Holsters

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   Anybody on the forum making their own holsters? I found an original Bianchi X15 shoulder holster at auction. But decided to put my leather making skills to the test and see if I could make my own. I have been working hard on creating holsters for the Auto Mag. I make my own paper patterns, from photos on the web of vintage holsters. I test fit the paper around my pistol, and if everything scales out right—then transfer to heavy card stock, then to leather. Cut, punch appropriate holes, stamp (or don’t), dye, stitch and finish the edges. Sometimes I wet the leather, saran wrap the pistol/mag and use a vacuum sealer instead of hand boning/forming to get the molded/custom look. It’s a lot easier on my hands! This is the first holster, a G.I. 1911 holster, lengthened to fit, and a mag pouch. I copied and carved the AM logo on the flap.

And the reverse. I made the belt loops to fit a G.I. cartridge belt. This makes it sort of a drop leg/thigh holster, hence the leg belt.

Second holster.

And its reverse.

This one was tricky trying to figure out how Bianchi did the “rabbit ears” for the belt loop and the front snap. The one piece mag pouch took some “cypherin’” as Jethro would say. When you unsnap the mag pouch, the flap is pulled up, raising the mag slightly from the pouch, giving you a better grab at the mag. I guess I also dropped a stitch here.

 The third holster I made is another copy from the web. I liked the basketweave and simple design after dealing with the last one I made. And its mag pouch was stamped with the same pattern, and a snap for the belt loop.

And its reverse.

All in all, I had fun researching and creating the patterns. I really can’t get through all the stitching without a few choice cuss words.

If there are other holster guys out there, I would love to see your work.