Next Leather Project - 22 Plinking Pouches

[BrokenolMarine]

I have decided to make a couple .22 pouches you can either wear on your belt or attach to a lanyard and hang over your shoulder that would contain a box or two of .22 ammo. You walk the trail and plink, drive around the farm doing your chores, or checking a fence line... your ammo isn't exposed like a belt sleeve or gun belt loops, but you have plenty. You get a few minutes and targets of opportunity... dirt clods, vermin or varmints... you have ammo on hand.

Meh... it may work, may not. But, TIME I have.

First, one of the pouches goes to a friend who offered ME a favor, so a favor I pay in return. I asked them what them they wanted on the pouch. I don't do just plain that often. I offered some options and Oak Leaves and Acorns was the choice. I haven't carved those in a while, so I thought I'd better get in some practice. A first shot, without watching any refresher videos. Yeah, where did I save those videos. The acorns need work and the leaves are hacked. I'll get out my backlit tracing panel, find a good sample and give it another shot before I try to carve into an actual project piece.

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The pouches should turn out nice. I'll do one with a belt loop on the back and one with D-rings. One with Oak Leaves and one with Basket Weave or maybe something else. Watch this space, it might get interesting... at least for me.

[MuddyWaters62]

Are you going to fashion the pouch to hold individual boxes (i.e.) Stinger or just dump a couple of boxes ? Sounds like a fun project any way you go.
Good Luck! I will be watching.

(NOT SO) Muddy Waters68

[BrokenolMarine]

I'm planning to have a rounded bottom enclosed pouch so you can dump a box or two in, that way it won't matter the brand or caliber. .22 shorts thru .22 mags, they'll all work. I remember loading from my pockets when I was a youngster... back then, no one batted an eye at a kid legging along the trail with a .22 and a puppy, shooting cans or dandy lions along the way. But we were also Scouts, and volunteers and would never have considered shooting things we weren't supposed to. We started early with BB and Pellet guns and EARNED that .22. We would never do anything to lose what we had worked so hard to earn.

My Grandfather bought me my first .22. A Winchester Single Shot you had to pull that thingee at the back of the bolt to cock the firing pin and it had that 180 degree safety lever. Hours spent on the range in his back field learning to shoot and learning all the rules. With HIM, a box of 50 rounds could last an hour, because after every shot, we had to "Discuss" each shot. But it was the beginning of a lifetime of learning. By the time I moved up to a semi-auto .22; I would no more have burned thru the rounds in the magazine than I would have ridden my Stingray bike off the bridge. I was better trained than that. "Aim Every Shot."

[BrokenolMarine]

I looked thru the reference books and located a nice pattern and set up the backlit tracing panel. I traced a couple patterns onto the lactate tracing sheet. Now off to the leather working bench to see what we can see.

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One more practice panel, then work refining the design a bit. The first cut didn't work like I wanted. They usually aren't perfect first time out of the gate. I don't toss the leather. Too expensive. I can always find a use later. If nothing else, I can carve it and frame it.

[Sir Henry]

I love me the idea. I always end up with a few 22’s in my pocket.

Edit: I like the idea. Dang spell check.

[BrokenolMarine]

Second shot at practice. Better, but I know there will be a third.

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This is how I see the weak spots and the areas I need to work on. I just keep hacking at it, and eventually I get to where I don't "hate it."
Sometimes, I actually think I like it, then I make the mistake of going on the leather forums, and the carvings seem to be ALIVE. Then I have to remind myself... "It's only a hobby, it's only a hobby."

[BrokenolMarine]

I'll rest the hands, maybe watch a movie, then back at it. It actually rained here and instead of 107, it's in the 80s. Tina is clipping the pastures while she can. The cows are standing out in the middle of the rain, going: "Thank you God." They HAVE been hiding deep in the woods around the creek beds during the day and grazing at night. The milk cow is funny, when she hears Tina wetting the metal roof on the Barn and the Coop to cool the buidlings, she comes up from the creek bed and stands and let's Miss T soak her with the hose. THAT water comes from the well, which is DEEP and COLD. She loves it.

[BrokenolMarine]

Correction....

Really Deep, and Really Cold.

[North Country Gal]

Love it.

[BrokenolMarine]

Back out for more practice. Third time is (almost) a charm.
I am much happier with this try. I redrew the trace, and transferred it to the leather and tried much harder to bevel neatly. I did a much better job with that. (Still a slip here and there.) I still need to rewatch the pear shading videos again.

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The swivel knife skills need a bit of work on this small scale. The acorns need to be rounder and the curves on the leaves could be smoother, that comes with time and skill. Skill, I looked for a package of skill on Amazon. Out of Stock.

Went all out. Oiled and waxed this one to see the finished product. Not bad.

05 oiled and waxed.jpg (224.6 KiB) Viewed 6895 times

Hands need a rest so I'll watch the YouTube vids and perhaps rework the design this afternoon... or tomorrow.

Oops, have to drive to Duncan and Back to pick up Miss T's Bernina from the Service Center. That's a six hour round trip. Perhaps the boss will buy me lunch?