With the Concealed Carry law going into effect in Wisconsin soon I found myself short on concealable holsters for the guns I would carry. While also being short on a job and money and not being able to afford much I figured I better start making my own. My first one was a OWB cross draw for my J-frame. It came out OK, the stitching around the trigger guard is off some but is still totally usable for me. This is my second Holster and is for my S&W 5906. With it having a full size grip I figured to help conceal it I should give it a good deal of cant and also that I would position it around back as far as possible without having it cover my spine (about 5:00). It does ride and conceal good there, and the cant is not a problem. It also rides good and conceals perfectly at the 3:00 position...but I have to break my wrist quite a bit to draw from there so I don't know...

There are a couple of things I will address when I make another one. The plan was to conceal the T-nuts between the layers but I lost track of my pattern line and took off too much material on the rear tab while sanding...I'll try to get them inside on the next one. The stitching along the dust cover should have followed it's angle...for some reason I made it a straight line. Since I do not have much (any) experience carrying concealed, maybe some of you guys that do and use this type of holster can tell me what else you think I should work on, fix, change?

Wish I had your skills. Nice Job!

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M&P .40, M&P 9c & Shield 45

Looks like a professional job! Very nice indeed.

Chief38

Very nice!

The holster looks great, well done. I had a similar custom rig from Eric Larsen at HBE for a SIG. With an extreme cant for behind the hip carry, you see how wide the holster becomes. It may not be an issue for you but you can move the loops inboard and reduce the overall footprint of the holster without sacrificing stability. In other words, the "batwings" off to the side on what is already a wide design aren't necessary. Here's how Larsen did it:



This design fit well between 3 and 5-o'clock and didn't take up 7-8 inches of real estate on a belt, more like 4-5. Just something to consider.

Thanks for sharing.
That looks like a great holster, but I am wondering something..
For me, if I carry just barely behind the hip (3:30-4:ish), I need a wider holster "footprint", because if it is set up like yours...the holster cannot "bend" enough to the contours of my scrawny build...and ends up sticking out like a sore...thumb.

While it takes up more belt space, the wider designs work better for me.

I do, however, like the concept of less "real estate" overall, and am wondering in what position do you carry that beast of a Sig?

Wheelyfun, you've hit upon the fact that what works for some may not work for others. I'm a pretty big guy so I had no problem with that rig sitting right above where the back pocket is on a pair of jeans. It's not the most comfortable place to carry (you find yourself forced to sit up straight, perhaps not a bad thing) but with the right clothing it's doable. I think the advantages of this carry position are that it's fairly deep concealment and I like the idea that if one were told to hand over one's wallet, you can reach back as if to do so and come out with a surprise instead.

Like anything else, we're all different people as to sizes and shapes, not to mention lifestyles, and the idea is to find what works best for the individual. I just wanted to show markush an option he may want to experiment with if he finds his holsters too wide.

Nice looking holster.

What, are you a professional or something? That's beautiful!

Niiiice Work!

looks great, time to quit your day job....

HaHa this was my day job for a couple days...are you saying I should give it up!? Thanks everyone for the kind words! I really am surprised that it came out half way decent. I've got some top quality Hermann Oak leather inbound to use for my next one...we'll see if this one was just a fluke. I think I'm going to ease up on the cant for the next one just to make the draw from the 3:00 position more comfortable while still being able to conceal a full-size M&P.

DB thanks for giving me something to think about. I decided to spread the belt loops farther apart here because everything I've been told was it would distribute the weight better. I have a Silent Thunder OWB holster that has the belt loops a little closer together then that HBE and it concentrates the weight in that one area. Maybe the spacing on the HBE is just far enough apart to help with that, I really don't know. But I do know carrying the heavier 5906 in this rig is way more comfortable then carrying a lighter full-size M&P40 in the Silent Thunder.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for the comments! If I had a day job I wouldn't be quiting it just yet. Although, if I can improve with the next few holster I make, it would be cool to be able to sell a couple.

Nice work.

One thought I had regarding your design was that you might want to try making that rear extension a little longer. Aside from the weight distribution, I think a longer rear extension might help pull the gun butt in tighter, especially if you want to reduce the cant for easier drawing. I'm not a holster expert, though, so I could be off the mark there.

I have been making my own holsters for about a year now. Probably have made half a dozen. I can say that not a single one of mine looks as nice as your second attempt. That is first class caliber work sir. Very nice stitching and the lines are nice and smooth. Edges look good as well. Excellent job.

Really nice job. I too, wish I had your skill with leather. Looks professional.

Try a OWB next? That is really nice looking.