Lined or unlined holsters? Now vs then.

[Cowtown]

I have been shopping for a new moneybelt/holster rig and have located several I really like, all from various makers. Some offer lined holsters with their product, others do not but at a price savings.

At this point I am not averse to either.

Right now all my holsters for CAS are lined. The set up at which I am now looking (a single gun Cheyenne style holster with moneybelt) is to be more for historical accuracy and non-CAS usage, therefore my desire to gain a bit more historical correctness with the leather.

Historically, were holsters lined or not or offered in both styles?

Advantages/disadvantages to unlined?

Thank you for any helpful insight and elucidation.

[Cliff Fendley]

The 19th century ones were both unlined and lined however I've never seen one lined the way many new ones are with double layered leather smooth side on the inside. The lining was buckskin, pigskin, cloth, etc. I generally use vegetable tanned pigskin when I line holsters.

With a modern smooth lined holster the gun may draw slightly easier and some people feel like it is easier on the guns finish but my experiences have found that is not true. High quality leather with a firm back is just as good. Some people thing suede lining is easier on the guns finish but in all reality if you plan to use it much it just allows dirt and grit to get in it and then act like sandpaper.

My advice to a customer is normally if you are going to get a traditional style with a money belt then go the rest of the way and keep it traditional. So I would recommend no lining or at least a traditional lining material.

I personally don't use lined holsters for everyday carry or CAS but some of my own are lined just for dress type rigs and for show.

[Cowtown]

Cliff,

Thank you for the response, I appreciate the insight. In looking through the book Packing Iron most of what I see seems to be unlined. In fact so far I have not been able to identify a single original holster that has a lining.

In my early 20s I had an unlined mass marketed  brand name holster that I kept a Ruger Super Blackhawk in all the time. I never had a single issue with the combination of an unlined holster and Ruger bluing but the brass cartridges I left in the loops certainly developed a nice green patina on the leather. A learning experience with brass and leather, no doubt as it was quite a chore peeling those cartridges out of their loops after they had been there for much too long. Of course, that was before the Internet and all the research one can easily do today. Had I known...

[Cliff Fendley]

It's not uncommon to see originals that are or were lined with the lining torn or it has been completely ripped out.

Most of my cartridges don't sit long in the loops since I use them on a regular basis but of my own gun rigs I use some don't turn the cartridges green and some do. Different cows and different hides I guess.

[Dalton Masterson]

I have an old GH and JS Collins holster that dates to around 1880 that shows a bit of lining still in it around the belt loop rivets. It does indeed look like pigskin, or something that is equally thin anyway.
Most of mine are unlined, but when I do, I usually do the modern thing and make it a thick veg tan lining for competition.