Skeleton rig pix

[Irish Dave]

Promised Will W. I'd post a couple of shots of the skeleton rig I recently finished.
It holds a Navy Arms Russian.

(Let me know if they're too dark, My monitor's dying and it tends to show images darker than they are.)

Here they are:

[Old Top]

Irish Dave,

That is one nice looking holster and Schofield, excellent work.

Old Top

[Forty Rod]

Nice rig.  Very nice.

Where'd you find the spur-less trigger guard for your Russky?

[Triggersmith]

That is a very tasty job of leathercrafting and creativity.  That shines.
Triggersmth

[Irish Dave]

Forty Rod:
I just ordered another stock one from VTI; looked at 'em; decided which had the crappiest case colors; and cut/ground/filed/polished the spur off myownself. I put the other stock one away. That way I can always change back to original if I want to.   

Pards:
Thanks for the kind words. It's a bit different, but of course completely "period correct" albeit late in our period -- mid-'90s or so.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I just got in from Oregon and found your thread, Dave. That really looks great. Superb work. I like the spurless triggerguard, too. Makes it look a lot like a Model 3. Thanks for posting this.

[Irish Dave]

Thanks, Will.

Hope the shots are of interest to the board.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Hope the shots are of interest to the board.

It's leather, I'm sure I'm not the only one that finds it interesting.

How do you keep the backbone rigid? I can think of layering it with steel or rawhide, but I don't see any stitch lines on yours.

[deucedaddyj]

I definetly like it. 

[Irish Dave]

Deucedaddyj:
Thanks, pard.

Will:

Well, to start with, the upper portion (above the clip) is stitched to the lower section of the harness (in kind of a lazy 'D' pattern) and the rivets that go through the clip go all the way through the rig, which adds a certain amount of rigidity also. Secondly, the "backbone" is very heavy leather, probably 12-14 oz. so it's pretty stiff on its own.  When the rig is empty, there is some flexibility to it, but once the pistol is inserted, it "ties" both ends of the rig together, making its flexibility nil.   

[Silver_Rings]

Dave that is really cool.  I'm always amazed at the wonderful leather goods people create. 

What did you use for the clip around the cylinder.

SR

[Irish Dave]

SR:

Thanks, pard.

I had to make the spring myself as there was none I could find commercially to fit this model revolver.
(Spring clips for regular Colt SAA and clones are available from River Junction Trade Co.).

I got a piece of "oil hardening tool steel" approx 3/4" by 9" by 1/16" and bent, formed shaped and drilled it to the proper shape. Then had it heat treated (I believe they said it was about 1500 degrees for 40 min) to give it the spring and hardness it needed. It was later annealed back a little to about a Rockwell 51-53 as I recall. Covered it with leather and attached it to the rig.

Hope this helps.