DIY 1911 Compact (3") IWB Leather Holster

[drummingpariah]

Hey guys, I had finally decided on a carry gun, and since I've been enjoying my beginning steps in leatherworking so much, I decided to make a holster for it. I'm looking for any feedback or finishing tips you may have.

My biggest complaint with this holster is the belt clip. I'm not sure what I'm actually looking for in a clip, but this one just isn't delivering. I nailed the sweet spot of retention, and couldn't ask for anything better. I may clean up the edges on this, or I may just make another with cleaner stitching this time. I've seen some other holsters that use a flesh-side-out to stick to your body a little better, but since I haven't had any sagging issues yet, I'm not going to worry about that.

I might make the next build a little bit shorter (so it doesn't ride so high above the rear of the gun), but I kind of like having the added protection from the sharp edges of machining (at least on the inside end).

The gun itself is a Para Slim Hawg 1911 in .45acp. I had a carry 9 before this (those LDA triggers are absolute junk), and tried the Colt New Agent with trench sights (I didn't warm up to them) and settled on this because it's just a standard 1911 scaled down to a 3" barrel. It's all stainless, which makes it fairly heavy, but that's not something I'd complain about. The only thing that I think I'd like more about it would be to have a replaceable barrel bushing (none of the sub-officer 1911's do, so I'd assume there's a reason for that).

Overall, I'm happy with the outcome and feel that it was time well spent. I haven't been able to try on a compact holster that I really liked, and this meets all my needs nicely. I'll happily share the template with anyone who's interested, I drew it all out before making it.

On to a few images, and the link to the gallery:

GALLERY LINK

 

[the Black Spot]

Nice work. I like the protection against sharp edges. If you dont have a grooving tool i would suggest one. It allows your stitching to sit lower in the leather and wont fray as quick. You may know this already, but thought i would throw it out there.

 

[drummingpariah]

I do have one, but trying to use that was (part of) what ruined my last attempt. I've decided it's a feature that I can do without for the first few iterations, until I get my skills (and planning) up to status quo.

After wearing it around for a couple days, I'm realizing that the sharp edge protection needs to be modified a bit to give a nice channel for the thumb safety to slide in and out. I may be able to modify this one to accommodate that, but I'm already planning out the next version (possibly with a spare mag holder and/or pocket knife holder).

 

[bikerdoc]

Nice work.

 

[rcmodel]

Mag release button clearance hole on the right inside I hope??

Don't want to be stringing dropped mags down the street!!

rc

 

[smalls]

My biggest complaint with this holster is the belt clip. I'm not sure what I'm actually looking for in a clip, but this one just isn't delivering

Try loops. You'll never go back to clips. Clips just don't offer the stability or retention that loops do.

 

[drummingpariah]

Try loops. You'll never go back to clips. Clips just don't offer the stability or retention that loops do.

That sounds like a good way to go for the next one. I'm not impressed with this clip at all.

Mag release button clearance hole on the right inside I hope??

Don't want to be stringing dropped mags down the street!!

rc

Mag release button is on the left; The molded leather is fairly stiff and I haven't had any problems with mags popping out at all. It would be easy to mold it a little extra-large around the mag release button, but I haven't found a need to.