spacecoast
New member
I have come into possession of a cowboy rig consisting of a 35" Arvo Ojala gun belt and a custom made Dale Myres holster. I say custom made because the original owner's initials are carved on the outer band which holds the holster in place. At the bottom of the holster is a piece of leather that ties around one's leg. The belt is 3" wide.
The original owner of this holster died in 1976 (born in 1920), so the holster is at least 38 years old and I suspect closer to 50-60 years old. It's something of a family heirloom. I don't know how much cowboy shooting the owner did, but intend to find out as much as possible and won't rule out using it myself someday (I can barely get into it). When I got the rig, some of its 31 loops were filled with .45 Colt bullets that hadn't been touched in a long time and were in some cases covered with verdigris. I have removed those. The brass rivets on the holster are also pretty green. The belt itself appears to be in great shape although a bit dingy with age and disuse. Some pics are below.
I'd like to stop the deterioration of the brass and get this rig back to as close to its original state as possible without damaging it. What's the best way to go about that? What is the best cleaning technique to avoid damage? I know very little about leather care other than when I used to rub saddle soap into my ball glove when I was a kid.
The original owner of this holster died in 1976 (born in 1920), so the holster is at least 38 years old and I suspect closer to 50-60 years old. It's something of a family heirloom. I don't know how much cowboy shooting the owner did, but intend to find out as much as possible and won't rule out using it myself someday (I can barely get into it). When I got the rig, some of its 31 loops were filled with .45 Colt bullets that hadn't been touched in a long time and were in some cases covered with verdigris. I have removed those. The brass rivets on the holster are also pretty green. The belt itself appears to be in great shape although a bit dingy with age and disuse. Some pics are below.
I'd like to stop the deterioration of the brass and get this rig back to as close to its original state as possible without damaging it. What's the best way to go about that? What is the best cleaning technique to avoid damage? I know very little about leather care other than when I used to rub saddle soap into my ball glove when I was a kid.
