Clip for skeleton rig

[Irish Dave]

Folks:
I'm in the process of making a skeleton-style shoulder rig for my NA Russian. Everything's done except for the spring clip the retains the cylinder. I ordered one of these from River Junction -- and it's great -- but it's not deep enough for the thicker topstrap area of the Schofield/Russian style revolvers.

So.

Short of having one custom made, anybody have any suggestions or any leads on someone who might have such an animal?
It needs to be at least 2 3/4" deep (from back of the clip's curve to the end of the clip's topside tip.
The River Junction ones are about 2 1/4" and fit a Colt/clone perfectly, but not the S&W No. 3s.

[Irish Dave]

Never mind. Made my own and finished the skeleton rig.

I'll try to post a pic as soon as I can get some shot.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I've often thought about making my own clip for similar things. What did you do to make it? Any information on that is most welcomed. Thanks.

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[Irish Dave]

Well, Will, first it reqires a high carbon steel -- something between 1075 and 1095 works pretty well. I ended up using an oil-hardening tool steel 1/16 thick by 3/4" wide and about 9 " long.

The steel must be bent, shaped, drilled and polished in this "natural" state. It is then heat treated to harden it and give it the "spring" necessary. One of my good NCOWS pards, GW Schofield, did the heat treating for me. I believe he said it was taken to 1500 degrees for about 40 minutes, then quenched in oil. That brought its Rockwell hardness to about C-61. It was then returned to the furnace at about 400 degrees for awhile (don't recall the exact time) to temper it back down to Rockwell of between C-50 and C-54.

After hardening and tempering, any scale must be removed and the spring should be blued to help resist rust. I then covered the spring with leather and used copper rivets and burrs to attach it to the holster back. The inside depth of the curve ended up about 3" and that seems just about right for the No. 3 Smiths.

Affix the skeleton back to the shoulder harness and that's that.
Again, I'll try to get some pix soon and post one or two.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, Dave. I may have to give that a try. I've never tempered any steel, but I'll probably give it a try to see how it works out. Much appreciated.

[Dr. Wright Gooder]

Irish Dave,
That's not the clip for the Lightning, is it? If it is and you want to get some of your money back, let me know. I have a Cimarron Lightning that I wear in a Texas shoulder holster. Been toying with the idea of making a skeleton rig, but just haven't gotten around to it. You could just be the spur I need to jump on it.

[Irish Dave]

Well, Doc, I guess it could be, if you wanted it to.

The point I was trying to make is that there's only one outfit I know of that's making the skeleton rig spring clips and selling them ready-made. That's River Junction Trade Co. in MacGregor IA. Problem is, they're just right for an SAA or clone, but are not the right dimension for some of the other guns. The NA Russian requires a deeper and narrower curve. I'm sure that's also true for the Schofield and other No. 3 Smiths. I would think the smaller frame of the Lightning would also require a different (smaller) shape than the standard SAA.

I just made up the one for my Russian. I hafta say that I don't have any plans to make these up and/or sell'em, but will be happy to share any and all info that I can for those who want to do it themselves. It's kind of a pain in the butt, but it's not really that hard to do. If I can, anybody with some perseverance, a vise or two, rubber mallets, pliers and a fairly even temper can do it , too.