This was my starter rig, from San Pedro Saddlery. It’s a strong side and cross draw rig. I had lost weight, so it was on the last hole in the belt, but later Big Ed at San Pedro took it up for free.
When you get started, unless you have a mentor, you will probably think that a strong side holster and a cross draw holster are the way to go because you use your strong hand for drawing and holstering each.
But the Single Action Shooting Society™ is rather picky about guns pointing outside of the 170° "downrange" portion of the range. Thus crossdraw shooters have to "do the dance" to make sure the gun comes out of the holster and goes back in pointed downrange, not behind you. Personally I've seen the muzzles of lebendy-leben odd cross draws. SASS gives you a stage DQ if it's empty, and a match DQ if it's loaded.
It's when you reholster that you'll find out if you bought a good set of holsters or not. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO REHOLSTER WITH ONE HAND. If you have to use your other hand to "open up" a collapsed holster, it's a bad thing. It might be a perfectly historically accurate holster, but it's slowing you down in a speed event. More importantly, it's also not good because you have to sweep your weak hand with the muzzle, violating the rule, "Never let the muzzle cover anything you're not willing to destroy." (Jeff Cooper).
This was my second rig, still cross draw, from Alfonso's of Hollywood. The holsters are metal lined so they won’t close up and thus require two hands for reholstering, a slow and unsafe practice. I stupidly asked for a left-handed rig, not knowing they would give me a left-handed belt as well. Left-handed men have been wearing their belts right handed all their lives, so this one drove me nuts. I lost a lot of weight and had the tongue moved considerably tighter when this picture was taken.
About then I began to realize the strong-side/cross draw was not for me.
Then I went back to Big Ed Douglas at San Pedro Saddlery for a rig for my 7.5” barreled Ruger Old Armies. Lacking the metal lining, I had some problems with these holsters closing up, but I kept tennis balls in them between matches. The shotgun belt is from San Pedro, too. You can’t beat Big Ed’s guarantee.
Two strong-side holsters is superior for duelists because twisting around to observe the 170° rule with a cross draw and shooting classic duelist is cumbersome.
Two strong-side holsters is superior for duelists because twisting around to observe the 170° rule with a cross draw and shooting classic duelist is cumbersome.
If you stand square to the target it's less of a problem, but if you line up your body with your shooting arm, then you have to move too much to switch guns.
Texas Paladin transferring from his weak hand to his strong hand using two strong side holsters
Most of the top shooters are using 2 strong side holsters. With the cross draw rig you have to “do the dance” to make sure that when you draw and reholster the cross draw gun the barrel doesn’t break the 170° rule. There are, at some events, people who watch all cross draw shooters like a hawk in an effort to call a safety violation. At some events you can just twist your body. At others you’d better move your weak foot forward and twist your body
The Old West fast draw is generally a myth as holsters of the day were not amenable to a fast draw. It took Hollyweird's steel-lined Buscadero rigs to facilitate fast draw. The modern SASS rigs have more in common with those rigs than the old west.
The Kirkpatrick Longhunter rig epitomizes the latest batch of gamy holster rigs. It features a2" drop holster with an 8 degree muzzle forward cant allows for a
quick draw without having to break the wrist at an uncomfortable angle.
The paddle back holster in combination with the 2" drop lets the Long Hunter rig ride comfortably all day above the point of the hips. These hand molded, flared top holsters are the most rigid all leather design in the Kirkpatrick lineup. The fronts have been cut down.for fast competitive draws with either hand. Available is a metal-reinforced skirt to angle the holster away from the body.
Completing the package is a 3" tapered belt for comfort and a 6 loop bullet slide that can be positioned around the belt without removing the holsters.
This is what he sent back. Jack Houston at LoneRider Leather made this rig to my specifications for 7-1/2" Ruger Old Armies (Colts shown in the photo) It's carved and exquisitely finished. The Mexican double loop holsters look like the holster on the cover of "Packing Iron," but the cylinders and trigger guards are exposed. This makes grabbing the weak hand gun around the cylinder so that when you hand it over to the strong hand, the grip is free, making for a much more secure transfer. The lip is rolled out for quick reholstering. The front is cut low.
Evolution:
The second San Pedro holster set is excellent, but it still covers the cylinder. It has a tendency to close up, so I stored it with a tennis ball shoved in the top to hold its shape.
Here you can see the cylinder is exposed, making the transfer easy from the weak hand to the strong hand
Here's another of LoneRider Leather's newest shotgun belt. This one holds 16 shotshells but no pistol. They are made to order.
Mine holds 12 shotshells and 6 rifle/pistol rounds for emergency or planned reloads on the clock. I don't carry rounds on my pistol belt (percussion pistols didn't need them!)
This is a shotshell slide by LoneRider Leather, but every company has one. Some people don't like the bulk and weight of a separate shotshell belt, and normally 6 or 8 will be plenty for a stage. Those of us in the Houston area tend to carry more because a local club has been known to have 14 shotgun rounds on a stage, prompting me to use my shotshell belt AND a slide!
This is the prototype of LoneRider Leather's "CAS System." One belt holds everything. These holsters have a muzzle forward cant, but straight drop is available, too.
This is the LoneRider Leather "Peacemaker" rig, a well-designed, underpriced rig suitable for beginners or experienced shooters who want a functional, safe, fast rig.
Buscadero Rigs:
Since most of our Silver Screen heroes wore Buscadero rigs, a lot of us wear them. Shown here is Jack Houston. Here he's dressed as Gene Autry, with blue jeans, fancy boots, and a double buscadero rig, carved, nickel trimmed. The guns are stainless Vaqueros. He will be a different B-western cowboy at each match, having a lot of fun with it and having some neat costumes.
Buscadero rigs look good, but they're hell to sit with, uncomfortable on horseback, and not authentic to the 19th century. It's generally conceded they were designed in 1916, but there's a photo of Commodore Perry Owens with a reverse buscadero rig, and Texas Ranger Captain John Hughes had an early precursor to the buscadero rig.
Pretty Mean Shawmee models the Lady Tequila Rig by Kirkpatrick Leather. The belt has a reverse curve so it will fit the curve of the hips and not slide down. Women are short waisted, so using the belt for the shotshells fits a lot of women better than having 2 belts. The rig is fancy and feminine. The rig was made for the requirements of the Carolina Belles and input from champion shooter Tequila.
The belt is two pieces, and it comes with two tongues so one size fits all.
San Pedro Saddlery also worked with the Carolina Belles to make the Fannie Kickinshoot rig, a very fancy, very feminine Buscadero rig with integral shotshell loops. The belt is lined with red suede. The suede lining of the belt is to help it stay in place. The belt is hand carded in the "Tombstone Rose" pattern. The roses are hand-tinted red and yellow with green stems and leaves using spirit tint dyes, and the background is black. It is border stitched with hand laced Buckstitch. Six Shotgun Loops arranged in double sets are centered and the belt buckles in the back with a Faux Black Hills Gold 3 piece buckle set with small faux rubies and four matching conchos. The holsters are carved to match and lined with red kidskin for a smooth draw. The holsters are finished with a Hitched Horse Hair and silver hammer tie.