My first 'loop' style holster

[JAB]

Bought a used Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum with a 7.5 inch barrel a couple of weeks ago and wanted to make a western, 'loop' style holster for it. Nothing fancy - just something I could use to carry that big hogleg around when hunting, etc. I usually just draw out a pattern by hand using an existing holster, the gun for which the holster is intended or both as a template/templates. This style holster seemed a little more complex when making one for the first time so I went to the leather working store (KC Leather) and bought this pattern pack:

Tandy Leather Factory - Law Dog Holster Pattern Pack

I used transfer paper to transfer the pattern (sans tooling pattern) to poster board then used the poster board as a template to mark the leather. I made a few modifications from the original. One was that I wanted the skirt to be full-length of the holster (not stop partway down like with the longer holster on the pattern cover.) There was a 'toe plug' included in the pattern but I left that out as I wanted an open toe. Since it will be carried in the woods, etc. I also added a retaining loop. Finally, I added a leg tie-down. I wanted a tie-down partly to keep the holster from flopping around but mostly to help support the weight of the Super Blackhawk.

The first pics show the completed holster with the edges burnished. After that are a few pics of the finished holster after I used plain, old Kiwi shoe polish on it (a little black and a little neutral but mostly brown.) It certainly doesn't look like a 'professional' job and my holsters aren't up to work from the likes of gregintenn, yet but I like it and think it will serve its purpose well.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

Amazing what a little color will do for the looks of a piece of leather like that.

[gregintenn]

Looks good to me! I found this tutorial very handy when making a mexican loop holster.

http://leatherworker.net/SimmonsHolster.pdf

[JAB]

Looks good to me! I found this tutorial very handy when making a mexican loop holster.

http://leatherworker.net/SimmonsHolster.pdf

Thanks. I had actually seen that tutorial when I was getting ready to tackle the project. In fact, that is what made me decide that it looked 'involved' enough that I wanted to use a pattern the first time. Now that I have made one, I understand the tutorial much better.

Pretty soon, I'm going to have to tackle the process of learning more about stamping/tooling/carving leather - especially if I want to do more western-style holsters. I have a couple of stamps and have done a basketweave that turned out okay on a holster I made for my NAA mini but haven't attempted anything more elaborate. I wanted this holster for the Blackhawk to be pretty plain-jane but would like to make some more elaborately embellished holsters at some point - and not even necessarily just 'western style'. My mom has a version of the Kel Tec P32 that was done for one distributor called a 'Lady .32' that has a rose on the top of the slide. I'd like to surprise her by making her an OWB holster with a rose carved on it for that P32.

[gregintenn]

I enjoy carving and tooling leather, but I'm just not very artistic.