Help! Need a Californio/49er black powder gunbelt!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Help !!

I have been offered a docent position that I must become a 49er/Californio, and have to have the whole rig together by January ....

Which seems like a long time, but once one gets in line to get something made and is told that it will take a year to see the finished product, it begins to seem like no time at all.

I have found a slim jim holster, and a bullet pouch, and have a big Bowie. So I plan to have the blackpowder revolver in crossdraw with the slim jim holster, and have the Bowie on my right hip ... will probably have the bullet pouch in the small of my back.

I already had a pair of frontier pants and vest in that 'butterscotch' color, and have found a Vaquero jacket that uses the exact same material and in the same color. So add a big palm hat and I am pretty much in Californio mode.

I  just need to get some huge mexican spurs ... which there are enough around that I can rustle up a not too expensive pair .... or just get some HUGE, vicious looking rowels and add them on my present spurs ....

What I am looking for is someone who has a billeted black powder gunbelt (i.e., no cartridge loops) in a darker walnut ...  I am including a pic of the bullet pouch to give an idea of the color ....

So, does anyone have a size 43" (from the end of the leather on the buckle billet to the middle hole of the tongue billet) that someone did not pick up? I'm thinking the belt should be about 2 1/4" wide....

So, does someone have an old order that was never paid for in this size? If so, please PM or email me (my email is on my profile) and perhaps we can come to a mutually agreeable outcome...

Thanks!

[cowboy316]

pm sent Mr Wadd
Cowboy316

[JD Alan]

Could you (our someone) explain the "Walnut oiled" treatment of that pouch? Thanks, JD

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

I just copied the color stated on the website ... in truth, the color is probably what some ad man thought would sell the most copies .... and has little to do with the colors of the stain used.

I put the pic in the post so that it would help to show what would have to be done with the stains the leather person had in hand ... perhaps a lighter/darker use of what is his normal commodity.

But I have found another one that is kind of like the natural oiled look that I might get instead ... and I am putting it on this reply.... it is much closer (in color) to the holster that Will Ghormley is selling me...

[Freedom]

PM sent Mr. Ellis,
Thanks,
Wes

[Trailrider]

You could probably duplicate that color using Fiebing's "British Tan" alcohol-based dye on veg-tanned topgrain cowhide leather.  If this isn't quite dark enough, add a touch of Medium Brown dye to the mixture.  Experiment on a piece of scrap from the same belt blank as the belt will be made.

So far as the belt itself is concerned, just about any straight, non-tapered belt would be correct for that period.  A plain brass buckle of either the center-bar type or an end-bar type with a leather keeper to tuck the tongue's end into would do.

Hope this helps.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I decided to go with these ... I am trying to look like a Californio who is mindful of the western influences coming to California or new arrival trying to blend in by using some of the Californio traditional clothing blended with his western tastes .... don't know if I am quite ready to have my pants seam split to the knee on the outside hem and a triangle of contrasting material sewn in as was the habit with the Californios .... maybe just some Vaquero jackets, vests and sashes for now ....

[St. George]

That belt style didn't appear until the 1920's - it's usually called a 'Ranger Belt'.

You could try locating a plain uniform belt with a frame buckle in a uniform shop catering to the police trade.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!