Just thought I would post this for those interested in making their own simple western cartridge belt.
Specs, tools and materials:
(I am making this belt for myself so I’m using lower grade belly leather because I intend to use this in the Desert where the belt is going to get torn up by bushes loaded with thorns)
1ea Wickett & Craig 11oz. Leather belly to make belt, I made this belt 2” wide
1ea Wickett & Craig 3-4 oz leather belly that I used to make the 1” cartridge loop strip
(6’ of bullet loop leather length will give you approx 50ea .45 cal bullet loops)
1 ea 4oz. Bottle Fiebings Walnut pro oil dye
1ea 4oz bottle Fiebings black pro oil dye
Virgin olive oil to oil leather components after dying tjem
104 yard roll of 1mm width white nylon sewing thread
1ea Amazon $36 dollar leather working starter kit which included 4mm stitch hole punches
Carpenter speed square to lay out bullet loop punch holes
12” flat ruler to measure bullet loops for belt and cartridge loop strip
Hole punching awl that also came with amazon leather kit
Tandy #3 edge beveler
1ea package of CS Osborne 18 gauge harness saddle stitching needles
1ea 1/4” Chicago screw nickel plated
1ea oval shaped 1-1/2” strap size nickel belt buckle
Airbrush to apply dye
CS Osborne scratch compass to make decorative border groove in wet leather on both belt and cartridge loop strip
This belt is going to have 45ea - .45 caliber bullet loops so I have a good deal of saddle stitch sewing to do.... most real old west cartridge belts had as many bullet loops on the belt that would fit, often the holster would be riding over cartridge loops.. this belt will have an 6” open spot with no cartridge loops for my holster to fit... Its going to be a 2- tone color with brown belt with black bullet loops just because I wanted to try this and see how I like it.
I will update this with photos as I go
Photo #1... I have taken 2” leather strap and cut it to final length to fit my waist measurement, I then made tapered cuts in leather on both ends to fit the 1-1/2” strap size belt buckle I had...next I wet the leather belt and 1” cartridge strip and used a scratch compass to make a border groove all around the edge of leather.. I then punched holes for belt buckle tongue and belt holes and mocked up the belt to make sure the buckle fits both ends of belt... I also beveled leather and have given the edges a water burnish... then I took both belt strap and cartridge loop strip and used carpenter speed square and ruler to measure And squarely mark punch holes for bullet loops.. I then punched the holes.
#2 photo: I placed leather on old ladder to spray the dye on with an airbrush, then I used a paint brush to apply virgin olive oil on leather.
#3 photo.. I brought parts inside and started to use my hand awl to punch holes in belt for the sewing stitches that go between the bullet loops.
#4 photo: I am reaching the half way point in stitching the bullet loops.. kind of tedious even for someone with OCD
Last steps were to install buckle and secure with a 1/4” Chicago screw and then I added a few saddle stitches to buckle end of belt just to ensure it doesn’t come undone if the Chicago screw were to fail... I then used tokonole ( gum trag) to finish burnish edges
It took me about 6 hrs to make this belt from start to finish.. and I took breaks from sewing.. one last detail: I used enough thread to sew approx 6-8 bullet loops at a time.. any more than that and the thread was too long for me to handle.