bedbugbilly
New member
Although I don't shoot CAS, I still love all the "old west" things. I winter in southern AZ and do leatherwork when I'm there (I summer in Michigan). I just wanted to share some photos of the gun leather I just finished for my Ruger New Vaquero (357 - 5 1/2" barrel - I shoot 38 spls.).
Since I am in southern Arizona during the winters, I wanted a style of holster that would be appropriate to this area. I used the holster shown on page 111 of “Packing Iron” that was made by “Patton & Co.” of Tombstone, AZ Territory – believed to have been produced 1885 – 1895 as a basic design style since it is authenticated and attributed to southern AZ.
I've made holsters, cartridge boxes, hunting pouches, etc. for years. This is my first cartridge belt (I usually prefer to carry my cartridges in a pouch). The rig is finished in "antique saddle tan" - prior to dying, I "distress" the leather utilizing a very high tech process - with the leather still wet from "casing", I put it "hair side" down on my curshed stone yard and then walk on it - this results in the dye highlighting the "low spots" and it gives it an old/used appearance.
For those that are curious about the “hand cuffs” – these are original handcuffs – believed to be from the late 1800s. They are unmarked and I have had several hand cuff collectors examine them and they feel they are 1870 – 1900 period. These were given to me by my Dad years ago. He found them in an old trunk in the attic of a house in California that he and my mother rented in the 1940s prior to moving back to Michigan.
Since I am in southern Arizona during the winters, I wanted a style of holster that would be appropriate to this area. I used the holster shown on page 111 of “Packing Iron” that was made by “Patton & Co.” of Tombstone, AZ Territory – believed to have been produced 1885 – 1895 as a basic design style since it is authenticated and attributed to southern AZ.
I've made holsters, cartridge boxes, hunting pouches, etc. for years. This is my first cartridge belt (I usually prefer to carry my cartridges in a pouch). The rig is finished in "antique saddle tan" - prior to dying, I "distress" the leather utilizing a very high tech process - with the leather still wet from "casing", I put it "hair side" down on my curshed stone yard and then walk on it - this results in the dye highlighting the "low spots" and it gives it an old/used appearance.
For those that are curious about the “hand cuffs” – these are original handcuffs – believed to be from the late 1800s. They are unmarked and I have had several hand cuff collectors examine them and they feel they are 1870 – 1900 period. These were given to me by my Dad years ago. He found them in an old trunk in the attic of a house in California that he and my mother rented in the 1940s prior to moving back to Michigan.
