How many holsters do you know of that have two welts? Only one
I know of offhand is the Safariland SST. You can always tell by
the stitching on both the front as well as the rear. Look a bit
closer and you find a welt in the front seam as well as the rear
seam. My Safariland SST best fits the S&W Model 29 shown in
the picture. The stamp on the back says the holster is made for
S&W Medium Frame revolvers. I don't think of N Frame as a
Medium Frame. I think of the K Frame as Medium, and the N
Frame as Large.

The SST, with front stitching and welt, was made to accomodate
the tall target sights. I suppose SST is abbreviation for Safariland
Sight Track. Notice the "dog ear" on this Safariland does not
protect the hammer spur. It protects the rear adjustable sight.

Red Nichols could probably add some smarts to this post, but
he has been AWOL for a while now. I, for one, miss him.

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In Omnia Paratus

Interesting, could you do a back picture to show the welts?

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Kevin in Oregon

A couple years ago I bought a group of holsters sight in seen. The first out of the box was this black Basket weave holster and I took one look thinking SAFARILAND putting it aside to look at the others. I took a a few guns to see how they would fit. I picked up that "Safariland" and was surprised that it was marked. J. K. Fisher and although it was stiched all around it of course did not have the Safariland sight track and it had a welt all around.

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Gun Safety is no accident.

This view from the top is about the best I can do to
show both welts.

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In Omnia Paratus

A welt at the seam of a holster serves two primary purposes. First, the welt provides additional strength and rigidity to resist deformation of the holster in use. Second, the welt provides additional space within the holster, thus allowing a close fit to the handgun profile without interfering with handgun features such as sights.

Safariland holsters of the 1960's and later utilized their SST feature, which was a molded composite material of a consistent thickness, and the forward welt had a channel molded in to allow clearance for the higher front sights becoming more popular as adjustable sight revolvers became more frequently used for law enforcement and sporting applications.

The holster displayed features a formed hammer shield that provides protection for the rear sight and/or hammer spur in use. This feature was popularized largely by holster maker Hank Sloan, and was popular for many years as a means to keep the sharp edges of the hammer and rear sight from destroying the linings of jackets and suit coats while carrying a concealed revolver. Other makers offered variations of the style, including Safariland, Bucheimer-Clark, and others. You may note in the photo by my name that my 6" Model 19 is carried in one of my modified Threepersons' style holsters with Hank Sloan-style hammer shield.

As far as holster fitting is concerned, most makers of the mid-20th Century era (including Safariland) typically offered holsters made to accept a general size and shape of handgun (small frame, medium frame, large frame, large automatic, medium automatic, etc). It is not all that unusual for a holster marked "medium revolver" to accept a large frame revolver.

When I started in the holster business there were only a half-dozen handgun manufacturers in the western world, each offering maybe a half-dozen various models. I could easily handle the majority of requests with only a few different handguns. Now there are dozens of makers, each offering dozens of various models, and something new is hitting the market just about every week or so. During the same time period people have become more accustomed to having a holster specifically fitted for their individual handgun, rather than a "one size fits many" offering.

Thank you, Phil. That picture clarifies it for me.

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Kevin in Oregon

Just thinking:

I’ll bet a med frame gun such as a model 19 would fit a little deeper into the holster so the trigger guard butts up against the holster as designed. Then the dog ear would over the hammer spur.

I just tried that, just for you, with my S&W Model 19 Combat
Magnum with 4" barrel. Little too loosey goosey. Would not
pass Chic Gaylord's test: Put gun in holster. Hold over bed
and shake a little bit. If it falls out it don't pass.

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In Omnia Paratus

My holster that is marked " J. K. FISHER: MAKER RIVERTON, WYO. "
fits well with my 4" M&P so I decided to try a 4" Combat Masterpiece which fit good except the target hammer did not let the snap close over the hammer spur. My other 4" Combat Masterpiece is modified for DA only so the hammer spur is missing. It fits good but of course the snap does not lock the revolver down tight. I tried an L frame and it would not go in to the holster. It is definitely for a 4" K frame.

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Gun Safety is no accident.

Phil- That’s why I never go to Vegas.

I know, it's enough of a crapshoot to buy a holster on an
auction site. Never know for sure what it's going to fit, or
if seller knows what he is talking about.

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In Omnia Paratus

I knew John Fisher back in the early 80s. He was on the Riverton Police Department at the time. He made some nice leather goods and he played a pretty mean banjo too.

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Keep your powder dry.

I made quite a few holsters for my personal use and shamelessly copied the best features from Bianchi and Safariland. In my opinion the front sight welt or track is / was an advance and made a few "backwards" holsters with the front welt and folded / bent leather under the trigger guard to give better access for grip.

In the old days, stitching was work and a folded holster would hold the gun with less work.

A crossdraw field holster for a 5" Ruger target pistol. With so much of the pistol in the holster I felt it was secure for field use without retention. The welt stops in front of the covered trigger guard which keeps the finger out on drawing and provides a high hold on the grip.


A "backwards" sight track welt for a pocket pistol. Note the efforts I went to to make access to the tiny grip surface. There's so little pistol to get a hold of, I didn't dare expose the bottom of the guard like the above holster. It has a thumb snap for retention.

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NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

I think this Safariland has one continuous welt. It's marked S&W 16 on the back. Haven't been able to find another except one in black w/smooth leather. It does have a sight channel of sorts. Baby Chief in the holster.

Here's another Safariland model 16 with my 642-1.
Great little holster. I looked for it for a long, long time.
They are not easy to find.

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In Omnia Paratus

Here’s a Safariland 17 with green elk lining for my Colt DS in 32 np. This also fits the new Colt Cobra. It has a full welt. Like a Safariland 16 with thumbsnap

In another discussion, Red reminded that Jackass/Galco had a line copying Safariland designs. I'd guess they didn't have the polymer sight track, however. I don't think I've ever seen one, but the original Safariland sight track was reportedly leather.


I think El Paso has some too. Pause. Yep. Still on the web site.