Reforming a leather holster to a new gun

[papahepcat]

Anyone ever tried to reform their leather holster to a new gun? I have my old Ted Blocker DA3 IWB holster that I bought like 9 years ago. It's an awesome holster, but was made for a Baby Eagle that I sold a few years ago. Loved that gun and planned on getting another, but I'm doubtful that I'll be able to buy it again soon. Particularly the Israeli model that I had then.

I've heard of folks dunking their holster in water for 2-3 hours or so to soften it, sticking their gun in a zip lock bag, and shoving the gun & bag into the holster to let dry. I'm thinking to try it - nothing to lose at this point - but I'm curious if anyone's ever tried it?

If no one reports that they have, I'll do it and take pics and stuff and report back with my findings.

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[papahepcat]

Or maybe it was dunk the holster for a few minutes or so.

 

[Capn Jack]

The manufacturer's instructions for the holster I bought is, wrap the pistol in a layer of heavy waxed paper, wax side out, force into holster and leave for a couple of days. It works and fits snug.

* Note this holster was made for the pistol.

Soaking the holster in water is "Old School" and hard on guns.

 

[jbett98]

I used this method before and it works great. Found on a web site called "Pistol Smith"

Wetting the holster is known as "casing" the leather.
Here's the professional method:

Fill a sink with cool water, with a single drop of liquid soap as a "wetting agent".

Submerge the holster for a few seconds. You want the holster to absorb enough water to fully wet the leather but NOT SOAKING WET.
The leather should NOT be soaking wet, nor should water ooze out as you mold it.
If the leather is too wet, it won't mold properly, and the leather will stretch, making the holster too loose

Lay the dampened holster on a clean towel, (NOT newspaper, printed paper towel, or anything that might stain it), and allow to stand until the leather returns to it's natural color, but still feels "cool" to the touch.
Remember, anything that touches the leather while it's casing will either stain or leave marks on it.

Put the gun into the holster and use your fingers to gently form the leather to the gun. If you like the extreme molded look with all the details of the gun molded in, use smooth plastic or metal tool to press the leather into, and around the prominent details of the gun. Otherwise just use your fingers to form the leather around the gun's details.

After the holster is molded to your satisfaction, remove the gun IMMEDIATELY, and lube it. If you allow the leather to case properly, the gun will have little, or no moisture on it.
DO NOT leave the gun in the holster, the leather will stretch and the final fit will be too loose.

Place the gun on the towel in an area out of direct sun light, or heat and allow to dry completely. (Usually over night).

Apply a coat of your favorite leather dressing.
If you want a finish, many pro's use Fiebing's Resolene. The best way to apply this is with an airbrush, although a cloth does work.
Resolene can be force dried with a hair dryer.

 

[papahepcat]

Thanks for the input. I initially started with your approach, jbett, but found the leather to still be too stiff after leaving it in for just a few seconds, so I left it in there for a few minutes. It don't know if my holster is thicker than others, but it was still rather stiff even then. It was a very tight fit, so I went ahead and did the bag thing and left my gun in there overnight.

It's still a pretty tight fit. Enough so that the slide pulls back a little when withdrawing. So I'll try to soften the leather a bit more and try it again some evening this week

 

[papahepcat]

Actually, scratch what I said last. I carried it all day yesterday despite the tight fit, but when I went to put it all away before bed, I found that I could draw and reholster with ease. Still retains well, too. Win