AW Brill holster

[mike116]

I had a request for this holster from a member here quite a while ago,  I decided it was time to get it done.   
The customer was very interested in getting it made as much like a holster designed by AW Brill who had a specific method of construction as possible.  Brill worked around the turn of the century (1900 not 2000) and his design was made by several makers and favored by Law enforcement officers,  especially the Texas Rangers.   This style is called a Sunday Scabbard.   It features a band around the middle,  a specific welt construction and the apron is sewn to the back skirt at the toe.   It is also made of 7 oz.  in order to keep the weight down.   The main seam, apron, and cuff are hand sewn but the liner is machine stitched just like the original holster were made.

[Marshal Will]

Gorgeous, Mike! The Brill holsters are of my favorite designs. That one is outstanding. Very, very nice work. He should be very pleased with that.

[Hawg]

Very nice.

[Captainkirk]

Gorgeous work and kudos on the history lesson!

[Miguel Loco]

Beautiful work Mike!

[Navy Six]

Beautiful. Don't know how you could make a holster look much better than that.

[Bishop Creek]

The tooling on that holster is fantastic. I used to tool leather years ago, even made my own tools, and never got anything to look that good.

[StrawHat]

Duplicate post

[StrawHat]

Some photos.

Overall,

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A view of the welt stack, note how the layers are skived to taper the stack.

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Back of the scabberd, showing the cuff stitch. Back in the day, each saddler had his own way of attaching the cuff. It is very much a signature and is used to identify the maker. I would encourage Mike to come up with his own signature.

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The fold, showing the belt tunnel. The cuff was always placed in the same position.  The length of the leather needed to form the tunnel was determined by how wide a belt was used.

This is a very advanced design considering that previously scabbards were worn on a separate belt. The trousers belt was a relative new innovation at the time.

[StrawHat]

This is the toe of the scabbard. Note how it is a closed muzzle. Also the toe of the holster is stitched to the fender. This helps hold the revolver tight to the wearer’s side.

 

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The scabbard with my revolver next to it.  Notice, the holster is not significantly bigger than the revolver, making for a nice compact package.

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Here is a shot of the inside of the scabbard.  It is half lined, not to protect the handgun but to prevent the rough leather from wearing on the cloths of the wearer.  Mike dyed his liner so it is not easy to see where it stops. He also shoved the edge to allow for a smooth transition into the rougher leather.