Will Ghormley's Jesse James holster with 1858 Remington

[mrappe]

I have been working on a Jesse James holster for my Pietta 1858 by using Will Ghormley's  pattern. The required leather listed is 9-10oz tooling leather. I have been using a side that I hve had up in the attic for 15 years. The leather was Tandy's Live Oak and it shows as being 10-11 oz. I cutout the leather from the pattern and tooled it and was going to sew it together but when I tried wrapping it around the gun it looks like it will be a little too tight to fit in all of the way. i am not sure whether to
try it or whether to put a fillet inbetween the two edges to be sewn together. I can lay it on the pattern and it is the correct size. I am not sure if the weight of the leather is the problem or whether the Pietta is larger than the other brands. Has anyone else run into this problem. Any suggestions?




Thanks,

[Chuck 100 yd]

I`d sew it up and wet mold it to your revolver. I bet you will be surprised how well it fits. 

[will ghormley]

Hey mrappe,

Using the heavier weight leather will make the holster tighter.  It is also probably pretty stiff from sittin' around for 15 years.  Oil it and sew it up.  With some effort, I'll bet you can get your '58 in there.  The Pietta isn't any bigger than any others, it is the weight of the leather that makes it tight.  Once it is in there, the leather will give.

If you can't get 'er in there dry, do like Chuck 100yd suggests and wet it first.  Fill 'er up, dump 'er out, run water over the whole exterior, let it drain and sit for about five minutes, wrap your '58 in plastic, and that baby will slip right in there.

Leather is very forgiving.  That baby will work well for ya and wear like iron!

Will

P.S.  Nice job there.  You do the pattern proud.

[mrappe]

Thanks for the input. I think i will sew it together and see how it goes. The worst thing that could happen would be that I would have to un-sew it and put the filler in.

[will ghormley]

Hey mrappe,

If you have to un-stitch it, you can lay the holster over your filler leather, mark the stitching holes in it, trim the filler to fit, drive the holes all the way through, and re-sewing will be a breeze.

Will

[GunClick Rick]

Easy once ya know how On our next program,"How to make a canoe"

[will ghormley]

Hey Rick,

I patched up your canoe with some tar today, (I'm leavin' it to ya in my will).  Wintering without bein' submerged in water has created a few cracks over the years.  But, she don't leak now.  I can paddle out on the lake, lay in the bottom and take a nap, without gettin' wet.  I shore am enjoyin' your canoe while I've got it.

Will

[GunClick Rick]

 

[mrappe]

I sewed it up and wet molded and it seems to fit ok.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Looks good, pard. Well done.

[will ghormley]

Right fine workmanship there mrappe!  Well done.

Will

[Wolf Tracker]

Mrappe nice holster. The carving looks great.

[fowler]

  Nice slim Jims. I started with a Oklahoma leather Slim Jim for my 1871 4-3/4 45colt Open-Top. I like the early types. I wear it on a mills shotgun belt in tan canvas with a cap box holding 10 extra rds. of 45colt. The open tops were not really made 45 colt back in the day. But Uberti beefed them up with extra metal and stronger steel. I shoot 8grs. of Unique and a 250 flat=tip. About 830fps. I like it.

[JD Alan]

Excellent job. I have almost every pattern that Will makes, and they are great, though in my opinion a might snug for CAS. I say my opinion because I've found that snugness is very subjective thing. One thing for sure is you can't go wrong with his patterns.

JD

[Johnny McCrae]

Beautiful job! That Remington looks right at home in there. Many thanks for sharing this with us.

[Slowhand Bob]

Very good rendition of a great pattern and I love Wills included tooling designs.  Though the fervor has died down a bit, the Charlie Schofield rig actually turned more heads from the movie goers than did the HOG.  I think it would make an excellent pattern to approach Tandy with also.

Jd, if the pattern seems just a little tight you can, to a limit, use lighter leather, it gives a bit more room and molds a bit easier also.  Something else I do, to allow main seam fillers, is eliminate the rounded roll over at the top of the trigger guard.  This step, along with a liner, makes for a more updated design but loses a bit of the old time style in the process.  One last thought on Wills patterns, if you are willing to redesign the top slightly then his Cheyenne makes into a really beautiful Slim Jim due to its enhanced swell along the main seam (and the trigger guard is already reshaped for you).  The first thing I always do with a new pattern is get a tracing on paper to establish a center line and when I am happy with this I like to transfer to manilla folders for my first actual try at a holster.  If I am designing the holster myself I skip the paper and work directly on folder material.  At some point after accepting the pattern I will do a more permanent version (or several) on paper board.    

[JD Alan]

Thanks for those ideas Robby, and I agree with you regarding Will's tooling designs. Will says right in his patterns that they are designed to hold the guns securely, and there's nothing wrong with that. After all it's easier to modify a pattern making it larger than it is smaller.  I've done several things to make the holsters looser, including the use of fillers, extending the edges a quarter inch on each side, and enlarging the patterns just a bit with a copy machine, like 1 or 2 percent. 

I want to say again how much I appreciate Will's patterns. I don't want to sound like there's something wrong with them or I'm complaining about them.

JD

[mrappe]

The only part was was tight was the recurve where the triggergard fits into the holster. For my other matching holster I will probably just move that part out a tad. It did fit though. Thank you to everyone for the responses.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

          Nice work pard, you can be proud to wear this.


                   tEN wOLVES 

[will ghormley]

I like 'em tight where they "snap" over the trigger guard.  Makes me feel like me and my gun will end up in the same place at the same time.

Will