Cowboy Cowhide

American Handgunner, Annual, 2000 by John Taffin

For my Colt Single Actions, Ghormley made a matched pair of Mexican loop holsters. Lined with red leather, the holsters are fully carved with a darkly dyed background. The matching cartridge belt features leather rosettes with a red background and nickel spots. This fancy rig normally carries a mis-matched pair of engraved Colt Single Actions: a 4 3/4" .44-40 engraved by Dale Miller with ram's horn grips by Paul Persinger and a .45 with carved ivory grips by Persinger and engraving by Jim Riggs. It's a special rig for a special pair of sixguns.

Greasewood

Dudley Lewis supplies Greasewood Leather from the Arizona Territory. Lewis is one-man, one-woman shop. He does the main body of the holster work while his wife contributes the floral carving and finish work. Greasewood's rigs are classic designs, with matching belts, heavyweight single leather or lined and made for all models of single-action sixguns.

My Greasewood rig is a matched pair of straight-drop Mexican Loop holsters for 7 1/2" Colt Single Actions. The single-weight holsters are fully carved with a large rose and filled out with rose pedals and vines, all with a stippled background. The holster skirt is plain except for two border lines around the edge and one around each loop.

The belt differs from the holster design. It's a cartridge and money belt style with a pebble-grained surface made of Wickett and Craig heavy-chap leather. Lewis managed to combine strength and comfort in this belt. Even with a full row of cartridges and two heavy sixguns, the rig conforms to the body and rides high and easy.

A second double rig from Greasewood, actually two double rigs, consists of holsters for Ruger Single Actions. Two of the holsters, for the Vaquero, are straight-drop Mexican loop design with border stamping of a small floral pattern. The second set of holsters, with the same border stamping, have now been confiscated by my wife, "Diamond Dot." These holsters, one a straight drop, the other a Crossdraw, fit her stainless .357 Blackhawks. Mounted on a canvas belt, they supply her cowboy shooting needs in comfort and security.

Dudley Lewis is a horseman, sixgunner of the old school and a cowboy shooter. He understands good leather first hand and can duplicate the feeling in his line of Greasewood rigs.

Kirkpatrick Leather

American Sales and Kirkpatrick Leather is a well-established company that has been offering law-enforcement leather and Western rigs for over 30 years. Now the company is also into authentic Old West leather. A walk through their catalog reveals nearly 20 such rigs in single- and double-holster styles.

Kirkpatrick's Model 1865 Prospector is a Slim Jim style with very trim holsters that first originated in California during the 1850s. The Model 1865 is made of double leather but remains lightweight with a cartridge belt that is 2" wide. This rig carries a pair of 7 1/2" stainless steel .45 Colt Vaqueros that I use for both smokeless and black powder shooting. With holsters that ride high on the belt very comfortably, this has become a favored rig.