The replacement holster and Pietta conversion

[Graveyard Jack]

Not too often I make one for myself. I posted about the one I made for myself a while back and then foolishly sold. It was one of the first that I aged and it turned out real nice, so I listed it on Etsy and it went to a new home. Here's the replacement with the Pietta 1860 that I also aged, now fitted with a Kirst .45Colt gated conversion cylinder and ejector. I still have some work to do to blend the aged gun with the aged conversion parts, so I'll save that for later.

Originally showed it in-progress with the factory aged Uberti 1860 Richards-Mason .44Colt.


Here's the finished holster with the Pietta. This is the color I market as chestnut but heavily aged and antiqued to darken around the edges. No cracks but lots of wrinkles and surface wear.








For this one I decided to do a copper #14 rivet on the belt loop attachment.

[BrushyCreekDouglas]

Beautiful holster!

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That came out mighty nice, Craig. I like the character wrinkles. It looks well used but well cared for. Fine work.

[Rube Burrows]

As expected, another beautiful holster. Any six gun would look right at home in that and any cowboy would be proud to wear it. 

[Abilene]

The holster doesn't look as old as the gun.  But it's awesome! 

[Johnny McCrae]

That's a real beauty. Great color!

[Graveyard Jack]

The holster doesn't look as old as the gun.  But it's awesome! 

I went too far with the gun, it looks more like a 150yr old cast iron sewer pipe! 

[1961MJS]

Hi
I always thought that aging guns, leather and clothing was kind of a pain and unrealistic.  I mean real lawmen carried their pistols in a holster daily, and wiped them down at least every day or so.  They wouldn't have lost ALL of the bluing.  I do wear one of my hats enough that it looks authentically crappy.  The ribbon has faded from dark brown to tan and there's a few grease marks.
Later Y'all

[Davem]

Really nice. Did you both sew and rivet the belt loop? How does the gun carry? I tried a slim Jim but it was sort of top heavy- that is a lot of the gun's weight was above the top of the loop.  My only solution was a tight fit between loop and belt.

[Graveyard Jack]

Really nice. Did you both sew and rivet the belt loop? How does the gun carry? I tried a slim Jim but it was sort of top heavy- that is a lot of the gun's weight was above the top of the loop.  My only solution was a tight fit between loop and belt.

You want the belt loop to strike about even with the cylinder. It's a fine line to balance the width of the belt loop with the position of it so that it's not too low on the gun. Else it will want to tip over.

[Graveyard Jack]

Hi
I always thought that aging guns, leather and clothing was kind of a pain and unrealistic.  I mean real lawmen carried their pistols in a holster daily, and wiped them down at least every day or so.  They wouldn't have lost ALL of the bluing.  I do wear one of my hats enough that it looks authentically crappy.  The ribbon has faded from dark brown to tan and there's a few grease marks.
Later Y'all

Well, an aged Pietta or Uberti costs about $4000 less than a 150yr old Colt, is made of modern steels and can be fired with smokeless powder with relative impunity. Similar situation with leather. Everything else is personal preference. If you want everything to look new, you'll have an easier time of it. Personally, I don't think this rifle would have anywhere near the same appeal were it finished like a brand new Pedersoli. I don't know why you wouldn't want it aged.

[1961MJS]

Well, an aged Pietta or Uberti costs about $4000 less than a 150yr old Colt, is made of modern steels and can be fired with smokeless powder with relative impunity. Similar situation with leather. Everything else is personal preference. If you want everything to look new, you'll have an easier time of it. Personally, I don't think this rifle would have anywhere near the same appeal were it finished like a brand new Pedersoli. I don't know why you wouldn't want it aged.

Hi
My thought was that 150 years ago, when the guys we shoot like, were shooting them, they were new.   
Later

[Graveyard Jack]

Hi
My thought was that 150 years ago, when the guys we shoot like, were shooting them, they were new.   
Later

They weren't new for very long and this ain't 150yrs ago.

However, is all the wear on this sixgun from 150yrs of continuous use? Or is 99% of it from 20yrs of use 150yrs ago? I imagine it didn't fall out of the holster of a US Marshal and land on Gunbroker.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Hi
My thought was that 150 years ago, when the guys we shoot like, were shooting them, they were new.   
Later

I never was interested in "aged" finished for just this reason. Yeah, it isn't 150 years ago but I want the experience they had 150 years ago. If we're going to pretend to shoot like them, that is part of the experience. I doubt many of them had ratty looking pistols.

[Graveyard Jack]

I'd wager they didn't look new for long. They weren't play things or objects of their affection. They were tools. They were carried and used hard, every day. Typically one revolver, all day, every day, rain, shine, snow or sleet. I seriously doubt any of us put a single firearm through that kind of use. I'm certainly not carrying an 1860 365 days a year for ten or twenty years. I may carry a sixgun a couple weeks a year, spread out over 80 something guns. No rain. No weeks without maintenance, exposed to the elements.

Everyone loves antiques. I do and I like old guns. Problem is, they're expensive. All antiques are expensive. I just watched a +500 lot auction and everything I wanted to bid on went for at least double what I wanted to pay. Likewise, old guns and old leather are exorbitantly expensive and scarcely usable. New guns and leather that are aged check every box. What they did 150yrs ago doesn't really factor into it.

[The original bad bob]

My 2cents on the subject is these antique guns lost their blue finish and had rust and pitting on them within the first few years of their use ... a cowboy working in south eastern Arizona in the 1880's would be subject to dealing with fast appearing monsoon rains that would soak you to the bone , sleeping on the ground and no air conditioning or central heating, humidity and a holster soaked from rain or sweat.

The fine dust that would be kicked up by riding horseback would get in a holster and act like 1000 grit sandpaper and do damage to the fine finish on a new pistol all by itself.

[1961MJS]

Hi

My Model 19 from the 1970's has say 80% bluing, and more than 20% blackened metal where the revolver rubbed the holster.  The "aged" revolvers that are 0% blued don't look 2 years old to me.  I would grant that the Model 19 rode in a police car, with a lot less dust and rain though.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

[DeaconKC]

I carried a Glock 23 for 17 years on duty on a High Risk Parole Unit. When I retired that faithful old gun was truly battle scarred from pursuits and arrests. Yes, guns that get carried show honest wear. That doesn't bother me when buying a used gun, but I will let my own guns get their "aged" looks honestly.

[Rube Burrows]

I think with anything, each gun could show different levels of wear depending on the cowboy who had it and how they treated it.
I have my father's Glock 22 Gen 2 that rode on my dad's hip for many years. It has much honest wear and looks no where hear "new". He really takes care of his guns also. I don't think a Glock with a modern finish would wear the same as one of the old Colt's with its finish and metal of the day.

Again though, it all depens on the person carrying the gun and the situation. I have a few semi-modern guns that seen many years making hunts and being carried on the farm that def. show their age but overall was taken care of. They clearly don't look new but don't look abused eithe.

I have a cousin and also my father in law who are both notorious for not taking care of their guns. They get a gun and within 5 years that gun looks like it was dragged behind a stage coach through the rocks and dust of any given desert. They get thrown on 4 wheelers and side by sides, put in boats, taken out in the rain and snow, not cleaned as they should be, beat and banged on tree limbs and bushes etc. Neither collect guns. They buy guns to use for whatever task and they attache no sentimental value to them. I always cringe at how neglected their guns are. But....... when they are finished with them someone will look at the guns and say...... "if this gun could talk".

[Skeeter Lewis]

If you look at police guns sold second hand, they are nowhere near the state of the gun shown above.