A question for the leatherworkers...

[oldfart1956]

Fellers since this concerns revolver holsters/belts I figgered it'd be o.k. to post here. Picked up a SafariLand holster/belt rig this weekend. Couldn't pass it up as it was cheaper than I could buy the leather to make one. Very well made but there is a problem...I'm a bit more robust than the original owner. It's a size 36 waist and I'm a size 40. I need to extend something. I could add a piece in the middle of the back, or extend one or both of the belt tongues, or I could just cut both tongues off and put longer ones on. The main body of the belt is 2 3/4in. wide and the tongues are 1 1/2in. wide. Not sure of the nonclamenture so I'm referring to the ends of the belt (buckle/and hole punched area) as tongue. And I'm doing lots of reading on Leatherworkers but not a member as of yet. Just recently got into working with leather holsters/belts on account of there isn't much available that I'm looking for. Any tips/advice would be great. Audie...the Oldfart..

[Wolfer]

My son is considerably larger than me. All my belts have a single 2-3/4" wide buckle. I made a short belt on another buckle that is about 6" long. Just buckle it on the belt and adjust to fit. I take it off when I wear it unless its really cold outside.

[newton]

I'm a novice, but like working with leather. Is the belt made from two pieces which are glued, then stitched together? If so, you could separate the two pieces. It would be a lot of work, and then add in a thicker slab, gluing them together, and stitch them together after.

Sounds complicated, but it would not be too hard. That's what I would do anyways.

If the belt is not two pieces then you could just cut, glue, and stitch another piece on. I was curious as to the holding power of contact cement, but it is truly amazing and then stitching on top of that would be top notch. You could even carefully split the one and put it like a sandwich on the other.

Or, you could get two thinner strips and sandwich them like the above. Any way you go, its for sure doable and is not as hard as you might think. Just takes time.

[oldfart1956]

Fellers thanks for the tips and sorry it took me so long to get back. Newton the belt is one thickness and all one piece. I had considered just cutting off both ends and making longer ones. I've seen a lot of belts made like that, actually seems to be puddy common. After reading Wolfers suggestion I had to slap my head though and say: "Like a seat belt extender for fat folks....why didn't I think of that?" That would avoid damaging the belt...just in case I'd lose 100lbs. and drop down to a size 36! ;) And it works for my lazy nature as well. Take a 1 1/2" piece of leather about 12" long and fold it in half with the new buckle in the fold...pop in a couple rivets to hold the buckle in place and then glue and stitch the sides end to end....punch a few holes and shazzam...done. Again, many thanks! Audie...the lazy Oldfart...

[km101]

Oldfart, this is what is known as a "Ranger style" gunbelt. The billets (tongues) on each end are usually sewed on to the main part of the belt. If you move them further toward the ends of the belt, you will see the holes left by the stitching. If this does not concern you, you can take it to most any shoe repair shop and they can reposition the billets for you. Just make sure that you have enough room to move the billets to make it fit.

Or you could make billets that are 2" longer and stitch them back in the same spot, if the belt is long enough to accommodate the longer billets and still lap properly. It might be hard to match the original finish, but again a good shoe shop can help with that.

[TCLouis]

Not sure how it is made, but couldn't one Lace an addition on to the original that made it look like it was made that way

Or two buckles and an add on piece in the middle.

[Arctic Blues]

Yeah, I recentaly aquired a SBH with a 10" barel.
Part of my crazy old fart deal to hunt hawgs with.

Tryin to find a good holster and best is proving to be quite a problem and I dont want to cut the barel off!

What do to?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Zeik

[LUCKYDAWG13]

contact Steveo one of our members here he can make you one look a few post
down at the one he made me for my SP101 i love it

[Arctic Blues]

Thank you Luckydawg13! I will look em up.

[dmize]

I have a picture of John Wayne and it is clearly visible that there is an extension attached to his gun belt with a leather thong woven thru the buckle holes.

[oldfart1956]

Yeah, I recentaly aquired a SBH with a 10" barel.
Part of my crazy old fart deal to hunt hawgs with.

Tryin to find a good holster and best is proving to be quite a problem and I dont want to cut the barel off!

What do to?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Zeik Zeik, something else you might want to consider is making your own. I was looking for something I couldn't find/afford and went to youtube and did some viewing. There are a lot of videos out there on holster making. I have the good fortune to have easy access to leather in the right thickness, don't know what your situation may be however. It can be done with minimal investment. An awl is easy to make, needles for leather are available at Walmart along with a tracing wheel to mark for hole spacing and heavy thread is available anywhere, a razor-knife with Lenox blades works dandy and I use the de-priming pin from an RCBS die held in my drillpress to punch holes. Seriously. I wanted a holster for scoped Blackhawks and tried the bandolier style....arrrgh. The $90 Hunter version sux. Those cordura ones...like wearing a sleeping bag on your chest. I made a regular holster, goes on my belt, right side, that fits a scoped Blackhawk. Still twiddling with some details but this is gonna work. As for the belt extension, went with the seat-belt extender idea and it works perfectly. Buckle on one end, holes in the other. Took all of about 20 minutes to make. :) Audie...the Oldfart..

[rintinglen]

Not to toot my own horn, but in the Special Projects section there is a sticky I wrote on holster making. It isn't hard, and you can make what you want/need, for very little compared to what it costs to buy a finished product.

[Arctic Blues]

Thanks Fellers!

I have a deal in the works with Steveo.
If that dont come through, I will look into making one myself.

Keep your powder dry!