Mad Max MM1 Shoulder Holster prototype - thoughts?

[Max Replica]

Hey guys, Magnolia Leatherworks is making a Mad Max shoulder holster. Something a lot of us fans have been wanting for a long time.

He's put up a link so that we can all give our input. So let me know your thoughts here and I'll relay them to him.

http://magnolialeatherworks.blogspot.co ... lster.html

My initial comments are:
1. It needs the strap that goes across the back and around the other shoulder (he's probably planning this but just forgot to put it in the pic.
2. It needs the suede shoulder harness (but he's already planning to do this for the production version
3. It looks a little wide/fat to my eyes. Probably needs to be longer and thinner. It's hard to judge based on the gun that's in it in the pics because I don't know what size it is. Is it a full-size .357 replica with a 4" barrel?

[the armourer]

Hey guys, Magnolia Leatherworks is making a Mad Max shoulder holster. Something a lot of us fans have been wanting for a long time.

He's put up a link so that we can all give our input. So let me know your thoughts here and I'll relay them to him.

http://magnolialeatherworks.blogspot.co ... lster.html

My initial comments are:
1. It needs the strap that goes across the back and around the other shoulder (he's probably planning this but just forgot to put it in the pic.
2. It needs the suede shoulder harness (but he's already planning to do this for the production version
3. It looks a little wide/fat to my eyes. Probably needs to be longer and thinner. It's hard to judge based on the gun that's in it in the pics because I don't know what size it is. Is it a full-size .357 replica with a 4" barrel?

Jared, that one is not even close. The harness is all wrong. It looks a bit too wide, but I think the pistol is the mid-size K-frame. The rig you had before looked a lot better. I wouldn't waste my money on this one. It looks like it right out of the Al Stolman book, "How To Make Holsters", which shows mainly the older pre-1900 patterns. They don't seem to understand what they are trying to reproduce. It's just not right.

[Max Replica]

I really appreciate your comments and respect your expertise in this area.
I agree that the holster doesn't look right. But he specifically asked me to post the link here so that people could give comments on how to improve it. I'll feel bad going back to him with "Here's a comment - give up and let someone else do it."

Think there's anything I could tell him that would get things going in the right direction?

The up side to Magnolia Leatherworks doing this holster is that they're the first place I've found so far that is willing to make custom Mad Max holters to order for fans and do it at a price that doesn't give me a heart attack. (And his MM1 and MM2 shotgun holsters came out pretty good after the designs were tweaked from the prototype stage).
No one has ever made a run of these shoulder holsters before and I had hopes that this would be the first. I know that there are a lot of folks out there that would like to have one and don't have the skills to do it themselves.

P.S. Yes, he was provided with all my best screenshots of the holster from the movie, so I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't look more accurate at this stage. But maybe that's the way he works. Maybe the prototype is just to get things in a 3D form so they can be evaluated.

[the armourer]

Show him pics of your present rig. it's a lot closer then what he has now. The vertical rigs at the A.E. Nelson Leather Co. are real close. www.nelsonleather.com The profile of the pouch is not correct, but the design and cut of the harness is almost spot-on. It's a step in the right direction.

[MFP 2020]

I'm sure we'll get there, but IMO it's shockingly not close. Too wide, too flat, wrong shape. There's also the black elastic strap...and what's the deal with that strap anyway? The edges look crenellated or like someone pulled a thread, y'know?

Rook3 posted some shots in an earlier thread: http://www.madmaxmovies.com/forum/viewt ... f=6&t=6953

[Max Replica]

UPDATE:
Magnolia leather is determined to try and make an accurate holster and welcomes your comments and input at his blog post for this project:
http://magnolialeatherworks.blogspot.co ... lster.html

But please remember that this is someone who is prepared to work hard in order to create something that has not been available to fans before. So the better our constructive criticism, the better product we'll be able to get in the end.
He's gone back to the drawing board on this holster and is working up some new patterns/trying some new things. So this would be the time to give your input.

It seems that one of the major problems with his holster so far has been my insistence on a split-open front with a metal spring clip. This is an aspect of Max's holster that wasn't widely known until I studied one of the promo photos from the movie. The lack of this split front with retainer clip is likely the reason that Roop3 (see previous discussion link above) felt that his homemade holster didn't draw right. The shape and size of his holster was pretty accurate, but the front was closed, meaning the gun had to be pulled all the way out from the top.
For some photos of Max's shoulder holster and my previous attempt at one, you can see this thread here:
http://www.madmaxmovies.com/forum/viewt ... 805#p81805

Magnolia leather has not been able to find the type of spring clip that was in my Bianchi holster and the one he used for the prototype was too large. This contributed to the prototype's wide and bulky shape.

[the armourer]

After studying the screen capture of Max threatening Johnny, I can see we were wrong about the barrel length on Max's revolver. It's a 4-inch, not a 6-inch.

If he's having trouble finding the retaining spring, it's just as easy to make it. You can purchase untempered spring steel in various thicknesses and after it's formed to the shape you need it can be tempered. A gunsmith or metal working/welding shop should be able to do it. The first spring clip holster I built was made with piece of spring from a clip-on mirror that attached to an automobile sun visor. It was crude but it worked. The second used a piece of sheet spring salvaged from a box mattress. Check gunsmithing suppliers like Brownells for untempered sheet spring metal. Dixie Gun Works used to offer several thicknesses up to 3/4" wide.