Leather holster not fitting

I bought this holster from midway. Pretty nice for the money. But the safety strap is too short. Any way to stretch this, or is there anyone in south ga that can fix this.

Check with Capt Quirk.

Is the holster closed (stitched) across the bottom so that the barrel is bottoming out? If so the holster is the wrong fit for that Ruger send it back for a swap for the correct size. This is the first option and best one.

If the barrel is not bottoming out, you can try wet forming the leather and getting a little deeper fit. Dip holster in warm water, drain and drip dry. Set in a plastic bag in frig for over night. This is called casing the leather. Now oil the gun and wrap in saran wrap, carefully push/force (within reason) the gun into the holster until it bottoms out and the strap snaps easily. The strap will stretch a little and the gun should insert a little further into the holster. Set in a warm (not hot or heated) dry place on a towel and let dry completely on the outside with the gun installed. You can get a decent "custom" fit by using a little finger massaging of the leather around the gun while it is still damp. Remove the gun and allow the holster to dry completely on the inside before using - very important. Don't hurry this give it a couple of days to dry fully before using.

I got the wrong size holster. Thanks for the advice

Kinda figured that - the "Hunters" are usually a looser fit. Solid little utilitarian holster.

Anvil Head said:

Is the holster closed (stitched) across the bottom so that the barrel is bottoming out? If so the holster is the wrong fit for that Ruger send it back for a swap for the correct size. This is the first option and best one.

If the barrel is not bottoming out, you can try wet forming the leather and getting a little deeper fit. Dip holster in warm water, drain and drip dry. Set in a plastic bag in frig for over night. This is called casing the leather. Now oil the gun and wrap in saran wrap, carefully push/force (within reason) the gun into the holster until it bottoms out and the strap snaps easily. The strap will stretch a little and the gun should insert a little further into the holster. Set in a warm (not hot or heated) dry place on a towel and let dry completely on the outside with the gun installed. You can get a decent "custom" fit by using a little finger massaging of the leather around the gun while it is still damp. Remove the gun and allow the holster to dry completely on the inside before using - very important. Don't hurry this give it a couple of days to dry fully before using.

Click to expand...

In this process, you just dip in warm water for 2 or three seconds? Or longer?

It's nice to record this info in my brain for future use.
Thanks

Depends on the "temper" of the leather and what type is used. This is basically a recipie for veggie tanned leather and works poorly with chem tanned stuff (scrap bag leathers at craft stores like Hobby Lobby). I completely submerse in the warm water and swish around a little until all the bubbles release. Pull out and shake/sling off excess water. Let sit on marble tooling block or some other cool clean surface for about 10 minutes then place in a ziploc pushing out most of the air (not vacuum tight). Then put this in frig for over night. The leather will be looking almost dry but cool if you touch to your cheek. It should not be soggy or mushy (sign of inferior leather), if it is, set out and let air dry until in above condition. You can then proceed to the object insertion and forming steps.

Note: With practice, you can eliminate the frig step and get to a faux cased condition for forming or tooling/carving but your amount of time to "work" the leather is greatly reduced.

As with anything - practice procedure on scraps of the same material first until you get comfortable with the procedure.
Another note: Oil soaked and chem tanned leather will resist due to the oil and not work well with this procedure.

Hope this is helpful.

Thanks a bunch!