[boone10]

I bought a couple holsters at the gun show this morning and looking for tips on how to break in a new leather pocket holster for a j-frame. The display model worked perfectly, but probably had the "blue gun" in and out a thousand times--I don't have that much time or patience. BTW, this is quality leather if that matters in the break-in.

[flynlead]

You could wet the holster lightly and put it in the freezer for a few hours, wrap your gun in foil and then put in the holster. This should loosen it up a bit



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[CrackerKen]

Get some substantial zip lock bags (your holster may have came in one?) and put the UNLOADED pistol in maybe 2-3 of the bags, then stuff the pistol into the holster. Let it set up for a few days. That should do the trick. You can use more plastic bags if needed. The thickness of the bags should break in the holster just a bit bigger than it is, and loosen it up just right.

[ScottieG59]

When I get a new leather holster, I place my unloaded handgun in a thin dress sock, sliding the gun all the way to the bottom. I gun/sock combination in the holster and ensure it is fully seated. I will leave it holstered about a day, checking periodically that it is fully seated in the holster.

I got this technique from GALCO and it works very well.


Out there in fly-over country...

[High Noon]

This may help:

http://www.highnoonholsters.com/_Que...estions.html#4

Take Care
Justin

[CrackerKen]

+1 what High Noon said. That's where I picked up my method. BTW - High Noon makes great products.

[OlliesRevenge]

I make my own leather holsters, here's a couple of recent one's...





The black IWB is for a CZ P01, I used the actual gun for a mold and the holster fit great from the start.

The brown OWB is for a Glock 19/23 and I used a Rings blue gun for it. It required some break in.

The general consensus among holster makers is that the Rings blue gun is slightly smaller than an actual gun for some models (Glock being one of them).

I don't recommend wetting a holster (or god forbid... freezing it)... wetting leather (known in the trade as "casing") with the subsequent application of heat is how leather is formed to shape then hardened. Holsters that are molded to the contours of the gun (like mine), got that way through a tooling process that happened when the leather was moist. Then heat was applied to harden it into shape. Moistening it again will cause it to lose shape and tooling definition.

The advice about wrapping the gun in a: freezer bag (though not wetting and freezing!), dress sock, saran wrap, wax paper, etc; is all spot on. It doesn't matter what you use, as long as it adds girth to the gun so the holster can be temporarily stretched.

I have also heard that this stuff works well..

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1...t/LEATHER-KOTE

...from a couple makers that I respect. I haven't used it myself though.


FWIW, I learned almost everything I know about leather working from this site...

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=29

Best Regards & good luck

[rahrah12]

I simply wrapped my unloaded pistol in saran wrap and wore it in the holster on my body around the house.

With my body heat helping to mold the holster to my body it tok about a week of doing this in the evenings.

[okietom]

Would putting some leather conditioner on it help? Mink oil or lanolin? Lanolin is used in some gun cleaners for moisture control, (Ed's Red), and wouldn't hurt you or your gun. It would make cowhide moisture resistant for IWB also. Baseball glove breakin kits have a ball and some leather conditioner.