Leather patterns for Cowboy action
- Thread starter Moonbeam
- Start date
Check out Tandy leather. That's where I found my gun holster patterns. My other expensive hobby.
BullOnParade
CGN Regular
- Location
- Eastern Ontario
Tagging in for the ride. Would love to find some quality patterns opposed to the trial and error I've started with recently.
Thanks , I ordered the buscarado book. Looks like it’s exactly what I was looking for. ��
If you decide to join a SASS affiliated club, remember that buscadero holster can not be used in all categories. Before you choose your gun belt you should decide which category you are interested in shooting in IAW the SASS Shooters manual. Not all clubs are SASS affiliated, but most pay lip service to their rules.
I think that this book has a whole bunch of different styles. Thanks for letting me know, I wasn’t aware that there was guidelines to follow. I’ll wait till I join before I start to work on a set.
Cheers
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
If I may pass on a few tips to you boys...I went down the same rabbit hole when I started Cowboy, raising a family at the time so money was tight...and then the wife started shooting so two "store-bought" riggs were out of the question.
So off to the leather store I went (not Tandys but a leather wholesaler that had every type & weight of tanned hide you could want). For the belt a heavy leather weight will be best but medium weight will work as well. Belt loop leather should be a pliable medium weight, it needs to fold easily especially if your making .38 loops and be pliable enough to grip the shells.
The holster leather absolutely needs to be as heavy and stiff as you can find...bull hide back leather that is chemical tanned. The first ones I made were with a vegetable tanned hide and they "were soft enough to "pancake" with very little use. You don't want a pancaking holster...In mid-stage that narrow little hole your trying to get that gun barrel back into eats up time and if you miss the hole all together and drop the gun it'll ruin your day totally...you want a holster that is stiff enough to hold its full shape for years of use!!
Now just a word on stitching this heavy leather. I don't suppose many of you have a leather stitching machine ( your wifes sewing machine wont do the trick). I started out with a Leather Awl that I already had and soon discovered my hands weren't going to survive that stress & strain to complete the job. On a holster seam you will probably want a single layer rib in the seam for added stiffness so now you are trying to force a big needle through 3 layers of that heavy leather. I came up with a remedy to all this problem and it was much much cheaper than having them commercially done. I sourced a used drill press from a want add(it was nearly new but sure doesn't need to be) and removed the motor from the machine (easier to move around) and inserted the leather needle from my Awl into the drill chuck. Now I could use the mechanical advantage of the drill quil to punch the needle through 3 layers of leather almost effortlessly. After the needle penetrated the leather I just fed the thread tail tru the tread loop the same as I would with the awl and pulled as tight as I could to set the stich...worked like charm and the wife & I used those holsters for 6 or 8 years before we treated ourselves one Christmas to a store bought set.
So off to the leather store I went (not Tandys but a leather wholesaler that had every type & weight of tanned hide you could want). For the belt a heavy leather weight will be best but medium weight will work as well. Belt loop leather should be a pliable medium weight, it needs to fold easily especially if your making .38 loops and be pliable enough to grip the shells.
The holster leather absolutely needs to be as heavy and stiff as you can find...bull hide back leather that is chemical tanned. The first ones I made were with a vegetable tanned hide and they "were soft enough to "pancake" with very little use. You don't want a pancaking holster...In mid-stage that narrow little hole your trying to get that gun barrel back into eats up time and if you miss the hole all together and drop the gun it'll ruin your day totally...you want a holster that is stiff enough to hold its full shape for years of use!!
Now just a word on stitching this heavy leather. I don't suppose many of you have a leather stitching machine ( your wifes sewing machine wont do the trick). I started out with a Leather Awl that I already had and soon discovered my hands weren't going to survive that stress & strain to complete the job. On a holster seam you will probably want a single layer rib in the seam for added stiffness so now you are trying to force a big needle through 3 layers of that heavy leather. I came up with a remedy to all this problem and it was much much cheaper than having them commercially done. I sourced a used drill press from a want add(it was nearly new but sure doesn't need to be) and removed the motor from the machine (easier to move around) and inserted the leather needle from my Awl into the drill chuck. Now I could use the mechanical advantage of the drill quil to punch the needle through 3 layers of leather almost effortlessly. After the needle penetrated the leather I just fed the thread tail tru the tread loop the same as I would with the awl and pulled as tight as I could to set the stich...worked like charm and the wife & I used those holsters for 6 or 8 years before we treated ourselves one Christmas to a store bought set.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
One hint I forgot: buy a spool of the heaviest wax-coated harness thread you can find and use it. most any good leather or saddle shop will carry it.
- Location
- Grande Prairie
I've got a bunch, honestly they're all basically the same so once you get one you can make little changes to make it fit others. As stated earlier you want nice stiff 8-10 oz for the actual holster (I like the same for the belt as well but use different leather that isn't as stiff), around a 4 oz for bullet loops. There's a couple of different ways of doing bullet loops which is a long explanation right now. You can do pretty much a entire holster rig with rivets as well if sewing isn't your thing, except for the actual holster. Best way to save your fingers there is prepunch your holes using a awl, laying it down with a plastic cutting board behind it is a good idea. Then do a saddle stitch through it, strongest way of stitching it and will save your fingers. Keep your awl sharp as well. If your needle doesn't come through nicely you can use a small pair of pliers to push or pull it through.
Best advice I'll give you though is stay away from Tandy's, poor quality and hugely over priced.
Best advice I'll give you though is stay away from Tandy's, poor quality and hugely over priced.
