Originally Posted by
curioushooter
Scattershot...I'm not a fan of muzzle poking out. This is the sort of thing that I would have returned a holster for. Also, I do not like holsters lacking a trigger guard. I keep my finger off the trigger until on target and holsters of this design invariably encourage the bad habit of touching the trigger when it is still in the holster. This characteristic also DQs the holster from most competitions, though I think it would be allowed in Cowboy Action. The clubs around me would not allow it for pin matches. And the use of an inside thumb-break (Bianchi style) in a cross draw is not optimal since you need to basically reach all the way around and then push it into your lovehandles or belly. If you are a skinny guy it's not a problem, but it IS a problem if you are like the typical American. The outside thumb-break double hammer safety strap works in a cross draw situation better IMO. I learned this the hard way of course. I am not overweight and a cross draw holster I was commissioned to make for my father-in-law's model 28 worked just fine on me, but on him he had to jam his thumb into his flesh pretty hard to get it to work. If I had made it with a double hammer safety strap it would have worked better.
The Bianchi style does have the advantage of leaving your thumb on the correct side of the grip after you draw without needing to be re-positioned, however.
Onelight... I have used that pattern from Tandy and it solves the leather wearing out problem. It would be nice to have left more of a tab on the leather though. There is very little room for pinch-purchase. The flap design I used which I took from the interesting design shared here by Castaway has a "turkey leg" shape. This is a smart idea because it allows the leather to fold more easily and since it is made of the same thick and stuff leather that the rest of the holster is made of it "pops" off the stud pretty easily. If you leave some meat on the end of it and bring the stitched end of the holster in tight there is plenty of overhang. It is by far the easiest and fastest stud type retention I've found so far. If you make another flap holster try the turkey leg. I was sort of blow away by how well it worked. The previous flap desings I've done have been based off that Tandy design (a half circle or rounded triangle shape). What thread do you use BTW? I can tell you are not using cord.