Stiff Holster

O

old_mikee

Inactive
I just bought my first BP pistol from Cabella's along with a brand new holster. The holster is tanned very nicely but very stiff, too stiff to even force the pistol in.

Is there a way to soften this leather without ruining the patina of the leather? Perhaps from the inside? Anyone had this problem?

thanks in advance,

mike
 
You could grease up the gun, wrap it in a plastic and then soak the holster in water. Stuff the gun down it and allow it to dry. That will help stretch out the holster.
 
You can do that if the leather is vegetable tanned but a lot of Cabela's leather is chrome tanned and it will get hard if soaked in water.
 
I just got a holster from them too, the "open top" with that reddish-brown color to it?

If so here's what I did & it seems to have worked for me.

I rubbed a little neatsfoot oil in. (The leather was well filled with oil of some kind already & I didn't want to overdo it).

Then I used a hair dryer set on low flow & high heat to help the oil penetrate the leather evenly. To do this I put the holster back in the shipping box minus the packing & used the dryer to heat the box inside & contents for about 15 minutes to really soak the leather with heat all the way through.

Once that was done I shoved the pistol into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag, muzzle first, & wiggled it into the hot, oily holster. The purpose of the bag is to protect the finish from the hot oil, leather tanning leftovers & so on. Then I let it sit for 3 days.:eek:

Now its darn near a perfect fit, just firm enough grip to keep it in place but loose enough to allow for drawing without it slipping on the belt. I store the empty holster with a plastic (empty) pill container in the space where the cylinder would normally be, this keeps the shape in that area as well.:D
 
I have a pair of their holsters, wrap the gun in saran wrap, wet the holster down with hot water I just used the kitchen sink, put the gun in and use your fingers & hands to form fit the holster, let dry at oom temp with gun still in it, very easy works just fine.
 
Unfortunately, that oil tanned holster will soften by itself and continue to do so until it, with heavy use, will begin to look like a rag. Vegetable tanned leather is the best way to go.
 
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