Ward Leather

Custom Leather Holsters & Equipment

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Current Inventory for Sale

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (and our answers):

What handgun models do you build holsters for?

We currently build holsters for the following makes and models. If you have a model that is not listed please give us a call to see if we can acquire that model. If you are local and cannot find your model in the list below we will gladly use your firearm to build your holster. Minimal overnight time is required and, in some cases, we'll let you drop off and pick up your handgun within the same day.

BERETTA 92D CENTURION

H&K USP 9MM COMPACT

SIG P229 DAK W/RAILS

BERETTA 92F

LUGAR P08

SIG P229 W/RAILS

BERETTA COUGAR

MAKEROV

SIG P230

BERETTA PX4 STORM .40 S&W

MAUSER BROOMHANDLE

SIG P239

BERETTA PX4 STORM .45 AUTO

RAVEN P-25

SIG P250

BERETTA VERTEC

RUGER GP100 4"

SIGPRO 2022

BROWNING HI POWER

RUGER LCP

SIGPRO 2340

COLT 1911

RUGER LCR (COMING SOON)

SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER 5 1/2" BARREL

COLT 1911 COMMANDER 4"

RUGER P89

SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER 7 1/2" BARREL

CZ75

RUGER SP101 3"

SPRINGFIELD 1911 A1 5"

CZ75 COMPACT

S&W 4006

SPRINGFIELD GI .45 1911 5"

GLOCK 17/22/31

S&W 4506

SPRINGFIELD MICRO COMPACT 1911 3"

GLOCK 17/22/31 w/ GLOCK TACTICAL LIGHT

S&W 5906

SPRINGFIELD OPERATOR 1911-A1 5"

GLOCK 17/22/31 w/ M5 TACTICAL LIGHT

S&W 6906

SPRINGFIELD OPERATOR 5"

GLOCK 19/23/32

S&W J FRAME 2"

SPRINGFIELD XD 4"

GLOCK 21

S&W K FRAME 4"

SPRINGFIELD XD40 4"

GLOCK 21 SF

S&W M&P 40 4.25"

SPRINGFIELD XD40 SUBCOMPACT 3"

GLOCK 26/27/33

S&W M&P 40 COMPACT 3.5"

SPRINGFIELD XD40 TACTICAL 5"

GLOCK 30

S&W M&P 45 4.5"

SPRINGFIELD XD45 4"

GLOCK 34

S&W MODEL 60 3"

STEYR M9-A1

GLOCK 36

S&W SIGMA SW9V

TAURUS 24/7

GLOCK 37

S&W SW99

TAURUS MODEL 85

H&K HK45

SIG MOSQUITO

TOKAREV

H&K MARK 23 SOCOM

SIG P220

WALTHER P38

H&K P2000 EUROPEAN VERSION

SIG P220 W/RAILS

WALTHER P5

H&K P2000 US VERSION

SIG P225

WALTHER P99

H&K P30

SIG P226

WALTHER PPK/S

H&K P7M8

SIG P226 W/RAILS

WEBLEY MKIV

H&K USP .45

SIG P228

H&K USP 9MM

SIG P229

How do I order?

First off, please see the Order page and complete the form for all of the information requested. Then, there are 3 ways to submit an order:

Give us a call and provide the information from the order sheet. If there is information that is not clear or if you have questions we will be happy to talk to you to make sure you are getting exactly what you are looking for.
Send us an email with the information from the Order page.
Good old fashion snail mail. You can print out the order page and mail in your order.

Any way you do it, you will receive a confirmation back from us stating that we received your order and we will provide you with an estimated delivery time.

What is the billing process and how do I pay for my order?

Once we receive your order, we will send you a confirmation of receipt and will provide you with an estimated delivery time. Once we start building your order we will send you an invoice via PayPal to the email address you provided on the order. This does not require a customer to set up a PayPal account. If the email address provided is linked to a Paypal account, then it will request that you login and complete the payment. If you do not have a Paypal account, the link provided in the invoice email will bring up a credit/debit card form. If you have a problem with this, please contact us. Money orders and checks are accepted, although this will delay the delivery date to ensure the funds have been cleared.

We expect to receive payment with three (3) days of the invoice being sent out and if we have not heard from you by then we will attempt to follow up via email and phone. If we have not heard back from you withing five (5) business days from the date of the invoice, we will cancel your order.

Your order will be shipped approximately 1 week from the date of the invoice.

Orders will be shipped via USPS and a tracking number will be provided when the order is shipped.

Why should I buy a custom leather holster?

To fully understand the difference between a production holster and a customer leather holster, it's also a good idea to talk a little bit about the production methods used.

Leather holsters are typically made one of two ways. They are made on a production line or they are made by hand one at a time.

Production Line Holsters - Holsters of this nature are typically produced on a manufacturing line. The bulk of the work is done by machine and the holster is finished off by hand. This is a fairly standard method utilized by large commercial holster company's like Galco®, DeSantis®, Don Hume®, etc. In this scenario, the leather is cut by an automated machine, spray dyed in bulk lots, and then finished off in a series of steps on a production line. The actual steps will vary between manufacturers, but the end result is typically about the same.

Custom or Handmade Holsters - Like the name implies, these holsters are manufactured entirely by hand. The leather is cut, stitched, formed, boned, dip dyed and then finished off by hand.

What are the differences between the two methods?
Actually there are pretty significant differences between the two methods. Here are a few:

While spray dyeing works, I've never believed it to be as effective as dip dyeing. Submersing the leather in a dye really gets the pigment into the leather. My past experiences with spray on dye shows that it tends to wear off or fade far sooner than a traditional dip dyeing.

Production line set-up don't typically utilize as good a grade of leather versus hand made shops. Most custom leather shops are more selective about the grade and cut of the leather that they use in their products.

Production holster companies generally purchase leather in large bulk loads. The volume of the leather purchased makes a close inspection of the leather very difficult. Custom leather shops typically purchase smaller orders of bulk leather and take the time to inspect the leather before it's used for holsters.

Don't get me wrong, I think most commercial holster companies produce a nice product. But, in my humble opinion, the custom maker scenario offers a better quality product for the investment.

Why is Hand Sewn Better?

Leather products that are sewn by machine are a dime a dozen. While most of the business world seeks to produce things faster, I seek to produce things better. Hand sewing is superior to machine sewing.

Leather sewing machines commonly use the "lock stitch" (also called bobbin stitch). If just one loop of a lock stitch is broken, the other side will automatically be loosened, often this process of unraveling will continue until the entire product is ruined.

Hand sewing in the time honored manner will not unravel if one loop is broken. In his book "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" Al Stohlman said

"Though slower, hand sewing is superior to machine sewing. It is the best method of stitching two or more pieces of leather together for lasting years of wear and service."

There are thousands of different sewing machines, designed for multiple or specific uses. The most common of the machine stitches is called the "lock" stitch. This is made with a top thread and a bottom thread ... which is in a small spool called the "bobbin". The lock stitch is formed by the top threadgoing around the bobbin spool, picking up the bottom htread, toform a loop. Whn properly adjusted, the loop is pulled between the two thicknesses of materials being sewn. The cut-a-way illustratoins below show the differences in the LOCK STITCH ... and the HAND STITCH.

stitching

~ Tandy Leather Factory Fort Worth, Texas

With hand sewn leather you get a one-of-a-kind, quality product that will stand the test of time. Time honored methods produce time honored products, experience the difference!