I wanted to make one of these for my blackhawk. Found out that that my fat blackhawk and thick leather were WAY too small to stretch around that cylinder. So I cut down the piece of leather to fit a M19, and I am happy with the result even though it was a total hackjob.
As far as this kind of holster goes I don't know what the fuss was about. I don't care for the strap though it works well enough. The holster is a fairly quick draw. I am not a fan of open triggers, but it wouldn't be that style with a closed one.
I can say that this design is very economical with the use of leather, which is probably why the Lawrence company liked it. It also needs a welt. In this case a double welt was used and necessary. I dislike welts because they are much more difficult to sew and prepare and take more time to burnish. They are the only way to get the straight side though and not make the holster any larger than it needs to be. I've noticed that many purveyors of such holsters these days forgo the welt (because it is a pain) but they make the holster larger to compensate, a cheap trick IMO.