IWB Model CCL-002

This holster provides more forward cant for strong side presentation. The ride height is as deep as I can get it while still presenting the guns grip so it can be accessed without any interference from the belt and trousers. The front of the holster is cut out giving you shorter draw to presentation.

The snaps are single direction pull of the highest quality. They can only be unfastened by pulling from the top, no accidental un-snapping here. The base of the snap and loop are fastened using “T” nuts and screws set in red Loctite©. This method makes it possible for you to service the loops yourself if it becomes necessary.

Inside the Waistband Holster Model CCL-001

Traditional pancake holsters take two pieces of leather and sew them together then wet mold the gun. The profile of the gun is symmetrical. That is to say that the side against your body is the same as the side away from your body. I wanted to make an asymmetrical design, with more of the guns profile and retention being away from the body and less of the profile against the user.

To accomplish this I had to have more leather on the front then the back thereby naturally forcing more of the guns profile away from the user's body. This makes it more difficult to create patterns, sew and wet mold. But the result equals more comfort for all day carry.

This holster provides a slight forward cant for strong side presentation. The ride height is medium to high with the emphasis being on the guns grip being positioned so it can be accessed without any interference from the belt and trousers.

The mouth of the holster is reinforced on three sides and the unique construction of the holster creates a box like corner that provides a virtually crush proof opening that will always allow one handed re-holstering.

The leather loops are molded to securely fit the belts width. Experience has taught me that the weakest part of a holster is the loops, they take a lot of abuse and can become worn out long before the rest of the holster.  These loops are fastened using “T” nuts and screws set in red Loctite©. This method makes it possible for you to service the loops yourself if it becomes necessary.

Model CCL-001

A Different Pocket Holster

I made this pocket holster back in 2009. The body of the holster is formed around the gun but I kept it loose, because to much retention with a pocket holster could be a problem.

The main design challenge you have to overcome with a pocket holster is two fold; (1) keep the gun from rotating in the pocket so the grip presentation is predictable, (2) make sure the holster stays in the pocket when you remove the gun.

My solution incorporates a snap on outside cover, at first glance it might seem that this is just to help the gun from any unwanted print through. That is part of its job, but the main one is to keep the gun from tumbling in the pocket and help keep the holster behind in the pocket when you draw your weapon.

I usually shipped this holster with two or three leather covers with snaps. One of the covers was trimmed out to fit a common Levi jean pants pocket, the other covers where left untrimmed so the user could shape them to fit their pockets. When the user controls the actual profile of the holster he is better able to insure proper fit and performance for various pocket sizes. And the snaps make it possible to quickly change the holsters profile for various types of pockets.

Just for good measure I added a little extra piece of leather across the mouth of the holster to help keep it open for re-hostering.

Flat Back Pocket Holster

This early version of a pocket holster for a Ruger SP101 was for me an exercise on seeing if I could make the side of the holster that was going to be next to my body as flat as possible. This not only required a gun mold but also a female mold. The leather had to be formed then trimmed and sewed to the back. This successfully created a flat side opposite the fully molded one.

The down side of this approach is that I sacrificed some gun retention with only half the holster being molded. This was not a large concern with a pocket holster, a little less retention would allow the gun to be drawn out of the pocket leaving the holster behind.

Another concern was the added production costs, molding the leather this way was time consuming, recouping production costs were questionable.

My Early Holsters

When I first started making holsters I was following in the shoes of builders who had gone before. I made this revolver holster in 2009 and there really isn't anything remarkable different about the design. And as you can see when you compare the front and back of the holster the relief is the same. Which to me as a wearer means that the the holster was protecting the gun but it wasn't protecting me against the gun. This type of holster design, wasn't doing anything to make carrying a gun more comfortable then just stuffing it in my waistband.