Let's talk about gun leather...

[Camille Eonich]

Most discussion on the forums that have to do with gun leather center around leather makers of color of leather etc.


My gun leather is plain brown leather.  No tooling, no studs nothing fancy at all.  It is custom made though it's just that I chose to put the money into the functionality of the leather rather than a lot of fancy stuff.  Besides, I like the plain brown leather.


My belt is cut on a curve to better fit the curve if my hips.  The holster are cut down low in the front so that when I grab my left gun my thumb goes over the backstrap.  The back is cut low so that when I grab my left gun my fingers go in front of the trigger guard.  The cut of the holster allows me to draw my left gun in a such a manner that when the gun comes up to my right hand the left hand is already where it should be on the gun.  Ditto for the right hand.  This keeps transition time down because I'm not shifting my gun from hand to hand in order to get it positioned correctly for shooting.  At the same time the holsters hold my guns securely even when I'm at a dead out run on stages!

These things will always be criteria for my leather.  Even when I do decide to break down and get something a little fancier.

Let's talk about YOUR gun leather.  What influenced your decision in the leather that you bought?  Was it purely style or was it based upon functionality?  Was it based upon something that you had seen somewhere else, in a movie, a book?

[Big John Denny]

Man this is a tough topic. Everyone has their favorite leather maker and will swear their's is the best of all. OK let me try.

When I first started in SASS shooting I started with a couple of old holsters I had and my leather cartridge box belt I wore for N-SSA matches. I looked at what the other shooters were using for leather and how they shot. Asked some what they liked and disliked about their rigs and visited nearly every on-line leather maker there was. I also decided for my first rig I would go with plain leather, and get it from a maker who didn't charge extra because I'm a big guy. Some of the makers wanted $7 to $9 an inch extra over a standard of 44" to 46" belts. Since I needed a 52" belt that would have added $100 or more to the cost of the belt alone.

After looking around and around, I ordered a basic rig from Big Ed Douglas at San Pedro Saddlery.  Ed and I spoke about what I wanted and he fixed me up. I got a chocolate brown plain leather rig, no extra charge for the belt, and two gunfighter style stong side holsters. I thought about a cross draw, but a good friend of mine had been DQ'd several times using one of those and I didn't want to chance it. Both holsters were sized to fit 4 5/8" ROV, so I could also use my pair of 3.5" ROV if I wanted to.

I've done okay with that rig so far, and I also ordered the fancy Cherokee Jack rig from Big Ed as well. The quality of his work is as good as any I've seen and the price for each rig was more then fair. I even ordered them when he had a 20% off spring sale, which saved me even more.

The only thing I would change on the basic rig would be to order the holsters with more retention in the shape and a retention strap that hooked on the revolvers hammer versus the standard leather loop tie down that slips around it. I have to pay attention to my guns when they're untied to make sure they don't slip out by accident when I move around.

[The Arapaho Kid]

This is my gun leather.  Not fancy, but functional.  I chose not to have it decorated with studs and conchos.  It is a Buscadero rig and very "Hollywoodish" and reeks of Roy Rogers, but that's the style I like.  I dislike the cross draw rigs.  I have used them, but I'm not overwhelmed with them.

I looked long and hard before buying this one.  Most I looked at were way out of my price range.  I found a chap in West Virginia that does leatherwork and he made this one for me for $285.00.

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[Marshal Halloway]

Let's talk about YOUR gun leather.  What influenced your decision in the leather that you bought?  Was it purely style or was it based upon functionality?  Was it based upon something that you had seen somewhere else, in a movie, a book?

In my case, it was both style and functionality and I also fancy brown.

At first, I had a rig from El Paso Saddlery, a good rig with a mexican double loop, high cut with the trigger guard hidden.

 I like the look of a mexican double loop where the gun is riding high on my hip. I want the cartridge belt to be soft, but I want a stiff holster (thick leather) with enough friction inside to make me feel safe when moving fast with a gun. I also want the trigger guard to be exposed so I can touch the front of the trigger guard with my trigger finger when I draw the gun. Because of the thick and stiff leather, the holster will also tilt a little out from my hip. Well, after using the El Paso rig for awhile, I knew what I wanted.

I was lucky to work with Thunderbolt at Gila River Leather Company back in '96 and '97 marketing his products and by that I found his main product, the H1, to be the perfect rig for me.

It was perfect both in style and functionality.

Unfortunately, he stayed in the leather business for just a few years.

I am trying to convince him to make a few rigs again and hopefully I will succeed. He was one of heck of a leather maker.

[Big John Denny]

And it even has the retention strap I wished I had asked for.

[Big John Denny]

Kid, is that rig of your's from Red Dog Leather. I've heard a lot of good things about his work.

[Birdgun Quail]

I got my rig from San Pedro Saddlery because I heard good things about Big Ed's leather work from y'all here and at TFS.   It's my first rig and I am more than just a little pleased with it.  Ms. Camille, I'll have to admit I bought it for its style.  The double loop holster just looks like what I'd picture a man in the late 1800's would use to pack his six-shooter in.  But it seems to function well also with it's calf lining.  The holsters hold the guns securely, drawing and reholstering is easy--especially those long 7.5-inch barreled shooters that I'm rather fond of.

[Will Ketchum]

I have way too much gun leather but the rig that I use the most is from San Pedro and is plain black.  I do like some fancy leather and I am waiting for some carved leather from big Ed, which should be here any time now .

But to be honest I'd rather contemplate and talk about the curve of Camille's hip

Will Ketchum

[The Arapaho Kid]

Kid, is that rig of your's from Red Dog Leather. I've heard a lot of good things about his work.

Actually it's from Steve Catts, the Leathersmith.  Here's his address:

http://www.hidehandler.com/

[Marshal'ette Halloway]

Dang Arapaho~~
 
Your knife is bigger than your guns!

  I guess I need to start wearing my gun leather around the kitchen when I cook supper.. ya' know... get 'em broke in and all..
 
I sure hope that my rollin pin will fit in one of those extra holster spots. Kind of had it made for a knife of my own..
 but knowin' Annie Lee carries her "adjustment tool".. guess it okay if I carry mine.

[The Arapaho Kid]

Dang Arapaho~~
 
Your knife is bigger than your guns!

  I guess I need to start wearing my gun leather around the kitchen when I cook supper.. ya' know... get 'em broke in and all..
 
I sure hope that my rollin pin will fit in one of those extra holster spots. Kind of had it made for a knife of my own..
 but knowin' Annie Lee carries her "adjustment tool".. guess it okay if I carry mine.

Marshal'ette:  I picked up that Bowie at a gun show a while back for less than 20 bucks.  It has some good steel in it and I can sharpen it to razor sharpness.  It's a little too heavy for a tosser, but I can toss it and make it stick...most of the time.  I also have on my gun cart a 12 foot bullwhip and a tomahawk.  When things get a little slow at a shoot I'll break those out and do a little paper target cutting with the whip, or a little Hawk target tossing.  I like to remain versatile!

[Marshal'ette Halloway]

Marshal'ette:  I picked up that Bowie at a gun show a while back for less than 20 bucks.  It has some good steel in it and I can sharpen it to razor sharpness.  It's a little too heavy for a tosser, but I can toss it and make it stick...most of the time.  I also have on my gun cart a 12 foot bullwhip and a tomahawk.  When things get a little slow at a shoot I'll break those out and do a little paper target cutting with the whip, or a little Hawk target tossing.  I like to remain versatile!

HOLY MOLY~~
 And people think that Annie Lee and I are dangerous with OUR kitchen weapons

[Big John Denny]

Methinks the Kid is bragging now, but I'm not sure. I use a bow.

[Doc Shapiro]

Functionality plain and simple.

Doc

[The Arapaho Kid]

Methinks the Kid is bragging now, but I'm not sure. I use a bow.

Not bragging John.  Stating a fact.  I always wanted to know how to use a bullwhip, so I bought one, greased it up and have three videos on whip tricks.  I can cut a standard sized sheet of typing paper in half while being held by another person at arms length.  It has taken me about a year to learn how to do this.  As for Hawk tossing....I've been doing this since I was in the Boy Scouts.  We used to do that with a standard Scout Hatchet.  I started Hawk tossing when I belonged to the Cascade Mountain Men and when we'd go to a rendezvoux.

[LazyK Pejay]

I am having my rig made and I prefer the plain brown also. It will be right hand and I am debating the single strap "Duke" style.

LazyK Pejay

[Missouri Marshal]

I made Tricky Trina's and mine.  I have always liked doing leatherwork but had stopped for about 20 years.  When I got into CAS is give me a reason to start doing it again.  I know it's not as nice as some of the professional made stuff but it works and we like it.  My rig(top) is designed to be worn buckle to the rear, Trina'sBottom) is buckle to the front.  Her's is for the Ruger .32H&R Sigle Six.

[Camille Eonich]

Looks great MM.  There's been lots of good looking leather shown off on this thread.


Keep it coming.

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Marshal'ette:  I picked up that Bowie at a gun show a while back for less than 20 bucks.  It has some good steel in it and I can sharpen it to razor sharpness.  It's a little too heavy for a tosser, but I can toss it and make it stick...most of the time.  I also have on my gun cart a 12 foot bullwhip and a tomahawk.  When things get a little slow at a shoot I'll break those out and do a little paper target cutting with the whip, or a little Hawk target tossing.  I like to remain versatile!

HOLY MOLY~~
 And people think that Annie Lee and I are dangerous with OUR kitchen weapons

Uh, Marshal'ette, my bowie can't exactly be called a kitchen weapon...





My rig, and it's a keeper, is someplace on the "Show us your Rigs" thread, or maybe it's on the Bob Mernickle is a tease thread. I'll see if I can't find it later on.


AnnieLee

[Camille Eonich]

Hey Annie Lee, when you find it and put it up tell us about it too.  What I was kind of hoping for with the discussion was to get input on people about how their rigs were different and why they had them made different if they are or why the bought a rig right off the shelf and how it's working out for them.

I can tell what I like to look at but there are design issues that others have come up with that I think would help people when they get ready to buy new leather.


One thing that I left out about mine is that it's lined and the lining hasn't been dyed.  I have not ever once, no matter how wet or how sweaty I have gotten, ended up with stains on my clothes from my gun belt.  On the other side I have seen people with some very expensive leather get their also expensive cowboy clothes stained up really good by their belts. 


One other thing that I have found out.  My belt narrows in the front where it buckles.  Right now my holster end up right on the corner where the belt starts to narrow.  Not good.

If you're a small person then don't try to have loops put on your belt in front of the holster.  I did that and now my holster sits on top of my loops.  If I push it back behind them the the holster ends up all the way around on my backside.


Trying to count on slides can be a problem for smaller people too.  An 8 shell slide doesn't quite fit in between my holsters.  It buckles out just a bit.