working with buckskin... like working with spandex... any suggestions ???

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I'm finishing up my latest holster... an 8-10 oz vegi tanned leather holster with some Ostrich knee leather on the outside, & some soft tanned buckskin a buddy of mine shot ( in shotgun season, which was too full of holes to make anything bigger with ) as a lining material...

I found working with the buck skin much tougher than working with light lining leather... it was much more "stretchy" ... I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it in the pics, but the smallest punch on my rotary punch was used for the lacing holes, & several of them look stretched... also note my signature cartridge button ( used here as a stress point rivet ) which for this gun is a 32 H&R Magnum case head... BTW the gun is / was my 1st CCW gun, an Air Weight S&W J Frame in 32 H&R Magnum

any suggestions for a holster newbie from anyone that has worked with buck skin ???

[Scorch]

Buckskin is very soft, almost like the craft foam my kids cut out to make shapes with. You can stretch it and it grows! Sheepskin shavers are not quite that bad, but close. What I do when lining holsters with really soft skin is use rawhide to make a "frame" for the holster, then make the holster with the rawhide in between the exterior and the lining. That way you have something solid to sew to or glue to, and the holster will hold its shape a lot better.