these have been keeping me busy lately. feel free to criticize them, other than the poor lighting of my pictures [ i already know that]. i would like to know where and how to improve them. besides, if i don't agree with you i can just float you the bird at the computer screen and no one will ever know.:D :D :smokin
thanks for looking and and helpfull sugestions paul http://www.phforge.com/uploads/mvc096l.jpg

Oh sure Paul, we're suspossed to make critiques of your leather work with 3 guns on the monitor8o

Nice work! I can barely put a leather shoe on much less make something like that, but I wish I could.

tell you what's nice- my wife of 37 years just got interesred in shooting- no more problems when i want to buy a gun. the new problem is she wants them too. in the last 3 months i've had to get her 2 ruger pistols and a shotgun for cowboy shooting, and a berrita o/u for skeet shooting. since she got us in this cowboy shooting, i've made 13 holsters and 4 belts for other people, and 6 holsters and 4 belts for us. and i've sold 6 knives to shooters and made 3 new sheaths for other guys. along with starting skeet shooting, reloading for pistol, rifle and shotgun, longbow shooting, and muzzleloading, i've been thinking of going back to work to get a rest. we'll be going down this week to ron claybourne's 6 days to pick up a press he made me. that will give me 4 days to play with it . man , i'm i looking forward to this- a vacation. i've got 5 knives to finish and one sheath- who says retirement is fun. paul

Very Nice Paul ! Whats the trick to forming the leather to fit a pistol ? I would like to make one for some that I have but Sure dont want to put my nice pistol in a wet piece of leather. Do you cover it with something then mold it ? Anyhow, Im very impressed.

Shane

shane, i'm a rookie when it comes to this, chuck and sandy are the MASTERS- but i can tell you what i do. i spray the shi* out of my guns with wd-40 and push em in a wet holster- same for knives. i've been lucky in the sence that all the guns i made holsters for so far are rugers, and i have 4 of them. i've been using the same gun for all those holsters and no problem so far. think chuck likes to use plastic wrap then duck tape over them, think it give them a better fit [ not so tight] but not sure. maybe he'll chip in and help. everyone i've made them for is pleased, but i'm always open to improvement. the satin sheen from tandys seems to help smooth the leather on the inside, gives it a more finish look as well as a nice shine on the outside. paul

Basically what Paul said - I only add a layer or two of duct tape after boning IF the gun is too tight. Normally just spray with WD-40 or Ballistol, stuff in a plastic bag or wrap with saran wrap, and then mold/bone and let dry.

There is a place also that sells cast aluminum replicas of many different pistols (they are cast from originals) - I'll have to look up the address and phone for ya'll if interested. The cost is around $40.00 each. Another option is those cast pot metal replica "collector" pistols (these were originally made for the Japanese market - who can't in most cases own firearms and they were sticklers about them being "correct" as to size.) One such source I've used is http://collectorsarmoury.com/

Hope this helps.

Here is one http://www.ondutygear.com/redguns.html

A.T.

Here is another one http://www.galls.com

A.T.