SEEN A LOT OF PRETTY GUNS HERE SO FAR BUT WHAT ABOUT GOOD LEATHER? I BELT CARRY IN THE FIELD (MY RANCH, AT MY SHOOTING RANGE ON THE RIO GRANDE, AT A DEER LEASE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES HAVE, etc.) MAYBE 80 OR SO DAYS A YEAR. MOSTLY I USE EL PASO SADDLERY ROUGHOUT MONEY BELTS AND I AM PARTIAL TO VINTAGE HOLSTERS, ESPECIALLY FANCY HOLSTERS (BBQ HOLSTERS) BUT ALSO HAVE PRACTICAL PLAIN HOLSTERS. WILL BE POSTING PICTURES OF GUNS AND HOLSTERS SOON (I HOPE).

P.S. TEXAS NOW HAS OPEN CARRY BUT IN URBAN AREAS MOST LICENSE HOLDERS PREFER TO CARRY CONCEALED AND I RARELY CARRY OPEN IN TOWN.

This is a Barranti Threepersons housing one of my 5 1/2-inch Bisleys - a custom in .45 Colt.



This elephant hide holster was stitched by member CraigC. The picture does it no justice (I have better photos of it that I will post as soon as I locate them).

I have never been a fan of open carry in public places.I don't advertise. The people that I think need to know I carry do. Never been to a fancy barbecue,but around like minded people I would carry in one of the cross draw holsters I have made. Couple of pictures on bragging board,never can seem to figure out how to post them.

MAX: I CHECKED OUT BARRANTI LEATHER, NICE STUFF, MAY GIVE HIM SOME BUSINESS, I REALLY LIKE HIS FANCY No. 5 WITH FLORAL CARVING AND LACING.

JUNEBUG: A BBQ GUN IS JUST A FANCY GUN, USUALLY ENGRAVED AND/OR WITH FANCY GRIPS, AND OFTEN NICKELED OR BRIGHT STAINLESS.

Well, lets see if we can't do something about that junebug ;-)











Nice!!!

BOUGHT A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL CARVED, AUSTIN STYLE, EL PASO SADDLERY HOLSTER FOR A N-FRAME S&W, AT A GOOD PRICE, ON EBAY. WORE IT TO THE SHOOTING RANGE ON THE RIO GRANDE (IN NO-MAN'S LAND BETWEEN THE RIVER AND A BORDER FENCE). IT FIT FUNNY AND WEIRD IN MY NORMAL RIGHT SIDE CARRY. WHEN I GOT HOME I FIGURED OUT IT WAS A CROSS DRAW. BECAUSE OF MY GIRTH AND LIMITED RANGE OF MOTION IN MY RIGHT SHOULDER CROSS DRAW IS NOT PRACTICAL FOR ME. BEFORE I BUY OFF THE INTERNET NOW I LOOK CLOSE TO MAKE SURE IT IS NOT CROSS DRAW. WHEN I HAVE ENUFF POSTS TO QUALIFY TO PUT IT IN THE CLASSIFIEDS YOU MAY SEE IT.

Very nice Junebug!

I have made one or two. From traditional blackpowder rigs...



...cowboy rigs...


...and movie rigs...




...to field holsters...




...modern concealment...


...flap holsters...


...and Rocky Mountain fur trade era knife sheaths.

I love good leather and this thread has a lot of nice holsters. I can see I am going to have to add a Craig44 holster to the inventory. Here's a few of mine. You'll notice they're all correctly handed.

An old El Paso Saddlery Threeperson cross draw. My wife bought this for me as a birthday present when I only had one centerfire revolver and we were poor as church mice. It rode on my belt many a thousand miles. It shows a little wear.



Another birthday present from my wife. A Barranti EK#5.



A pair of 45 Colts in their respective shucks. The top one a vintage Lawrence 120 and the lower a Simply Rugged Pancake.



This old Bianchi makes a nice home for my Powermag.



And a well worn, much traveled old Hunter housing an equally well traveled Single Six. Many long miles and days on the trapline and a few truck loads of coyotes fell to the SS.

MART: GREAT VARIETY OF CLASSIC HOLSTERS AND HOLSTER TYPES, PACKING IRON THE RIGHT WAY. YOU CAN FIND GOOD LAWRENCE HOLSTERS FOR UNDER A $100 ON EBAY. MOST OF THE SELLERS DO NOT KNOW WHAT GUN THE HOLSTER IS FOR SO YOU HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF. HOW DO YOU LIKE THE EK#5? CLASSIC STYLE + FLORAL CARVING + LACING, HARD TO GET ANY FANCIER.

CRAIG44: BEAUTIFUL IRON PACKS. DO YOU JUST MAKE FOR PERSONAL USE OR IS YOUR WORK AVAILABLE TO OTHERS?

I love the EK#5. Rides high on the belt and holds the revolver in close to the body. A very comfortable set up. I'm swooning right now for one of the Craig44's Paladin holsters in elephant hide. I've found several holsters on eBay, in fact that Lawrence 120 with the Bisley 45 and the Bianchi came from eBay, for not much money.

Here's a couple of pictures of the EK#5 in use.

Cooking breakfast at a men's ministry float trip.



And helping a carpentry challenged friend build a bear baiting tree stand for him and him daughters

Left is a Lawrence 120 for my 6" DW .32 mag and right is an El Paso for my 4" S&W .32 mag... Bought on e-bay.... Below is a heavy leather holster patterned after a Lawrence 120 for my five shot 475 Bisley that was made by a good friend...bottom shows three Lawrence and a black Bianchi flap holster for a 8 3/8" S&W N-frame.... these four were purchased on e-bay and as 45man said,
the sellers usually don`t know what they have.....

JAMES: I SEE WHERE YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO PICK FROM THE PICKERS ON EBAY.

THERE ARE 1,000'S OF HOLSTERS FOR SALE ON EBAY SO YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FILTER THRU THEM. REALLY GOOD VINTAGE HOLSTERS FOR SALE ON GUN BROKER BUT THE SELLERS ARE MORE SAVVY AND THE PRICES ARE HIGHER.

WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE I PREFER HOLSTERS WITH A HAMMER THONG VERSUS A STRAP. SOME HOLSTERS ARE BUILT SUCH THAT YOU CAN PUT DA AND SA REVOLVERS IN THEM BUT A STRAP WILL NOT WORK FOR BOTH, IT WILL USUALLY ONLY WORK FOR ONE OR THE OTHER. I HAVE SOME REALLY NICE VINTAGE HOLSTERS THAT I CAN PUT N FRAMES AND RUGER SA's IN AND SINCE THEY HAVE THE HAMMER THONGS THEY ARE DA - SA.

Actually the 1st pic is of the 3rd holster I ever made for a customer. I took orders from 2013 to 2016 but took a year off to get caught up, as this is only a side thing and my regular IT business was 7 days a week until only recently. Now I'm battling tendinitis but hoping to start taking orders again soon.

I've purchased several Lawrence 120's on EBay before all you guys figured it out.

Bought several for less than $50, some closer to $20.

I have a Barranti EK but mine shows quite a bit more wear than Mart's. It carries my Power Custom #5 Ruger and they have seen several miles together. The shuck is holding up fine but is quite a bit darker now. I need to figure out how to post pics again.

In my opinion El Paso Saddelry is producing some of the best "non custom" leather available these days.

Dan

Thanks Rod. Craig44 you do beautiful work. Those holsters and especially the Knife sheaths are SWEEEEEEEET!!!!!!! Mart it's great to see that you use them, as they were meant to be used.

I believe in using guns and holsters as they were intended and not just as show pieces. I like fine guns and fine leather, I just don't baby them.

It's hard to tell in this picture but that's the EK#5 on my hip while I'm dipnetting salmon. Had to clean a little fish slime off after the trip but it was no worse for wear.

45Man, Yes...I`ve been getting Lawrence/El Paso holsters on e-bay for quite sometime and these are just a few of the many I own... Had to sell some cause I had too many...

MART, your SS in the Hunter holster must have some stories to tell.......Never walked a trap line but this S&W .22 Kit gun has killed more game then any of my big bore`s with finish shots... She was the 3ed handgun I bought in the `70s and was originally blue...Had it re-blued twice and then hard chromed. The holster is also by S&W and just like your SS Hunter... Had a mag cylinder fitted and a 40gr FMJ zips through the thickest skull..

Well great! Now I've got to build another holster. You guys have some amazing looking leather. Something I've never said about nylon or kydex.

James,

It has seen a few miles that's for sure. And it came to me already with plenty of experience, or at least time in a holster. The Micro Sight added to it tells me the previous owner may have been more than just a casual user.

Not to get this thread too far off track from leather but I bought it shortly after we were married 26 years ago. I was working seasonally for the Forest Service, about 7-8 months a year and trapping professionally in the winter. It was a great life. Not much money but we got by and had a little left at the end of each month.

I needed a good little sidearm for dispatching furbearers. I had a little 1902 single shot Winchester I was using to dispatch animals but worried that modern ammo might be too much for it and retired it. A friend had a small gun shop and that little SS was in the display. He let me put it on lay away while I grabbed every extra hour of fire patrol and wildfire fighting OT I could get. I got it paid off in time for trapping season and it has been with me ever since. It has dispatched enough coyotes to sink a barge.

I once put it in the Ransom Rest just to see how it fared. I knew it was a shooter but was shocked when the old yellow box Winchester put six into one ragged hole at 25 yards. I carry it often when I'm moose and caribou hunting to harvest the occasional ptarmigan and snowshoe. It's one that will stay with me to the end. It deserves a nicer holster than that old Hunter and maybe a full refurbish. I at one time considered doing a 38 Special #5 on it but can't bring myself to change it.
Mart

that`s a story for Field & Stream.......

shooting the Win. ammo like that makes it a keeper for sure... a perfect candidate for "one gun" situation......

WENT TO A GUN SHOW LAST WEEK, 1 DEALER HAD ABOUT 100 HANDGUNS, ALL SEMI-AUTOS, NO REVOLVERS. AS FOR HOLSTERS, MOSTLY NYLON AND OTHER SYNTHETICS, AND MOSTLY FOR SEMI-AUTOS. ONCE IN A WHILE YOU SEE "CUSTOM" LEATHER HOLSTER MAKERS AT THE LOCAL SHOW, REAL CLUNKY LOOKING STUFF, NOT FOR ME. THE YOUNGER GUYS ARE ALL IN TO BLACK GUNS, SEMI-AUTO PISTOLS AND TACTICAL ACCROUTEMENTS. NICE TO FIND LIKE MINDED PISTOLEROS ON THIS WEBSITE.

AND YES MART, GOOD GUNS AND GOOD HOLSTERS ARE TO BE USED AND ENJOYED.

This is why I stopped my Shooting Times and Guns & Ammo subscription....

Some of the shooters in my circle are surprised to find despite being a LE handgun and tactical shotgun instructor, I don't own any black guns other than one Glock 22. And that's because we train on and carry that weapon. When I retire it'll probably go by the wayside and I'll only carry my beloved revolvers.

I'm far happier with blued steel, nice grips, and fine leather. I don't mind the occasional stainless steel revolver. As long as it has nice grips and is housed in nice leather.

Mart,
I spent a couple of decades training with black guns too. By the time I had been in the field for 10-12 years my Glock 22 came so natural to carry that I all but gave up my long guns for handgun hunting. I still own a couple, ok several, black guns but my heart is in the wheel gun and specialty pistol arena. They bring something to the table that few other things do for me.

Sorry for derailing this leather thread. To make up for my indiscretion how about a picture of the gun belt I'm considering. The belt is a Lawrence and the holster a Hunter. The holster needs some restitching but the belt is in nice shape.

In all the holsters I've owned, I've never had a gun belt like this. Duty belts yes, but a gun belt with cartridge loops, no.

I'm weighing whether it will be practical or not. I guess I should just buy it and see how it works for me.

AFTER YEARS OF HYPE AND COVER TO COVER COVERAGE IN THE GUN SLICKS I SUCCUMBED AND BLEW SOME MONEY ON AN AR (A ROCK RIVER COYOTE SPECIAL OR SOMETHING), IT GAVE ME A SOFT ON. HAVE SHOT IT AT THE RANGE BUT HAVE NEVER TAKEN IT A FIELD.

MART: MY ROUGHOUT MONEY BELTS HAVE 24 BULLET LOOPS, AND WITH A LITTLE LUCK MAYBE I COULD REACH A FEW OF THEM, FOR ME THEY ARE OVERKILL AND I JUST CARRY 6 OR 7 ROUNDS. IF I WAS GOING TO BUY A NEW GUN BELT IT WOULD HAVE NO BULLET LOOPS AND I WOULD JUST RELY ON A BULLET SLIDE OR 2.

forgot to post this holster made by a good friend for me to carry my TLA #5....below: same holster with Gallagher 475... both 5 1/2" single actions fit..... bottom:
I have a soft spot for flap holsters and after seeing an old ad from a 1920`s NRA mag for a Heiser flap holster I had a copy made for my FA`s 44 mag....the darker brown leather color was caused by the lighting when I took the photo........

VERY NICE LEATHER AND GUNS JAMES. I AM AMBIVALENT ABOUT FLAP HOLSTERS BECAUSE THEY HIDE THE GUN AND I DO NOT USUALLY SEEK THEM OUT. ON KNIFE SHEATHS, SINCE I AM RIGHT HANDED AND CARRY MY REVOLVERS ON THE RIGHT, WHENEVER I ORDERED A CUSTOM KNIFE I WOULD ALWAYS ASK FOR A LEFT SIDE SHEATH.

I've got chest rigs that I really like, like this one from 7x Leather.

TEST TEST TEST, HOPING I GOT 2 PHOTOS ON HERE OF A S&W 625-6 MOUNTAIN GUN IN A FANCY HUNTER HOLSTER. THIS FANCY HUNTER HOLSTER (FLORAL CARVED + LACING) MAY BE THE "FIND OF THE CENTURY" AS MOST HUNTER HOLSTERS ARE "PLAIN JANE". I FIGURE SOME GUY ON THE NIGHT SHIFT SNUCK THIS ONE INTO THE PRODUCTION LINE. THE BELT IS AN EL PASO ROUGHOUT MONEY BELT. THE 625 LAID DORMANT FOR YEARS AS I DID NOT CARE FOR THE ROUND BUTT BUT THEN I FOUND THESE ROUND BUTT TO SQUARE BUTT GRIPS ON EBAY AND THEY WORK GREAT, AND LOOK GOOD TOO. THIS GUN SHOOTS VERY WELL WITH MY OLD WEST LOADS @ AROUND 860 fps WITH THE OTBC 250 gr. FP BULLET. I CARRY THIS A LOT WHEN I AM MOSTLY DOING WORK AT THE RANCH OR A DEER LEASE. IF I AM LIKELY TO MAYBE WANT TO HUNT WITH A BELT GUN I WOULD OPT FOR SOMETHING WITH A LONGER BARREL, BUT FOR EVERYDAY USE THIS IS AN EXCELLENT OUTFIT.

GUYS: ON MY PC THE PICTURES ARE BLURRY, HOW ARE THEY ON YOURS? MAKING PROGRESS ON POSTING PICTURES BUT BLURRY WILL NOT DO. THE 2 PICTURES DID NOT GO IN BLURRY??????????????

Some great looking leather. I carried a Single-Six in a fast draw rig for years before going to a pair of Smiths. I've been looking for a holster that will fit a K & L frame with a Vortex Venom sight (old eyes just won't work with irons) for nearly two years without success. Looks like I need to find a good holster builder. This thread is giving me some good ideas and I am starting to lean to a cross draw rig, keep them photos coming.
Thanks

excellent....your pics are fine here

have the same S&W .45 Colt Mtn. Gun and grips but you have a nicer holster......

There's a lot of beautiful leather in this thread.

I'll add a couple from Mike Barranti, a Longhorn Companion on the left with a 5.5' Ruger Bisley, .45 Colt and a 'Hank' Sloan with a 4" 629'

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/holsters_001.JPG

And a couple from Rob Leahy, a carved 120 and a basket weave Sourdough Pancake.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/holsters_002.JPG

I just don't get tired of looking at good leather. And there's plenty of it on this thread. Keep em coming.

I AM IN A VORTEX BETWEEN LEARNING HOW TO POST AND A NEW CELL PHONE THAT IS NOT ALL SET UP YET. I HAVE A REALLY NICE CUSTOM MADE BBQ RIG, FIT FOR A "SHERIFF FOR A DAY" OCCASSION, THAT I WILL BE POSTING PICTURES OF.

Here are a couple more, a Barranti 'Threepersons' and a Simply Rugged 'crossdraw'.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/data/500/holsters_003.JPG