Craft Holsters

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Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I was looking for a holster for my 4" S&W 31-1. I wanted it to be leather, OWB, some retention, covered trigger, full coverage of the entire barrel and compact. A minimalist field holster of decent quality. I didn’t want to spend a fortune, but I only wanted to buy it once. Leather holsters for 4” J-frames are not super hard to come by, but they’re a little more specialized these days than one might assume.

My standard “Go-To” for revolver holsters is one of the established American makers such as Don Hume, Bianchi, DeSantis, Mitch Rosen or maybe El Paso Saddlery. After looking around, I couldn’t really find exactly what I was looking for. My fallback source is almost always Don Hume, sometimes even a used Don Hume rig; but it just wasn’t happening for a 4” J-frame. I also spent some time digging through those boxes of used holsters at gun shops and gun shows – no joy.

So, once again I turned to my backup plan – Craft Holsters. I found what I was looking for, at a price that I was willing to pay and ordered it. A discount coupon helped make that decision easier. It wasn’t in stock and took a few weeks to be produced (no problem, I wasn’t in a hurry). Once it shipped, it made the trip across the pond amazingly fast. Less than 72 hours from Slovakia to Virginia.

This is about my 5th holster from Craft Holsters, and I continue to be impressed by the quality to price ratio. Synthetic materials have their place but I’m fairly old school and most of my gear is leather. Craft Holsters make a pretty good leather holster for the money. If you’re seeking options, they are worth a look.

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david s

Well-Known Member
I've a similar holster for my 4-inch J framed guns, an old Temecula made Bianchi 5BHL thumb break, but the triggers exposed. A holster isn't necessary with the little 4-inch J frames when hunting as they fit my front pants pocket pretty well, but the pistols hammer checking has worn holes in all my hunting pants left pockets. Still wouldn't be enough pocket depth for concealed carry in my case though. Holsters help with hammer checking creating holes of course. I haven't any Craft holsters, but they seem to be an excellent option. One of the better things about the world wide web is the options that are available now. An awful lot of holster makers who were well known locally before the web but not nationally are now known internationally because of their web sites and customer feedback. The J framed 32's in a good holster are about perfect when woods loafing. Our S&W 31's seem to look like twin sons of different mothers. Oh, and you are correct about how a holster should be leather, I'm sure plastic holsters have their place I just don't know where that is.
 
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Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
There seems to be a big gap in the suppliers of quality leather holsters. There are the big producers such as Galco, DeSantis, Don Hume, etc. that have standard inventory on hand. Then you have what I call semi-custom makers like Mitch Rosen, Milt Sparks that produce holsters on-demand or maybe produce smaller numbers of holsters from a fixed pattern. And then you have the custom holster makers where every item is a one-off creation.

That middle ground of what I label as semi-custom makers seems to be thinning. I don’t know if synthetic materials are taking some market share away or it has become too difficult complete with the bigger companies. Lou Alessi died in 2009 and that ended Alessi Holsters. Bell Charter Oak closed its doors a couple of years ago, and there are others that have disappeared.

Over the years I’ve acquired examples from all types of sources. If one of the bigger companies happens to produce exactly what you want, you’re in luck. That will likely be the best bang for the buck. But sometimes a semi-custom or even a one-off design is where you must land to get what you want. The internet has helped the smaller shops survive and maybe even allowed some custom makers to get their name out there. I hope some of the defunct makers are replaced by some new blood.
 
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Rick H

Rick H

Well-Known Member
There are a few around, most not nationally known. Stoner in southern Ohio makes decent holsters at reasonable prices. Most limit what they build for unless you are willing to supply your own gun. They seem to have limited "blue guns" as forms. In my area there are a few local holster makers but rarely do they have what I want/need at hand.

Most of my concealed carry is done with inside waistband holsters. I hate to admit it but, I prefer Kydex for that purpose. The added stiffness is a plus when reholstering. Unless the leather is reinforced with metal or Kydex they will collapse with use. The Kydex is much easier to maintain.

I can make my own workable holsters but if my time is worth anything at all it is far cheaper to buy a quality holster from someone who does it full time.
 
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