Old friends

I had the opportunity to go to a conference this past week, with 3 of my best friends. We went to through Police Academy together, and although we ended up in different parts of the state, we try to meet up whenever possible.

It was great to spend the last 3 days with them, and heading home, I only regret that I don't get more time with them. They are true "peace officers" and work to bring safety and security to the communities they serve.

I already miss them!

Bespoke

Bespoke- adjective: (of goods, especially clothing) made to order. "a bespoke leather belt"

Derby Day!

It's Boy-o's first Pinewood Derby!

I'm running the track!

We're selling Jambalaya dinners as a fundraiser!

This is gonna be awesome!

Reloading

A friend and coworker has been talking a lot about reloading lately. We got off early on Thursday, so I told him to go to Academy and pick up some bullets (I was out) and to come by the house, and I would show him how reloading worked.

He took me up on it, and we spent about 2 hours going through each step on my single-stage press, and walking him through the process. He came out with 95 bullets. One was loaded entirely too deep, and will have to be pulled, he crushed 2 primers, and lost 2 primers. Still, 95% accuracy is pretty good for your first time doing anything.

Afterwards we ate pizza, and drank a few Shiner beers. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday afternoon.

Anyway, the stumbling block (pun intended) was that I only have one reloading block. They're cheap, and I've been meaning to get more, but somehow it hasn't happened. It slowed the process down a bit. Well, oddly, when my partner was leaving, he asked to borrow my reloading block. I thought it was weird, but told him to bring it back to me at work whenever he was done.

Last night, he sends me this picture. My buddy is a woodworker, and he did a hell of a job. You can see the original on the bottom right of the photo.

Man, that's a hell of a thank-you, ain't it?!

Gunbelt

So I have been wanting to try my hand at a gun belt for a while. Since I bought a half-cow of leather recently, I decided to go ahead and try it. The leather is 12 Oz vegetable tan, with a decent grain. I cut two straps, and dyed them, laid out a template, measured about a zillion times, and cut out the pattern. I glued it together, and got to sewing....

Or tried to. The belt is 5/16ths of an inch thick. I'm beginning to see why serious belt makers use a leather sewing machine. I am 194 stitches in, and have about 3 hours tied up in stitching alone. I am punching every hole with an awl and a mallet, then having to press the awl through from the back, to widen the hole all the way through. After that is done for about 30-50 holes, I stitch up what I've punched, then start over.

Don't get me wrong, the belt is awesome, and will literally last forever, but there is no way I'm doing another stitched gun belt until I get a sewing machine.

Damn, this thing is a lot of work!

Tacky Holster

So that holster I made for my LC9 works amazingly. It worked so good, in fact, that I made one for my j-frame. It is also working great. I need to carry it for another week or so to make a determination, but I may start making these for sale.

They are relatively easy to make (not counting drying time, they take like 1.5 hours to make, which really ain't much. It would probably only take an hour to make if I had a pattern ready-to-go.

There is a relatively small material investment... without sitting down and doing the math, we're talking less than 10 bucks, likely.

I think I could produce them for 45ish dollars, shipped, and it would still be worth my labor  investment.

These work like the "Remora" brand or "Sticky" brand holsters, but would be custom molded to the gun, and made out of leather.

Downsides to this idea:

It ain't a beautiful holster. The Latex coating looks like snot, when dry. Carry it around in your pocket for a few days, and it looks like dirty snot. Obviously, these would be marketed to a form over function crowd.

I could only offer them for the j-frame, Ruger LC9, or Kahr CW9, currently. I have to work with what I got, and right now, those are the only "pocket" guns I got.

It has the potential to eat up a lot of free time ( but it could translate into a fun little cottage industry, so that's kind of a plus, too).

What say you, internet? Is there interest in something like this? Is there room for it in a market that is filled with a similar product (Remora, Sticky, DeSantis Nemesis ) that is mass produced and can be had for 20-30 dollars? Is there even a desire out there for a hand-made "Tacky" leather pocket holster? Is $45, shipped on target for something like this?

Feedback is appreciated.

Tacky

Well, the Pocket Rocket holster is certainly sticky. I developed a draw over the years that I use with my j-frame in a cheap Blackhawk! holster. I grab the gun in a firing grip, trigger finger running down the side of the gun's frame, outside the holster. I press the side of the gun into my leg inside the pocket, and draw the gun, maintaining pressure against my leg until the gun clears my pocket.

I have tried this hundreds of times, and it is the only way I have found to be able to consistently draw a gun from a pocket, and guarantee that the holster will strip off the gun.

I have been playing around with a few different draw strokes, and this is the only one consistent with this new gun and holster combo, as well.

Stick with what you know works, I guess!

Hiding the Heat

My brother gave me a SWEEEETTT deal on an LC9. I told him that I'd be happy to make him a holster, to kind of thank him for the good deal.

He sent me home with his Legacy M&P (it was our dad's duty gun), and asked for a concealment holster. I made him one, and I think it will work fine. It has a decent forward cant, to help hide the grip, and rides tight to the side. It rides in a medium-to-high position, making the barrel also pretty concealable.

It should work just fine!

Pocket Rocket

So, I've pretty much decided to make the LC9 a dedicated off-side pocket carry gun. It has a safety that can only be activated with a righ-hand firing grip. Being left handed, this works fine for a backup, especially when I'm working the streets.

I made a pocket holster for it today. It's rough side out, and once it is dry, I'm going to coat it with a leather glue made from latex. The rough-out leather should give the glue plenty of pores to work into, and because it's latex, it should still be plenty grippy after the glue dries. The grippiness should help the holster stay in my pocket if I draw the gun.

I like the way project Pocket Rocket is shaping up.

La Danse Des Mardi Gras

Eunice, La