Handmade Gun Leather

There are two things that I grew up loving, leather and wood. Both of my vehicles have leather interiors. My house has lots of wood accents and furnishings. I even get the leather smellum sprayed in the car when I have it washed.

 It just stood to reason that wood grips and leather holsters would forever accompany my guns. Now I have broadened my taste some and, slowly, came to realize that a nice stag, ivory or simulated grip looked good too. So a few of my sidearms have gotten the special treatment of these custom grips. But the wood stays close at hand and gets rotated on and off the grip frames often.

 I was at a gun show the other day, trying to find a deal on some old leather. I had hopes of finding some bargain basement belts and holsters in someone's grab bin. At the end of the first row of tables I ran into David Bullard of Handmade Gun Leather. He had some really great looking rigs on his table, but due to the crowd around his table we had little time to talk. I got a card and called him on Monday. A couple of days later I went to see him and discuss his products. He is virtually a one man show, although he told me he had just hired someone to handle the stitching work on the rigs. All his stuff is hand stitched, and it shows in the quality. David is a really nice guy and we spent the better part of an hour discussing his rigs. All of his stuff is hand crafted out of Herman Oak Leather. His specialty is the "Mexican Loop" and "California Pattern". Although he does offer Quick Draw rigs, Saddle Scabbards and will duplicate a holster and belt from just about any picture you might have. He said he does a lot of reproduction work out of the book "Packin Iron" by Richard Rattenbury. He also offers a western style shoulder holsters and custom made knife sheaths. 

David provided me with a really beautiful "California Pattern" holster and matching belt. The workmanship is top notch. It sits well and is very comfortable. My Vaquero fit well right off the bat and is easy to insert and extract. The belt is 2/3 covered with .45LC loops, so the holster sits over one end of the loops. This is not a problem for me as I will rarely carry the belt full. I like the look of the dark tanned leather and conchos, so much so that he is now making me a crossdraw holster to match. What most impressed me about David's work aside from looking so good was his prices. I had gone looking for a deal on leather and really found one. Depending on how fancy you want to go, his holsters run from $30 - $50, belts from $60 - $100, Saddle Scabbards from $75 - $85 and Quick Draw rigs from $180 - $230. He has some options for each also, such as lining, sewn in toe plug, fancy loops, special tooling and others. You will just have to get with him for exact pricing on what you want.

 His flyer has, at the bottom, "All work is done completely by hand" and "All workmanship guaranteed". I guarantee you, that when you see in person how beautiful his rigs are you will be sold on this leather maker!

 David can be reached at:
Handmade Gun Leather
214-240-0763 

Leather Rig Pictures
Rig 1
Rig 2

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