New Guy saying How Y'all doin...

[Deputy JR Parker]

Was looking for a holster pattern and ran across the group.  Registered and spent most of the day reading the leather shop posts..  Lots of experience here especially for someone who is self described as a tenderfoot...    My story.  Retired a year ago last December after just over 3.6 decades in LE.  At the urging of my wife to GET a hobby I started building Concealed carry holsters.  Did not know much about it and there are not many books that teach the art and science of leather craft..  It's not really new to me as I've fooled around with leather most of my life just never got serious about building stuff..    As a kid I would shine shoes in my grand dad's shoe shop where he did shoe repair and harness work... 

My mom left me some tools and an old FO Baird book when she passed a few years back and I've picked up some other books along the way..  I've been building CCW holsters for about a year and a half as a hobby and frankly am pretty busy.  Cant say I know much about making them but I know a bunch about carrying one..  That gave me some insight into what works and what don't work so well.. 

I was so bored I went back to work part time as a trainer (firearm and tactical related topics) for my old agency..  Thus the name "Deputy" in my handle. 

Couple of weeks ago one of the guys while at the range ask's me if I can build him a "cowboy" holster for his Ruger.  It seems he just got into CASS and is having a blast..    After some conversation I established he wanted some sort of a Mexican loop..  So I got out the FO Baird to see what was there.  Made pattern based on one from there except I covered part of the trigger guard (I've got a thing about that).  Tried to give it a 'used' look..  It is however sort of stiff (tempered) leather...  Took it out and tried some draws. 

Kind of fun so I build one for myself.  Then I built a cross draw for both of us..  He has invited me to go with him to a SASS shoot in a few weeks.  He tells me that once I try it I'll be hooked..  So in anticipation of that I build a pair of cuffs (based on my granddads).  I've got a 2.5 inch belt.  Built a feed bag (based on my memory of what they looked like) to carry ammo... 

Borrowed a second gun and have done some shootin..  Although as I read some of the threads here I'm guessing my 30 year old boots will be too modern for the sport...  Guess I'm gonna have to suffer until I make sure I'm gonna want to stay with it... 

Have attached a few photos of the holsters I did (first one's).  Hope y'all can help me improve what I'm doing in stead of just pounding on cowhide.. 

As I look at some of the work posted here.  I'm shamed to show y'all my efforts... 

Hope to learn more as time goes on...   

[GunClick Rick]

Well your at the right place,you got your own way of doin it,i myself don't do the work but i hang out here becuase i admire the the work all the others do,you'll see stuff here that will blow you away,i have also been the reciever of a few of the fellers work here godbless them!! Thanks for your service,my cousin is a Lt. now at a local PD and also does instructing,your knowledge will be a great asset to what you do and probably others here.Look forward to seeing more,welcome aboard,pull off your coat and stay awhile

One KT did for me,ain't it a bueat!



I fix up old hats This is a Festus i did..

[KidTerico]

Welcome aboard. Its nice to have new leather workers  here . Nice work. Keep m coming. KT

[Red Cent]

Welcome Deputy. Good work. Size, shape, and purpose will come.

If your friend is very competitive, you're hang up on the trigger will slow him down if he wears double strongside holsters. A crossdraw shooter won't have a problem and a duelist won't have a problem most of the time. The duelist, while firing one handgun may grasp his next handgun (with finger in the trigger) and be ready to draw as soon as he empties the first. Some duelists will holster their first handgun and maintain a full grip while drawing the other. I shoot with J. M. Brown, a multiple national champion and a multiple world champion and he could not use the holsters that the trigger is covered.
The problem shows up when he draws with the weak hand and transfers to the strong hand.

Top shooters want the trigger guard exposed and, hopefully extending out from the holster. On both holsters.

And remember, ya gotta cock that sucker before you can make it go boom .

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Welcome to our forum Deputy JR Parker


          We look forward to having you join in with us here, your work looks great, we have a lot of experience here at Cas City Leather Shop, so feel free to jump in with anything questions you may have, and we welcome anything you might have in your bag of tricks also.


                  tEN wOLVES 

[outrider]

Deputy JR...I sent you an email

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy JR,

Welcome to the Leather Shop. Nice work you have posted. We look forward to seeing your future projects.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Howdy, JR. Glad to see you with us. Welcome to the Leather Shop. It's a great place and the pards here are full of great ideas. You'll fit right in. What's the brand? Circle Double Bar P?

[santee]

Welcome welcome!! This is a great larnin' place.

[Deputy JR Parker]

Thank's for the "Howdy".   

At the risk of for gittin to answer each question...  Just Hollar if I do.  The Circle Double Bar P come from my family background.  In the 60's - 70's my family was in the Cattle business and that was our brand =P..  I adopted it for my leatherwork (such as it is).. 

I see a lot of very nice leathergood here and hope to learn a lot. 

Thanks for the insight on the covered trigger guard...  (I know I'll have to overcome some of my LE firearms instructor learning to get past that)... 

I'm looking at the CAS venue as fun.  I guess like all competitive shootin there is a certain amount of gamesmanship present..  I'm just looking towards the fun part...  (besides as a kid I grew up playing cowboy and just never got it out of my system  )

Very nice work on the hat.. 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks for the brand information, JR. With a family brand in my history also, I have a special interest in them.

I personally like my holsters to be as historically correct as possible. Here's my current rig. I draw the line at safety, that's why I have the tie-downs. Without them, there's a chance that I could drop a belt and holster around my ankles. I always manage to place in the upper 10%, anyway. I'm not young enough or interested in devoting the needed practice to be top dog. The upper 10 is fine with me.

[Deputy JR Parker]

Marshall...  Very nice rig..  I like the cartridge holder...  Did you build that?  I am mostly interested in the "having a good time" part of CAS shootin..  While some may say I have a competitive nature my eye sight just doesn't let me see the front sight like I use to.  From a competitive shooting aspect when I was much younger I was very active on a local, state, and national level shooting what was known as PPC.  When I bought my current place back about 15 years ago and we moved here I disposed of about 30 boxes of trophies from those days..  My wife was REAL happy about not dusting them..  I did keep a few state champ and the national awards but they have been gathering cobwebs in the basement for quite awhile..  One thing I would boast about was making the Gov's 20 a couple of years (we had a program here quite awhile back where the Gov recognized the top 20 competitive LE shooters in the state and offered a shooting award and agency patch rocker panel). 

So tell me about the rig  n irons..  I've got an old model Ruger Vaquero Beasley grip and borrowed a regular grip model (45lc) that I'm gonna shoot..  Can't seem to find another Vaquero locally at a reasonable price so I'm looking at a Blackhawk in .357 as an alternative along with a Rossi lever gun... 

[Red Cent]

Deputy, if your eyes are fairly equal, you can spend one dollar and really help your shooting. I wear a pair of glasses from Dollar Tree that is strong enough to see the front sight and will leave the target a little blurry. Just a little. In SASS, a shooter should see the front sight clear, be aware of the rear sight and see a slightly blurred target. If one takes the time to see the front sight and the rear AND line them up vertically and horizontally, well, they willjnot place high on the list. Probably will shoot clean, though.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

JR, I did make the cartridge holder. It's basically a BP bullet pouch design. As to eyes, I always shoot with both eyes open so I had a pair of contacts made the put the front sight in focus with the right eye and the distance clear for the left. I just got used to them and wear them all the time. I did trip on a few things while I got used to them, though.

Your years of good shooting will help with CAS. You'll adapt to the wheel guns fine. If you want to go fast, you'll outgrow a Rossi 92 and need something faster. The Model 73's are very quick and will allow you to work fast without hiccups. Be sure to get an action job on anything you get.

Both my holsters are from the same pattern. I just changed the toe and upper line to make them look different. They work identically. The pistols are also the same type with dissimilar grips so they look different, too.

You probably noticed two belts. I like crossed belts so I can wear them a little lower without sacrificing the historical appearance. The shotgun belt is a canvass one converted to a prairie style belt. You could use a Mills or anything similar for your second pistol. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/mills-ammo-belt Mine may have come from Cabelas or Midway a number of years ago. It avoids having slides that aren't even close to historical. Mine will hold a dozen across the front and when I'm going to use it, I pull the shells up so just the tips are held. Grab two, throw 'em in. It works great.

You could make something like this and put the buckle on like a prairie belt so the billet sticks behind the belt, out of the way.

[KidTerico]

Marshal that's a darn good looking rig.  I could make one just like that only with spots. KT   

[Deputy JR Parker]

Hey Y'all thanks for the tips n advise on the rigs and how to run em..   Gonna giver a try in a few days.  Drove down to River Junction Tradin Company a few days ago and got me some store bought duds..  (kinda  spendy for the latest "old" fashioned store bought dry goods).  I'm standing there looking in the mirror and thought holy crap...  I've become my grand father...   

It was a nice day trip and took the wife along so we could go look at the stuff she wanted to stop and see..  Even drove past Cabelas with out stopping.. (which was REAL tough  ). 

Didn't really give the "alias" aspect much thought..  So going for that old cavalry trooper turned deputy thing...  Next dig out the great grand dads pocket watch and wind it up...  found some spectacles that just happen to be my rx..  gonna givem a try later today with the shooting irons.. 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Marshal that's a darn good looking rig.  I could make one just like that only with spots. KT   

that would be fun to see. A comparison of two peoples interpretation of something.

[Red Cent]

"......So going for that old cavalry trooper turned deputy thing."

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/redcent69/Random%20pictures/Valdez_is_Coming_zps0304f555.jpg

[Deputy JR Parker]

"......So going for that old cavalry trooper turned deputy thing."

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/redcent69/Random%20pictures/Valdez_is_Coming_zps0304f555.jpg

Thanks for the inspiration.  That is real close to where I'm heading..  Although I just can't do that to a nice hat..  Have not picked up the boots yet...  Looking for some preacher boots that are more modestly priced..  Anyone care to share a source?   

[Red Cent]

What size?