This holster came to me via a little horse trading, fitting I suppose. $5 grips picked from the bargain bin and resold at a 800% profit got me enough spending loot to pick up this worn but incredibly detailed western holster:
I estimate it to be 60's vintage, the hand tooling is impressive- I can't imagine what it would cost to duplicate in todays dollars. It looks to be made for a 4-1/2" to 5-1/2" Ruger single six or Colt new frontier (or scout)- the loops are definitely for .22 rounds. When I received it, I got to work gussying it up with 2 products: Kiwi black shoe polish and Neatsfoot oil. Using an old toothbrush I scrubbed in the shoe polish to any places where the tooling or age had worn away the dye (cows are not black) and let it sit. Then I rubbed it in and polished it out. Afterwards I rubbed in about 3 coats of neatsfoot oil which is a leather preservative. This stuff is made from boiling down the shin and foot bones of cows which have a special kind of fat to keep cow ankles from freezing...seriously. It works real nice on any thirsty leather and is pretty cheap and easily available. Here's a half and half photo (polished and oiled on the right):
And the finished product, it's really night and day from how I received it:
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