Vintage carry option for the well-heeled...

[carebear]

...and well dressed.

I was looking through an old copy of Ed McGivern's "Fast and Fancy Shooting" I just bought (good info and lots of pictures, early 30's, nice hats and clothes, Westerny style) and saw a holster that might solve a problem I've been facing.

I've been thinking about dressing a little more vintage but the higher waists and often lack of belts of vintage cut trousers don't work with how I carry now. I'm not big on pocket holsters (bulgey) or shoulder rigs so those aren't my first choice.

So, flipping through the holster section of the book I came upon a holster designed around suspenders that would disappear beneath a vest but still be accessible and can hold a medium revo or auto.

But the pic I put on photobucket won't upload, so here's a link to the picture on a sale website. Scroll down to the 6th item.

http://www.oldwestcollectors.com/frontier_americana/more.html

It's a pretty simple design that could be modified to fit more modern weapons.

Anyway, for those who care, I thought I'd share.

 

[Speedster]

Cool holster. Should be fairly easy to replicate to fit a more modern handgun.

 

[up196]

Nice find

I wonder if John Wesley Hardin was wearing a similar holster when he was confronted on the train in Pensacola by John Armstrong. The reports say Hardin tried to draw his revolver, but it got hung up in his galluses.

 

[carebear]

I've always assumed it was a standard crossdraw. I wonder if anyone bothered to put that much detail into any of the reports.

I'm mocking up a pattern and I'm embarrassed to say I don't own any trou with suspender buttons. Is there a "standard" center-to-center distance? If so, what is it? If not, what seems to be the average?

 

[up196]

JW Hardin

I thought that at first too, but a cross-draw on a belt is "outside" of the braces, and the drawing motion tends to move the revolver further out. On the other hand, I've carried a revolver in an inside-the-pants holster occasionally on assignments while wearing a suit. I wear the holster positioned just a little ahead of the hip so I can draw while seated in a car if necessary, and the hammer will catch the leather loop between the buttons almost every time. Sounds like JWH's situation, strong-side draw while seated. I finally went to the trouble of having a second hammer made up without the spur to eliminate the problem, but Hardin had a single action, a cap-and-ball .44, so . . .

 

[carebear]

This holster would mostly prevent that then.

If you notice the holster hooks to the buttons and the suspender hooks to the ring well above and behind the pistol grip. I guess it would require some kind of opening ring or a suspender that can unsnap from around the leather "V" that goes to the button. The holster replaces that "V".

Hardin may have been wearing a shoulder rig. I can imagine one of those with suspenders and a vest could provide an overabundance of things to snag on.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Concealed carry permits are pretty much impossible to obtain in my city, but I'm thinking about it if I ever move to a more civilised part of the country.

I wonder about finding an inside-the-waistband rig that'll work with my rotund shape. It seems like it would stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[carebear]

Tony,

That'd be a downside of high waisted trousers. Under the bulge would help conceal better.

Although, depending on how "hard fat" you are, some of the bigger men I know find that the gun kinda "recesses" in and actually leaves less of a bulge in the cover garment. That's one issue with vintage styles, the fitting. Not only do we have to find the right sizes, we have to find tailors who know what they're doing in tailoring around the gun. My suits and sportcoats are but carry up here isn't uncommon for people who dress professionally.


What county is Tarzana in? If you haven't checked most of the rural Sheriff's are pretty good about issuing permits and the cities can't say boo about it. There's more permit holders in CA than you might think.

http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw/

...is a good resource and can put you in touch with folks who specialize on CA issues. Jim March is da man.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Tarzana, as with most towns in the San Fernando Valley area of southern California, is actually part of the City of Los Angeles. It had to do with water rights in the early part of the 20th Century, and it's a plot point in the movie "Chinatown."

Just over the mountains to the north is Kern County. Outside of Bakersfield, which is the main town, carry permits are issued by the county sherriff's office and they're known to be pretty reasonable about issuing them. It's too far a drive from where I work, though.

 

[carebear]

I've actually been to Kernville(?) up in the mountains visiting a Marine buddy's sister.

Can't say Bakersfield was all I'd envisioned from the Buck Owens / Dwight Yoakum song.