Getting started making holsters.

[texaswoodworker]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Have another question. I'm making another holster, but this one will have a retention strap on it. My question is, how do I do this in a way that I won't scratch the gun with the underside of the snap? It will be resting directly on the gun, much like this.



Do I just need a really thin piece of leather to glue over it, or is there something special you guys do?

[Camano Ridge]

If you are making a lined holster like the one pictured simply sandwich the base of the snap between liner and the holster body. If it is not a lined holster y0ou can skive out a dip on the inside of the leather or I use a forstner bit in the drill press to shave out enough of a depression to allow the base of the snap to sit below the surface of the leather. If the leather is not that thick then set your snap and cover the base of the snap with a round piece of leather glued over the base and then stitched. The simplest way is to use a snap cover (see picture below). How ever over time it may mark your gun a little but not like the metal of the snap.

[St8LineLeatherSmith]

or you could alter the pattern where it uses a  old style lash down strap with a thumb break
looks like that is a retention holster anyway so you will not need a whole lot of strap to keep the pistol housed in the holster.

[texaswoodworker]

Thanks guys.

The holster is not lined, but is decently thick.

As for the thumb break, I don't think that would work for this gun. Someone asked me to make them a crossdraw holster for their scoped Ruger 22/45 Lite. It's been a bit of a challenge deciding exactly how I wanted to do this, but I've just about got the pattern done.