Folks, I could use some help sourcing some leather to make a holster.

I'm not a leather worker but recently acquired a few tools and made a knife sheath from a kit.

I want to replicate the holster in the attached pics, which measures about 2.5 to 2.9 MM thick, so I'm thinking 6 to 7 oz leather is what I'm after, vegetable tanned and undyed (I have dye I like).

Starting to poke around online becomes a bewildering maze of choices and options so I thought I'd ask here since there are so many real leather workers here.

I'd probably buy a larger piece than I need in anticipation of other projects.

So, where do you guys buy your leather??

Thanks

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Just Say No - To Social Media

I usually get mine at a local Tandy Leather store because I like seeing what I'm buying.
You can order leather from different suppliers. Springfield Leather Company is one but there are others.

Just looked and there is veg tanned leather on Amazon.

Easier than you think, harder than you thought: 4mm is incredibly thin for cowhide, and in that range I use horsehide. It is a joy to work with because it dries quite hard; cut it with a bandsaw with a metal blade. Of course I'm showing you veg tan below; you'll want to avoid looking around on this site and falling in love with any of the chrome tannages; won't absorb water or keep a shape.

Russett - Horsebutt Strips - Maverick Leather Company

I have oodles of it in 12" squares cut from these long, irregular horsebutt strips listed above; and I'd give it away having been retired for 2.5 years now; but I'm too far from any Yankees :-).

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Red Nichols The Holstorian

I certainly appreciate that lead. They only show stock on 9oz strips at the moment. Is that going to be too thick to work with?

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I would think you would want 7-10oz for a holster but here is a lead.
Item Detail

The Wilton based Bass shoe company closed unceremoniously back in the 90s, leaving many employees high and dry.
One of them, an old timer now, is my friend.
He walked out of there with about a thousand pounds of shoe leather. When I need leather, I go have coffee with my friend in Wilton, Maine.
However, if I lived anywhere near a Tandy shop I would echo that recommendation. I have gotten some awesome stuff out of Tandy.

9 oz is quite a common leather thickness for gunleather :-). However it's not what you asked for, and in horsehide you'd find it like becoming a carpenter!

I found that this particular seller was willing/able to choose a strip in any thickness I asked for.

Horsehide strips, which is the correct name for a cut that is between the 'butts' of the horsehide and its back, vary in thickness quite a lot, lengthwise. The ends w/b much thinner than the bulk that lies between.

Notice they are dead cheap. You'll not risk much by phoning them. Horsehide strips are used for shoe soles and these are 'seconds' which is to say that the shoemakers have rejected them but you and I will disagree with them!

One of mine from HH in 3mm thickness; in a style called a Donihoo:

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Red Nichols The Holstorian

Tandy, Weaver leather, bunkhouse leather, Crazy Crow Trading post, even on Amazon.
For something like that I'd use 8-9 ounce for the main body and 7-8 ounce for the clip holder.

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Keep on Chooglin'

Oddly, I'm about 70 miles northeast of Wilton. I wonder if your friend needs a cup of coffee ...

Having no place close by to go look at leather, I'm going to follow Red's suggestion and order up a couple of the horsehide strips.

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I got the 6 to 7 oz by measuring the thickness of the one I like. But I see most of you guys would use something thicker. I'm liking the idea of the horsehide, actually.

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Dunno 'bout the other fellows but I use the thicker leather so it doesn't require extra layers to reinforce the mouth of the holster, then I can use a smaller hunk of leather for the clip.

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Keep on Chooglin'

I'm glad I didn't jump in and order the 9oz then ...

I appreciate the horsehide idea and it's what I'm going to try. I'll give these guys a call and see how I make out.

By the way, what does "fighting shell" on the label in your picture mean?

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So, attached are a couple of pics of my rookie effort. Not what I set out to make, but where I ended up.

The good news is that there's plenty of room for improvement!

It's actually my second attempt. The first one is functional but ... well, a lot of learning happened and it probably won't find it's way in front of a camera.

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Hey that looks pretty good. Keep it up and you'll learn more with each one.

Trim it accordingly, cut it open and use the blank to alter your pattern, make a new one. Repeat. With time you'll get it right the first time but the buyer will never know how many tries it took to the pattern right; if the RESULT is right.

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Red Nichols The Holstorian

Thanks for that constructive feedback. I made a plexiglass master so I could repeat it easily. I think cutting the stitch side back about 5/8" will tighten it up. I may try molding it to a bigger gun.

ETA: Just scrolled back up and enlarged your copy of my pic. Looks like we had the same exact thought!

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If youd like to try horsehide check these folks out. Ive ordered from them several times and the shipping is always lightning fast. I prefer horsehide myself.
5/7 oz Horse Butt Strips (Narrow) - Z4507HN-Z4507HN

For good HO leather try Springfield Leather Company

OK, one more look at my latest holster and I'll stop adding to this thread. This is modified version of the last one and I kind of like it. It fits a Glock 21 AND the Polymer 80 large grip frame (for which most of you will not know it's difficult to find holsters).

No dye on this one and just Leather-N-Rich. No embellishments here but I'm making an OWB version on which I'll probably do a little stamping or carving.

Thanks for looking and all the feedback and advice. I'm definitely down the leather working rabbit hole.

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Yup, that's how it started with me. I started out making a coupla holsters for myself then, of course I had to make a matching belt then a stamped holster then a lined holster, a belt slide, etc.. So of course I needed more tools, dye, finishes and on and on.

First holster,


Present snubby holster,


And matching handstitched double layer belt.


Smooth leather lined holster.

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Keep on Chooglin'

I got all the tools from Tandy, and bought leather there as well, but then they closed the local store.

I found a local shoemaker and he was willing to sell me pieces of leather. I could look at the product and select the size and weight I wanted. Significantly cheaper than Tandy as well.

That, really, is the challenge for a rookie leather crafter, figuring out what the different types and weights of leather are. I've got a better idea now of the different weights and know that I want veg tanned.

The closest bricks and mortar store for me is Hobby Lobby, a hundred mile round trip. They have a small selection of leathers and tools at fairly high prices compared to ordering online, but at least they have things I can get NOW without waiting for Fedex.

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Very neat work. Of course a belt is high on my gotta make next list ... !

I've done some stamping but have trouble with the end to end stuff (in my case now it's Barbed Wire stamps). Keeping ends aligned so the pattern doesn't wander can be difficult. Also, in the case of the barbed wire stamps, I'm tending to (apparently) not keep the stamp exactly upright, end to end, so I get a heavier stamp on one end and kind of a train track railroad tie effect.

Practice, practice, practice, I suppose.

I'm going to watch your belt videos before I attempt mine.

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Oh my, I don't envy you newbies having to figure all this out the hard way, when it is all well established already. Personally I went to work with the best, John Bianchi, precisely because I knew that. Why reinvent the wheel. And production makers teach a lot more depth and breadth.

Anyway, the notion behind 'set stamping' a belt is to stamp the first line along the center! Then complete the width of the belt blank one line at a time. This prevents 'wander'. Be aware that the belt is going to stretch in length with the stamping, and a holster will increase in size all around.

Set stamping a holster is not normally done this way, but rather begins with the 'master line' at the fold of the holster. One simply has to learn to avoid 'wander' and this can be accomplished by not being afraid to adjust the stamping tool position as you go along; the corners rarely align regardless unless one is a master, so why not allow a bit of this to happen as you go along vs running out of room at the end?

This is not new knowledge, been taught for centuries beginning in Spain then to Mexico then to America.

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Red Nichols The Holstorian

My advice on hand stitching a double layer belt is to settle in, it's gonna take a while.

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Keep on Chooglin'

^^^That right there.

I urge you to use vegetable-tanned cowhide ONLY.

I watched a video where the guy attached the belt to the bench with double faced tape to keep it from stretching. He used something like you describe. He went centerline, then (if I remember right) the rest in opposite quadrants, like top/left, bottom/right, etc.

These days, Youtube has to suffice... Not the same as hands on instruction but, especially out here in the boonies, a good resource if one can sort the chaff.

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I haven't watched your videos yet - are you pre-punching holes or punching them as you go with an awl? One of the videos I watched the guy punched as he went.

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I don't know the particular numbers either, so I merely looked at existing Lawrence Holsters that I had and bought the same thickness. Then, I got some shoebox cardboard and made a pattern to fit. Actually, making leather holsters and gun cases in a really nice hobby.

I pre-punch them with leather stitching chisels with 3mm spacing.

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Keep on Chooglin'

When I started handgun hunting I used a storebought holster. Then, I upgraded to a revolver with a long barrel, and put a scope on it besides. I looked high and low at the time to find something that would fit. Nothing available.

To make matters worse, I wanted it on a shoulder holster.

The holster was easy, with cardboard templates, and i borrowed a friend's shoulder strap and copied it to fit the very holster and my arm.

The task was quite enjoyable and I would stack my endeavor against any storebought brand.

(OTOH, I like making things....)

Here's a pic of my homemade scoped Blackhawk .45 holster. No need to tool it because it's a utility piece, and it's seen many years of service now.

I mark the stitching holes with a pencil and a ruler, and punch them with the smallest hole on a leather punch.

Of course, soaked in Neatsfoot.

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