A Little Help, Please.

arabensburg · #1 01-14-2022, 02:34 AM

A little help, please. I have a question. My new A W Brill holster, which was made by N J Rabensburg and recently purchased on New Year’s Eve, has been confirmed as authentic but does not meet the norm in terms of a missing liner, that is, a separate, sewn-in-place second layer of leather attached in whole or in part to the body.

However, the surface of my holster against the pants leg does have a suede finish and wraps with the same inside the entire holster itself. My holster although missing a typical liner appears to have a protective finish around the gun and against the pants leg. The body of my holster would, thus, have two different surfaces, one smooth and the other a suede finish. Has this been done before on other brands?

Could the body of my holster be a special leather such as Nubank or a “Buck” Nubank? Could Nubank suede leather give you a satisfactory two-face finish? Or, did N J Rabensburg take a standard piece of leather and buff one side to create a suede finish? Could there have been a process of a suede liner attached with a glue process and, thus, no visible stitches?

Submitted by Neale Rabensburg

crazyphil · #2 01-14-2022, 06:25 AM

That is some interesting questions. Unfortunately the answers are way
above my pay grade. I suspect one of the Gurus will be along to provide
some answers.

StrawHat · #3 01-14-2022, 07:45 AM

I, personally, do not consider sueded leather to be anything other than a dirt and grit collector and prefer not to have it near my handguns. I much prefer smooth linings.

I think the fellow who originally bought that holster asked your Grandfather to make it without the lining.

Kevin

Kansasgunner · #4 01-14-2022, 08:45 AM

The backside of your holster is the natural “rough out “ inner side of the finished leather. When the hide is processed the outer hair-on side is finished smooth. And yes with enough wear that “rough” side will polish itself almost smooth.
It’s my understanding that the thin smooth leather lining applied to most Brills is to keep the holster from abrading the dress pants that used to be the norm for most LEOs. That is why it only goes a couple inches into the holster itself. I hope this helps.

rednichols · #5 01-14-2022, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kansasgunner

The backside of your holster is the natural “rough out “ inner side of the finished leather. When the hide is processed the outer hair-on side is finished smooth. And yes with enough wear that “rough” side will polish itself almost smooth.
It’s my understanding that the thin smooth leather lining applied to most Brills is to keep the holster from abrading the dress pants that used to be the norm for most LEOs. That is why it only goes a couple inches into the holster itself. I hope this helps.

Tim's answer is 100% accurate. The most straightforward way to use cowhide veg leather is to fold the body of the holster with the grain side out -- the 'hair' side originally -- and the flesh side on the inside. This surface can be rough or smooth, depending on the tanner and the methodology he used to dry the wet hide (stretched on a wire rack or pasted to a glass sheet).

brill da rev (8).jpg This is a fully lined version by N.J.