.

Of course, I dont use my own mag pouch, I use the GI web Mills pouch myself. I am trying to think if I even have one of my own pouches around anymore.....

I like that holster design too SB. Looks good, the port is covered, and the angles all look great.
DM

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

  Good design Bob, looks like you have a winner here, I like the way it looks and the slight cant, thanks for the look see

      tEN wOLVES 

[JD Alan]

It looks good to me Bob. I made a single mag pouch yesterday, trying first to put it together with a couple of T nuts and screws. I saw something like it on a web site, I don't remember which one. I finally decided I was working too hard trying to avoid sewing! I was also trying to avoid what for me is alignment challenges when making double mag pouches. I made it out of 8/9, and it took some wet molding and boning, and I'm still not happy with it. I'll try to post of picture of tomorrow as "What NOT to do"     

[Slowhand Bob]

I have been asking for ideas on just this issue over on the SASS WIRE and one pard sent links to a rather neat and ingeniously designed double pouch.  Though pretty simple looking, it is a bit of a leather hawg and certainly not very cowboy.  Its design is so simple that you should be able to copy and alter it straight from the photos.  You can grab those photos and put them in your selected file in the same way you used the 'save as' here.  Perhaps someone here will step in and volunteer some pictures or patterns of a mag pouch that has proven itself and could be used for cowboy 45acp.  http://picasaweb.google.com/ddcross/ErnieHill?feat=directlink#

I actually do not like the 8/9oz leather that I used in the photo above but my experiments with 6/7oz were not to my liking either.  Perhaps my next one will use a two ply version made up with 4/5 and 2/3oz leathers, gluing adds rigidity while the lighter leathers keep down the bulk?  In my mind, if the fit is full contact and the pouch depth is sufficient then being slightly loose should not cause a problem. 

Though someone said that pulling the mag from a pouch at the wrong angle for the design should pose no problem for a well designed pouch, I disagree.  I do not know how many times I have seen pards blame a holster or knife sheaths fit on their attempts to draw them at a poor angle in relation to the holsters cant (or lack of) and cause binding.  Im sure this would happen with mag pouches also, if they hang straight then you will need to pull straight up on the mag until it clears the pouch... 

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Slowhand,

That is a well thought out design you have created!

As I've said before, the advantage of doing leather work yourself is the ability to design, experiment and incorporate one's own ideas into an item.

[JD Alan]

I went to an IPSIC style practice last night, my first one. They run it rather loosely, not in regards to safety, but you could shoot pretty much any firearm as long as you followed the course of fire. I noticed a vast difference in the way guys wore their mag holders, so I don't think you could come up with a "one size fits all" type of thing. Most were straight up & down, but a couple of guys had them radically canted one way or the other. One guy had singles holders spaced way out and canted. His mag holders had an adjustable cant feature, something we won't see on leather (at least I don't think so)    

On the way to the shoot we stopped at the Sportsman's Warehouse, and I looked at the various mag holders for sale. Bianchi had some leather single stack single holders with a spring clip for $36.99. A double stack single went for the same amount. They had the usual assortment of tactical type stuff, in the same price range. I was inspired to go home and try making a double holder again with those prices!

I made one from Marshall Will's pattern a while back, and used it last night. It's ugly as all get out (because of my workmanship) but it worked fine. I carried the 3rd mag in my back pocket, but I really need to make something now that I have a 1911 to play with. Dalton sent me a pattern as well with the mags spaced out a little farther, but I haven't tried it yet.

Keep up the good work Bob, lots of us appreciate it!