The Vulcan? Updated 6-26-18

Shark Bait

Shark Bait

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Is anybody familiar with the Vulcan holster by John Bianchi’s Frontier Gunleather? It is a modern remake of the Askins Avenger with a slight forward cant. I like the Askins style, but it seems that most have no cant to them. At $125, I would like some feedback about them before I buy one.

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UPDATE 6-26-18:

I received my holster yesterday. It is put together very well and carries comfortably. The design provides a nice forward cant and holds the butt in tight to your side. The only issue I noticed was someone got careless with the edge dressing by the trigger guard. Pics below with my 4 inch 686-4+.



 
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I don't know anything about that holster but now you have me interested too. Great looking holster with the right amount of cant.
 
Ya thinking it would be nice for OWB carry for my 3" 66.

Like an old John Wayne movie..... "Sorry Mr. Bianchi...... I heard you were dead!"

Thought he's sold out and ridden off into the sunset!
 
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Spock's phaser holster?

LOL. Looks like a very nice holster, indeed.
 
BAM-BAM said:
Ya thinking it would be nice for OWB carry for my 3" 66.

Like an old John Wayne movie..... "Sorry Mr. Bianchi...... I heard you were dead!"

Thought he's sold out and ridden off into the sunset!
Click to expand...

The website sure makes it sound like everything is handmade by the original John Bianchi. I just stumbled onto the site while doing web searches.

"About John Bianchi and Frontier Gunleather
John Bianchi - Maker of premier gun holsters John Bianchi, the premier holster maker for forty years, now custom makes original western-style holsters and gunbelts for discriminating collectors.

Frontier Gunleather holsters and gunbelts are handcrafted like no others today. Twenty-six highly-skilled hand operations, the use of seventeen precision hand tools, three machine operations, and Bianchi's lifetime of experience go into each and every treasured piece.

Handcrafted the old-fashioned way, one-at-a-time by John Bianchi, Frontier Gunleather brings back a revival of the turn-of-the-century styles and craftsmanship. These collector quality holster outfits represent the best examples of the cowboy-gunfighter culture for collectors, decorators and shooters alike.

John Bianchi's Frontier Gunleather is a true art form; an investment in tomorrow's antiquities. The price you pay for any handcrafted product is based on three things: the quality of the workmanship, materials and design. An additional and most important element is the reputation of the maker.

John Bianchi is one of the oldest and most trusted names in "Gunleather" (a term coined by Bianchi 25 years ago). The price you pay for Frontier Gunleather reflects a 40-year-old worldwide reputation for premier quality. There are many look-alikes, but only one original!

Bianchi authored for firearms industry best-selling textbook, Blue Steel and Gunleather, the definitive book on the history, development and use of holsters. He has designed and manufactured over twenty million belts and holsters during his career as the world's best-known holster maker."

And it looks like it is the real deal. I learned a lot about him in this article. Never knew he was a Major General!

American Rifleman | John Bianchi: An American Legend
 
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BAM-BAM said:
.. is he alive or .............................
Click to expand...

Well, it appears that he is still making gunleather. I may have to order one of these for my 686-4+. The article I linked above said he had been making holsters as Frontier Gunleather for 17 years, and it was written in 2010. He's got to be getting up there in age by now. I am now thinking that $125 is very reasonable if he is the man making the holster.
 
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Shark Bait said:
The website sure makes it sound like everything is handmade by the original John Bianchi. I just stumbled onto the site while doing web searches.

"About John Bianchi and Frontier Gunleather
John Bianchi - Maker of premier gun holsters John Bianchi, the premier holster maker for forty years, now custom makes original western-style holsters and gunbelts for discriminating collectors.

Frontier Gunleather holsters and gunbelts are handcrafted like no others today. Twenty-six highly-skilled hand operations, the use of seventeen precision hand tools, three machine operations, and Bianchi's lifetime of experience go into each and every treasured piece.

Handcrafted the old-fashioned way, one-at-a-time by John Bianchi, Frontier Gunleather brings back a revival of the turn-of-the-century styles and craftsmanship. These collector quality holster outfits represent the best examples of the cowboy-gunfighter culture for collectors, decorators and shooters alike.

John Bianchi's Frontier Gunleather is a true art form; an investment in tomorrow's antiquities. The price you pay for any handcrafted product is based on three things: the quality of the workmanship, materials and design. An additional and most important element is the reputation of the maker.

John Bianchi is one of the oldest and most trusted names in "Gunleather" (a term coined by Bianchi 25 years ago). The price you pay for Frontier Gunleather reflects a 40-year-old worldwide reputation for premier quality. There are many look-alikes, but only one original!

Bianchi authored for firearms industry best-selling textbook, Blue Steel and Gunleather, the definitive book on the history, development and use of holsters. He has designed and manufactured over twenty million belts and holsters during his career as the world's best-known holster maker."

And it looks like it is the real deal. I learned a lot about him in this article. Never knew he was a Major General!

American Rifleman | John Bianchi: An American Legend
Click to expand...

Read this linked story and view the video within. You'll probably learn a lot. I thought I knew the Bianchi story pretty well, but learned a lot. His operation was much larger than I realized.

Info on the M-12 military holster alone was fascinating.
 
Shark Bait said:
Well, it appears that he is still making gunleather. I may have to order one of these for my 686-4+. The article I linked above said he had been making holsters as Frontier Gunleather for 17 years, and it was written in 2010. He's got to be getting up there in age by now. I am now thinking that $125 is very reasonable if he is the man making the holster.
Click to expand...

Born 1937. Of course you know he has an offsider who makes his products for him? Holsters are not something he makes himself.
 
rednichols said:
Born 1937. Of course you know he has an offsider who makes his products for him? Holsters are not something he makes himself.
Click to expand...

That makes perfect sense, but then his website is misleading. It sounds like he is doing the work. I doubt he is. Not at 81.
 
bulletslap said:
I thought Mr Bianchi died 15 or 20 years ago ?
Click to expand...

Indeed there was a headline that made that very clear, including 'founder of holster company'; that however, was his father John Bianchi whom we called "Mr. B". Both our parents each died in nearly the same years.
 
I met his daughters at the SHOT show one year when they were still in their teens.

They left a very favorable impression of the family.

I own several older Bianchi holsters, all working just fine. I have not bought any new ones since manufacture supposedly moved to Mexico.

I quit buying the brand, anyway, after I asked if they'd make me a holster that'd accomodate my S&W M-60-4, which has a full lug barrel.The woman with whom I spoke told me to just shove the gun into my existing Model 5BH for a normal M-36 with three-inch barrel. She said to stretch the leather!

El Paso Saddlery fixed me up and I bought two different models of their holsters for that gun.

Mind you, this happened after John Bianchi was long gone from the firm bearing his name.

As for Mr. B. personally making holsters, remember that W.D. Randall seldom made knives in his later years. He did keep a pretty close eye on the shop and son Gary ran it by then. Quality control suffered not at all.
 
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Hope and Faith (their names) were babes in their teens. Son John a great kid, Elizabeth too young for me to have any impression. Age was no barrier to John's holster making: he of course made none of them after the late Sixties. exactly how does one think a holster.company can grow and prosper with the founder running a sewing machine ?
 
BAM-BAM said:
Red......your thoughts on the holster??????
Click to expand...

I have one from when it was called.Falcon. Its name has changed several times since then. Technically it's a remake of the original, so it has no slide guard and is of very simplistic construction . At least the ride height was lowered!
 
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