Stiff Holster

[old_mikee]

I just bought my first BP pistol from Cabella's along with a brand new holster. The holster is tanned very nicely but very stiff, too stiff to even force the pistol in.

Is there a way to soften this leather without ruining the patina of the leather? Perhaps from the inside? Anyone had this problem?

thanks in advance,

mike

[4V50 Gary]

You could grease up the gun, wrap it in a plastic and then soak the holster in water. Stuff the gun down it and allow it to dry. That will help stretch out the holster.

[the rifleer]

You could work in like a new baseball glove maybe...

[Model-P]

I would do what 4V50 Gary said, then give it a couple light coats of neatsfoot oil when completely dry.

[Hawg]

You can do that if the leather is vegetable tanned but a lot of Cabela's leather is chrome tanned and it will get hard if soaked in water.

[wogpotter]

I just got a holster from them too, the "open top" with that reddish-brown color to it?

If so here's what I did & it seems to have worked for me.

I rubbed a little neatsfoot oil in. (The leather was well filled with oil of some kind already & I didn't want to overdo it).

Then I used a hair dryer set on low flow & high heat to help the oil penetrate the leather evenly. To do this I put the holster back in the shipping box minus the packing & used the dryer to heat the box inside & contents for about 15 minutes to really soak the leather with heat all the way through.

Once that was done I shoved the pistol into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag, muzzle first, & wiggled it into the hot, oily holster. The purpose of the bag is to protect the finish from the hot oil, leather tanning leftovers & so on. Then I let it sit for 3 days.

Now its darn near a perfect fit, just firm enough grip to keep it in place but loose enough to allow for drawing without it slipping on the belt. I store the empty holster with a plastic (empty) pill container in the space where the cylinder would normally be, this keeps the shape in that area as well.

[TomADC]

I have a pair of their holsters, wrap the gun in saran wrap, wet the holster down with hot water I just used the kitchen sink, put the gun in and use your fingers & hands to form fit the holster, let dry at oom temp with gun still in it, very easy works just fine.

[Noz]

Unfortunately, that oil tanned holster will soften by itself and continue to do so until it, with heavy use, will begin to look like a rag. Vegetable tanned leather is the best way to go.