What is the quality of Oklahoma leather?

B

Bill Akins

New member
Saw a couple of crossdraw holsters I'm interested in online for sale, and they are by Oklahoma leather. Here's a couple of pics of them.

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Anyone know anything about the quality and thickness of these Oklahoma leather holsters? Would it be worth $40.00 for the pair?


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not fancy but

I ordered a holster for my 1st model Dragoon from Oklahoma Leather, $24.99 shipping included. Got it 3 days later Fedex. Cabelas sells the same holster, $32.00 + shipping. These holsters are not fancy, but the leather is not bad and the stitching is good. A Roy Rogers rig they are not, but if you don't want fancy they are serviceable.:D
 
They're "OK", but they are cheap. The leather may or may not be good. I have a few holsters from this maker that I bought years ago. Some have really good, thick leather. Some have thin, crappy leather. IMHO, it's a crap shoot.
 
It's chrome tanned. It will do for occasional use but will get soft and floppy with heavy use. Oiling will speed up the process.
 
For the price they're good. They kep the gun in place and will last a good while.
Like was said they aren't a Custom Rig but are aat leas as good (Better stitching now tho) as an "origonal".
For $25 bucks they are a steal, a good custom will cost 4 times as much.
JMHO
ZVZP
 
For $25 bucks they are a steal, a good custom will cost 4 times as much.
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Four times as much? You wont get a decent standard rig for that. With leather you get what you pay for.
 
Hawg, I think ZVP meant just a single custom holster, not a whole belt/holster standard rig.

As in a cheaper quality single holster for $25.00 verses a more expensive and better quality single holster for 4 times more.



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Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a $300-$400 set up.
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I can't either but I can do some pretty good tradin.;) I have some Oklahoma Leather too but it's just for looks not real using.
 
I was guestimating...

You're right Hawg, "GOOD" leather costs a LOT!
For the money,Oklahoma is good enough for field use and you don't have to worry about scratches and gouges from bushes along the trail. They look "Old West" and are made pretty well.
The Mikes Nylon rig. You almost can't cut them with a wood rasp! The nylon is tough and the shape protects the gun well.
They are about as far away from Cowboy as you can get though!
 
I can't either but I can do some pretty good tradin.
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That's a good point.:D
I have $100 holsters, and I have $20 holsters. They all hold a gun. The $100 ones will just do it a lot longer, and look better. Like I said I have a few Oklahoma leather holsters, and for "cheap" holsters they are OK.

It will do for occasional use but will get soft and floppy with heavy use
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This is kind of true. I have an Oklahoma holster that saw heavy use for about four years. It has held up pretty well and is still sturdy, but it does have the consistency of suede leather now.:(

For the money,Oklahoma is good enough for field use and you don't have to worry about scratches and gouges from bushes along the trail.
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That right there, is the best reason to own a few "cheap" holsters.
 
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This is my good rig. Made by Brazos Jack of Etowah River Leather. Maybe I'd best not put in print what it's worth.:D

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I have Oklahoma Leather too, it just doesn't get used much.

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Thanks for the input/info fellas. And those are nice looking rigs you have there Hawg.

I just realized something. Two of my four holsters ARE Oklahoma leather.
I had bought one of them on GB for $25.00 and then found the opposite side twin a while later at an online dealer for $17.50 same holster but left side. I forgot what brand they were because they aren't marked on the back. But after looking at several of Hawg's Oklahoma leather holsters, that looked like mine, I just got out the saved bag/label it came in and it is an Oklahoma leather holster. It says..."Cut away holster LH". It perfectly matches my right one so they both must be Oklahoma leather.

So I had two Oklahoma leather holsters already without realizing it.

My third one is a nice shoulder holster I recently acquired marked "Cimarron TX, Texas Jack, Fredericksburg, TX, Colt S.A. 7 &1/2 in"

My fourth one is one I made many years ago that is now modified to a crossdraw, basketweave, former shoulder holster as I first built it, that I modified to a front crossdraw holster.

Allowing me to carry four BP revolvers without much trouble. Their weight doesn't bother me, but doorways can be challenging! I carry one 1860 on either side butt forward, one 1858 target Marshal in my front crossdraw holster, and my '51 Marshal in my shoulder holster. Total of four.

I want two front crossdraw holsters instead of one and I want to replace the one I made with different looking holsters. Eventually I will have my holster rigs set up to carry the four I can carry now and up to six, eight perhaps ten, even twelve if you have two crossdraw holsters in the rear. A .31 cal baby Remy on a holster on each boot would bring it to 14 revolvers carried. Would you like to see that? So would I. :D

I've got some designs I've done and an idea for a rig that would carry anywhere from one to twelve revolvers and be modular so you could add, remove holsters, change configurations, be supported by two shoulder holsters putting some load on your shoulders that would be quick attached/detached to the waist gunbelt.

Carrying two holstered 1860's angled and butt forward on each side with a downward projection on the belt holding a drop leg holster holding a .45 Uberti cattleman on either side also. (Three revolvers on each side)
Then twin shoulder holsters and two front crossdraw holsters, perhaps two rear crossdraw holsters with a baby Remy in each boot holster, with spare cylinder pouches attached to the shoulder holster straps going over my shoulders and across my chest. Up to a twelve gun modular rig able to be quick changed to any holster configuration you desired from one to twelve holsters. So it could adapt to SASS match rules and then quick change to whatever configuration you wanted it to be when not shooting SASS.
This would be a Confederate Cavalryman's dream rig. I'd really like to build that.

But for now....I'm thinking those two inexpensive crossdraw holsters look pretty good and will last at least as long as it takes me to find someone to build my design or I build it myself with thicker better quality leather for the holsters and rigs of course. I'd cut those crossdraw holsters I'm interested in shorter to fit my shorter barreled revolvers and use these shorty's in the front. That way it's easier to walk since they hang down in front of you. I looked at the tooling designs embossed in the leather and I think I can cut it on my bandsaw so you can't obviously tell they were cut and then oil rub the cut to match the rest of the holster.

Thanks again fellas, now I know I actually had a couple of Oklahoma leather holsters I didn't realize were made by Oklahoma and I also found out what y'all thought about them. General consensus is they are inexpensive and will give fair to reasonable (but not great) service but gets floppy/baggy after a few years to where they don't hold good pocket shape anymore and are almost as pliable as suede....but will get you by for a few years if you want to go inexpensive.


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Different uses

Fancy tooled holsters have their place but for casual field use it's often best to use more plain equipment to carry your gun. sometimes (Unlike in CAS) you don't want to call attention to your gun so it's best to go understated. sometimes you run into people who freak at the sight of a revolver worse than if you were wearing rattlesnakes! The trick is to not draw attention (I know as my Daughter-in-law is one).
To be honest one of my favorite holsters is aTriple-K that I got from Cabelas it's a shortened single loop design (like the last one pictured in theis string). I cut about 2 1/2" off the end to fit my .36 Piettia Police. The leather is thick saddle skirt type leather and so far it hasn't stretched/collapsed or given me any reason to doubt that it'll last for decades! It is a small dimensioned holster that fits the little 5 1/2" revolver perfectlly. It is too small diameter to fit a .44 Remington cylinder though this design wouldlook good carrying one...
You CAN find some inexpensive holsters that not only look good but are made well. No they aren't engraved or embelleshed as nicely as a high quality custom holster would be but are nontheless totally serviceable and in their simplicity, actually look very nice!
One of my favorite holster belts is a 2" smooth leather Brass buckle belt. It matches many styles of BP holster due to it's lack of bullet loops. It's sorta hard to find a nice thick plain belt that just says I'm for Black Powder!
ZVP
 
My favorite field/huntig belt is a Triple K belt.
http://www.triplek.com/Products/id/38/grp/13/prd/22/
This is made of very heavy saddle leather. Holds 25 rounds for my .45s, and I think it looks pretty good too. I also have a custom "period" cartridge belt from David Carrico
http://www.carricoleather.com/
that cost a bit more that I also love. The triple k belt is just as well made as the Carrico belt, just not as authentic.:D There is a place for "cheap" leather ( I don't think anyone said differently) as well as the "good" stuff.
 
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