Converting IMA's replica .455 holster to a Raiders holster.

[ArdethBey]

I did this about two years ago. There are far more options for most gear now, so I thought I'd throw it out here. The holster I got was supplied very dark brown, almost black. It's a .455, so it's quite long. As supplied, it makes the best ToD holster available, IMHO. But I was going for a Raiders holster, so here's what I did. First, I cropped two inches off of the bottom with a sharp utility knife. SUre it's not capped anymore, but that's far less noticable than a holster that's too long. I then pulled off the closure strap and raised it up. It was stitched on, but I used epoxy to fix it in it's new position. Next I followed the curve of the flap, trimming about 1/4" to 1/2" off of it. Last, I used a fine sandpaper to completely remove the dark finish, all the way down to the light tan leather. About three heavy treatments (do all three right away) of leather conditioner darkened it to the exact color of the Raiders holster. Hope this helps someone.