Instagram

Well, I decided to go ahead and start an Instagram page. It lets me load images painlessly and reach a diverse audience. I'm hoping it will help boost some sales. Anyway, I only have a few posts up so far, but you can check it out by searching Instagram for Lazy JD Leatherworks.

Heck, we'll see how this goes.

Snappy!

A client recently ordered a Cowboy Fast Draw rig with a snapping turtle on it. I wasn't sure how it would come out, never having tooled a turtle before, so I created a design for an Alligator Snapping turtle, and tried the design out on scrap.

I think that'll work!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a holster to make.

Gun Porn -Wednesday Wheelgun Edition

My Boss asked me to clean his gun for him today. See, my boss is one of those police types that is not a gunnie. He's not Anti Gun, by any means. He's just more of a Fudd than a true Gunnie.

Apparently he hasn't cleaned his gun in a few years, and figures it was time. Seeing as we are only required to shoot 60 rounds a year to qualify,  he probably has less than 250 rounds through it since it's last cleaning. I sometimes go more than that in a single range session, so it wasn't in any danger of being overly dirty from shooting.

It was, however, seriously neglected. It was dry as a popcorn fart, and I honestly have no idea how a piece of grass got wrapped around the cylinder stop spring. However, everything took down fine, it all got cleaned and lubed, and it got put back together.

But the thing I really wanted to share was the gun. It's a service issued S&W model 66 snub.

2 inches of pure fighting meanness brought to life in stainless. What a badass wheel gun, huh?

This gun is the  definition of a service revolver that has been carried a lot and shot little. No endshake, almost no flame cutting of the topstrap, and - the achellies heel of these sweet carrying 66's- no cracks in the shaved-down forcing cone.

When this gun was originally shipped from S&W in the late 80s or early 90s, because the state of Louisiana ordered a butt ton of them, Smith roll-marked them LAPP, for our department.

These 66's are no longer issued. Only agents that were originally issued them and declined to switch to a Glock are still allowed to carry them. As the handful of oldsters that still pack the issued Wheelgun around retire, they are given the option to buy their gun. If they decline, the old 66's get surpluses and sold to a gun store in South central LA who has a contract to move them.

But the state, as it does, depreciated things, and tfhe word around the water cooler is that these old workhorses get offered to sale to the retirees who carried them through their full career for the princely sum of $18.00, USD.

I already told my boss that when he hangs up his gun belt, if he buys the 66, I'll give him $250 for it, no questions asked.

Quick Bleg

I've been saving pennies and Leatherworking profits for months, saving up for a new concealed carry piece. I've been strongly considering a G26, because Glocks are solid preformerrs and it would take the same mags as my duty gun. I can pick up a LEO model with 3 mags and night sights for right at $500 out the door.


But, I stopped by a local pawnbroker the other day, and saw a lonely S&W 640 in the case. That's the hammerless, stainless steel model.

I did a Jim March checkout on it, and it's solid. No endshake, no cracks in frame or forcing come areas, crown is in good shape, bore has no pitting, all cylinder bores look as good, as far as I could tell. It has a pinned front sight, so I could put an aftermarket big dot or fiber optic option in it. It also has a set of Crimson Trace grips. And is chambered in .357, and doesn't have the stupid lawyer lock...

It was marked at 599, but the counter guy said if I walked in with 5 bills, he thought the manager would let it go. It came out the back 6 days ago.

The biggest problem is, I have a soft spot for j-frame. I love em. So, should I embrace this, and enjoy the 640, accepting it's limitations as a J-frame, and just admit that I have a soft spot for them?

Or should I stick with the G26, which is objectively a better choice for a lot of things?

SP-101

The wifley unit's parents are in town this weekend. Her dad asked me if I would make  him a holster for his new (to him) Ruger SP-101. He found it for a song in one of his local pawn shops.

It's an interesting comparison to my Smith model 36. The SP-101 won't fit in a J-frame holster. It's juuuuuusssssttt too big.

This particular SP-101 is chambered for .357, but other than the cylinder being slightly longer, the barrel is slightly longer too. The j-frame has a true 3-inch barrel, where the Ruger has a 3.1ish inch barrel.

The frame is beefier on the Ruger, too, but that's in keeping with Rugers in general. Find a Smith revolver, and it's Ruger counterpart will be a bit heavier and thicker. The SP-101 is just following that tradition, so it seems.

The trigger is nicer on the Smith, and the lock work is smoother going through a cycle of operation.

So my impressions?

Sturdiness- SP-101 gets the nod. This gun feels like it can take some serious abuse.

Finish and quality- The Model 36, hands down. Smith builds a more refined revolver, it seems.

Caliber- The versatility of being able to shoot .38 OR .357 is awesome. SP-101 all the way.

Customer service- Ruger, hands down has better customer service. I've dealt with both companies, and Ruger is a PLEASURE to work with. Smith got the job done, but we're not communicative and drug their feet.

Feel- the Smith sits better in my hand, and points more naturally. This can be remedied with aftermarket grip selection, however.

Overall, I'd keep my 36 over the SP-101, but barely. And largely that has to do with the lockwork. It's cleaner and better finished. You can feel it when you fire the gun.

But choosing the SP-101 would not put you at a disadvantage, by any means. It's a nice gun, and feels solid and substantial in the hand. AND you can shoot full-house magnum loads in it!

Oh, and I did make him that holster he asked for.

The Unicorn

My wife has a weird obsession with unicorns. Honestly I don't know where it all started. Probably somewhere way back in childhood.

I found a pic on Google that accurately represents my wife and her feelings for unicorns.

So for Christmas, I made her a wallet. I wanted it to represent her love of Unicorns and rainbows and all things magical, but at the same time show she's a total badass lady. Ya know, give off a vibe like a female version of Samuel L. Jackson's wallet  from Pulp Fiction.

Anyway, I think I nailed it. She loves it, at any rate. Because she's a badass. A beautiful, magical badass.

Woods steel

Nothing special, I've just been wanting a nice woods setup for the 686 I picked up last year.

I feel guilty working on stuff for myself when I have orders to get out, but the backlog has been wiped out, and I had a free Saturday, so why the hell not?!

Floral Finished

Well, I hesitate to say finished... but damn close, anyway. I will have to cut to final size, punch holes, and attach a buckle to the final product, once someone wins and I am able to measure them. But, this is as close to finished as it will get until someone wins it.

I'm pleased with the finished product. I have about 19 hours in it, so the finished product will be round about 21 hours total work time.

I hope whoever wins it will be as pleased with it as I am! I figure a chance to win a $450 rig for a $10 chance with 1/100 odds isn't a bad deal. And all the proceeds go to a great charity, so it's a win/win for everyone involved!

In my pockets

What's in my pockets? Haven't done one of those posts in a few years...

Pretty standard stuff (please excuse the coffee stain in the background. Cleaning that up in just a sec!):

Wallet
Smartphone
Streamlight ProTac 2L
Spyderco Tenacious with zip tie mod
Colt 1908 Pocket Hammerless

I was out and about town today with family, and didn't want to go full-hobo, so I picked a smaller gun than the G19, which makes it easier to conceal without a shirt 3 times too big.

Also, I have two tourniquets... why didn't I have one on my person? I need to remedy that.

What's in your pockets?

Floral #4

A quick update:

Mostly done! I grabbed a quick picture before the sun went down. I still have a lot of "finish" work to do... finishing edges, wet forming, sealing, etc, but all the hard work is done.

I even managed to sneak a commemoration into the design!

More to come, as time allows!

Time to Dye!

Actually, I'm done dyeing, but who doesn't like a play on words?!

First, I mixed my own dye. The tan dye I had was too light, and the brown I had was too dark. I cut the dark brown dye with alcohol (about 1/3 dye to 2/3 alcohol) and tested some scrap pieces, continuing to add alcohol until it was coming out the way I wanted. Then i used this mix to dye all the tooled areas.

After that dried, I covered all the tooled areas with hi-liter, and after letting it sit for 30 seconds or so, wiped it off. This let all the impressions get a little dark in the deepest parts, lending debth and a bit of an aged look.

Next, after letting that all dry overnight, I dyed all the remaining leather black,  being careful not to get it onto the tooled areas. After getting close, I used a thin brush to get up next to the tooling lines.

Lastly, I used the thin paint brush to put dye into all the textured background areas of the tooling.

I'm at about 15 hours in at this point, and soon I will be able to start the actual work of constructing this rig.

More Floral

I finished up most of the tooling. There is still a lot of work to do, what with 3 separate dyes, hand dyeing the background, radiusimg edges, Burnishing edges, finishing edges, sealing the whole mess, punching holes, adding tie downs, sewing, final cutting... etc....

Anyway, at least I'm done with step one of this rig. I've got about 12 hours in it so far. I even got the wax bullet deflectors carved!

Progress is being made!

Floral

A few quick pics of a floral belt and holsters that will end up being a prize for a raffle. Proceeds go to the Shoot For The Stars foundation, who give out scholarships for students.

Glock Commander

If you surf the gunternet, you have seen today that the G19x is out. Which is basically Glock' s submission to the US Army MHS program, which they did not win.

While this is nowhere near the most interesting firearm  released in the last week (that honor goes to the Ruger PC Carbine... I got the wants!), I have to say, I think a better name has already been attributed to it.

Over a year ago, Pawpaw said they should do it and it should be called the Glock 17 Commander, and damned if he wasn't right.

I think a G19 longslide would be more practical for a lot of people, but apparently Glock thought this was... Perfection?

Interesting the way shit plays out, isn't it?

Guns, Leather, and Vinyl

I've been texting back and fourth with a buddy of mine. He lives about halfway between my place and my Dad's. He asked me to do some leather work for him, specifically a stock wrap and sling for his Marlin 1894, much like the one on mine, but for right handers.

I just so happen to have a pattern for that (heh!), so I told him I would be happy to. He has a maker's mark that he wants in the leather, and I know he has a vinyl cutter, so I told him to make me a cutout of his mark, and I would dye the stock wrap, apply the vinyl, then dye it darker, leaving him a two-tone image of his mark after removing the vinyl.

He liked the plan, and agreed to it. I told him to go ahead and make me a cutout of my maker's mark too, while he was at it.

He gave me a sheet with multiple sizes, so I applied one to my truck, and we put one on my Dad's van today. It's nice, I think.

As part of the payment for the leather work, my buddy gave me a set of round to square rosewood grips for my 686. He has one, too, but keeps a set of Hogues on his, so has no use for the rosewood ones. I picked up the grips when I was there, but apparently left something.

He sent me this pic with a text reading "Santa came early this year!" Looks like I need to swing back by his house later.

Anyway, there's a random blog post for you. Somewhat rambling, no point, but a snapshot of my last two days, at any rate.

God is Good.

Sometimes, life throws a curveball at you, after you have been dealing with lots of uphill battles. All you want to do is curl up and weep, because you have no idea how to fix THIS problem, on top of all the other ones you are trying to manage. And you know if you can't fix it some way, you simply don't have the cash flow to pay someone to fix it.

But you push down the self pity, and apply yourself, and throw all the knowledge you possess at the problem, and somehow, you get it fixed, with only having to outlay about 50 bucks.

I'm not a deeply religious person, but I do believe that there is a God, and he is benevolent. Sometimes, we witness miracles, even if it is as small as God gifting you with ability beyond your skill, just long enough to fix the problem.

And you offer Him thanks.

God is good, and he helped me today.

Thanks be to God.

Random Notes

1. I got to go hang out with Murphy and Aaron last weekend. It was great to meet Aaron and see Murphy again. Also got to shoot a real Full-Auto Thompson. Thanks, Murph.

2. I love it when steaks go on sale. They will be good tonight.

3. It's hard to beat Jim Beam and eggnog.

4. I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to Branson.

5. I'm glad I got a brother that doesn't mind helping me. He's gonna save me a bundle by applying knowledge and sweat.

6. The older I get, the more I enjoy Christmas. It's a lot of fun watching kiddos opening crap and seeing how excited they get.

Stack-On

Horse-Traded a buddy for his old safe. He bought a new fire-rated one, and this one is more of a "lockable storage cabinent" than an actual safe. Still, having another option for locking up hardware is nice.

I gotta make him a holster now. So not a bad deal on my end.

Also, I'm loading up to hang out with Murphy tomorrow, and he mentioned the range... and a few Full-Auto guns.

I have 6 or 7 guns loaded up, and right at 900 rounds of .38, .380, 9mm, and .22...

And about 100 rounds of .38 is loaded from bullets Murphy gave me, so the ammo gets to come full-circle.

Tomorrow looks like it should be pretty fun.

Chili

We are experiencing the first cold snap of the year. A bowl of the red seemed in order.

My Tumultuous Affair with the G19

Growing up as the son of a police officer that worked a rural beat in the 80's and 90's, it is logical that the majority of my handgun exposure growing up was with revolvers.

I'm fact, until I became a peace officer myself, I could count on two hands the number of semi-autos I had fired. I knew how they operated, and was comfortable enough with them, but I had never truly seen the appeal.

Enter my first range day with my department: the Firearms instructor reached into the lock box on his truck, handed me a black clamshell box with "Glock" written on it, and 2 boxes of ammo. Now, I was a lucky one. Guns in my department get reissued. If an officer decides to move on to another department or profession, the gun gets turned in, and will be issued to the next new hire who walks in the door. For some unknown reason, I got a factory new gun. Luck of the draw, I guess.

Amyway, when I stepped to the line and ran my first POST course, I qualified with a 119/120, an almost perfect score. Some officers can go their whole career without shooting a 119. Now, yes, I am a shooter, and that plays a part, but having a decent gun helps the process immensely.

And so I fell in love.

But, as we all know, love can fade. And it did for me with the 19. Over about several years, the 19 was a constant companion, but the more I carried it, the more I saw it's shortcomings as a duty weapon. A slightly longer grip would be easier to hold. It would give you more rounds on board. A longer barrel would give a better sight picture.

So I spent a few years being resentful of what the 19 was not: the perfect duty gun. It just seemed like the bastard child to me: slightly too small to make a good duty gun, slightly too big to make a good off-duty carry gun. It could be pressed into either role, but wasn't great at either.

So I bought a 17. Put a TLR-1 on it. And you know what? THAT is pretty much a perfect duty gun (for me. I know everyone has an opinion). I love it. I truly do. And I had a single stack 9, a Kahr, which was a great (off duty) carry gun.

But recently, over the past few months, I have been thinking. I live in a city with a high crime rate. I live in a great neighborhood, but bad neighborhoods are not far. In my Kahr, I had 8 rounds on board, with a spare, 16. That's what the 19 holds, WITHOUT a spare.

So I started considering carrying the 19 off duty. I have in the past, but not much. That's kind of odd, because even though I have mostly only carried the gun on duty, I still have managed to collect a large number of holsters for it over the years.

Since I last carried the 19 off duty, I have really dove into holster making, and have an idea of what makes a good concealment holster.

And you know what? With the right holster, you can conceal a G19 under a t-shirt. It only took me the better part of a decade to draw the conclusion that literally millions of concealed carriers across the nation have already realized. With the right holster, the G19 is about the perfect concealed carry gun! (I do maintain that the G17 is a better duty weapon, though!)

I have been carrying the 19 lately in a modified Aker Flatsider. I removed the retention snaps, and refinished the edges to give me a cleaner draw from concealment. I will get around to making a holster that suits me better, but this one is pretty darn close to right for me.

My department is getting rid of a lot of the gen 3 G19s soon and upgrading to gen 4's, and will be giving us the option to buy our gen 3 guns. If I can get the scratch up, I'm gonna buy the 19.

It's the perfect concealed carry gun, after all.