Zeus
Blackhawk
I received a package today from Mr. Barranti. As you are aware, Mike is busy now steadily knocking out his backorder after his recent announcement for going full time in the leather making business. I keep an order or two in the que and when my turn is up, I let Mike know what I want him to make. He has recently finished two new shucks for me that I'm really excited to see. One arrived today and the other will be arriving soon, stay tuned for pics of that one, its a beauty 
I was thinking back today at the first time that I perused Mike's website. I was amazed at the different styles and options. It took awhile for me to figure out what I wanted and several conversations with Mike but finally decided on the EK #5 floral carved holster with a matching ranger belt and cartridge slides in 44 and 45 calibers. It is a beautiful set and there is a picture of it in the gallery section of his site now. The next that followed was a really nice NW hunter rig. It is my absolute favorite for packing a sixgun around while hunting. If you're looking for shoulder rig that distribute weight well and is very adjustable in how you carry, this is a great one. There were others that followed after in the form of Hank Sloans, etc. The one constant was quality and attention to detail in all of the selections. Details make and break a project to me. I'm a details guy. I have not been let down or disappointed yet! Mike's holster hold a special place with me and are housed not on a shelf or in a cabinet but in a gun safe along with other items I'm particularly fond of I USE these rigs, they are scuffed and are starting to show that really nice oil/wear "patina" that leather gets after its had lots of contact with skin and weather. I love it but at the end of the day or when the hunting trip is over, they go back to the safe. Another very important piece of the holster construction to me is that they are constructed by someone that actually uses them and understands what is expected of them in the field. Its not someone that is building these and never uses them. Mike continually makes small subtle changes to improve on his designs.
What really makes these special to me is that they are made by a dear friend. He has built holsters for my son and I was able to get a quick picture of them together with that holster this past June when Mike was at my house. Its a really cool picture. Over the years, Mike and his family have become family with my own family. Gabriel calls him Uncle Mike but he also calls Fermin uncle so I don't know how much to put in that. Gabriel doesn't realize how lucky he is right now to have the group of sixgun guys that he does in his life but he know he likes them to come and visit and wrestle or swordfight in the yard. He misses Uncle Robb and Uncle Jeff and Uncle Mike. Always looks forward to thier visits! We can't convince some of the others to make the trip to Kansas yet so when he's a little older, we'll go to them. Now, I know how to get Fermin and Chuck to KS but I just haven't had a chance to set up a jackrabbit slaughter yet Closest I can get Madbo or the other Uncle Mike is Arkansas but I'm working on him
The holster that was delivered today exceeded my expectations. When we originally talked about the design and the details, it sounded good in my head and Mike made suggestions that would make it even better but I always wonder what the final product will look like. Mike has an amazing eye for details and seeing what something will look like where I don't have much "vision" when it comes to that. It is an amazing piece of art as far as I'm concerned. The lines are perfect, the border is perfect, the edges are perfect. Heck, being funny, I counted the border stamps and such and the numbers match...I bet he knew I'd count that just to see how he did
This is called the Longhorn Companion. You will recognize the style. Mr. Bill Grover had some to accompany his sixguns back in the day, I always liked the design but never ran across one of the holsters. Its built to wear strong side, cross draw, right handed or left handed. This one was modified slightly because I only wanted right handed strong side/cross draw options. If you don't know about this style, its really a neat holster. The belt slide goes on the belt and then the holster slides behind it. The snap secures the holster to the slide/belt. If you want to remove the gun, you simply unsnap the retention strap and remove the gun, holster and all. The slide is very small in size and is non obtrusive so it doesn't cause any issues while you are not wearing the gun itself and only the slide. I'll let the pictures show the details a little more. I wish I could take better photos but you'll get the idea.
This is his basketstamped holster with a nice border stamp edge. The slide has a matching border stamp but with his hammered finish inside the border with my initials carved into the center which are also my son's initial and is who I will give this holster to in a few years with a gun to fill it
Guys, if your're already in line, congratulations, be patient, I promise the wait will be worth it and for those that haven't ordered yet, you should get in line. Thanks Mike!
www.barrantileather.com
The slide
Mike and Gabriel with a scaled down EK holster to fit Gabriel's Harton Bearcat.
I was thinking back today at the first time that I perused Mike's website. I was amazed at the different styles and options. It took awhile for me to figure out what I wanted and several conversations with Mike but finally decided on the EK #5 floral carved holster with a matching ranger belt and cartridge slides in 44 and 45 calibers. It is a beautiful set and there is a picture of it in the gallery section of his site now. The next that followed was a really nice NW hunter rig. It is my absolute favorite for packing a sixgun around while hunting. If you're looking for shoulder rig that distribute weight well and is very adjustable in how you carry, this is a great one. There were others that followed after in the form of Hank Sloans, etc. The one constant was quality and attention to detail in all of the selections. Details make and break a project to me. I'm a details guy. I have not been let down or disappointed yet! Mike's holster hold a special place with me and are housed not on a shelf or in a cabinet but in a gun safe along with other items I'm particularly fond of I USE these rigs, they are scuffed and are starting to show that really nice oil/wear "patina" that leather gets after its had lots of contact with skin and weather. I love it but at the end of the day or when the hunting trip is over, they go back to the safe. Another very important piece of the holster construction to me is that they are constructed by someone that actually uses them and understands what is expected of them in the field. Its not someone that is building these and never uses them. Mike continually makes small subtle changes to improve on his designs.What really makes these special to me is that they are made by a dear friend. He has built holsters for my son and I was able to get a quick picture of them together with that holster this past June when Mike was at my house. Its a really cool picture. Over the years, Mike and his family have become family with my own family. Gabriel calls him Uncle Mike but he also calls Fermin uncle so I don't know how much to put in that. Gabriel doesn't realize how lucky he is right now to have the group of sixgun guys that he does in his life but he know he likes them to come and visit and wrestle or swordfight in the yard. He misses Uncle Robb and Uncle Jeff and Uncle Mike. Always looks forward to thier visits! We can't convince some of the others to make the trip to Kansas yet so when he's a little older, we'll go to them. Now, I know how to get Fermin and Chuck to KS but I just haven't had a chance to set up a jackrabbit slaughter yet
Closest I can get Madbo or the other Uncle Mike is Arkansas but I'm working on him The holster that was delivered today exceeded my expectations. When we originally talked about the design and the details, it sounded good in my head and Mike made suggestions that would make it even better but I always wonder what the final product will look like. Mike has an amazing eye for details and seeing what something will look like where I don't have much "vision" when it comes to that. It is an amazing piece of art as far as I'm concerned. The lines are perfect, the border is perfect, the edges are perfect. Heck, being funny, I counted the border stamps and such and the numbers match...I bet he knew I'd count that just to see how he did
This is called the Longhorn Companion. You will recognize the style. Mr. Bill Grover had some to accompany his sixguns back in the day, I always liked the design but never ran across one of the holsters. Its built to wear strong side, cross draw, right handed or left handed. This one was modified slightly because I only wanted right handed strong side/cross draw options. If you don't know about this style, its really a neat holster. The belt slide goes on the belt and then the holster slides behind it. The snap secures the holster to the slide/belt. If you want to remove the gun, you simply unsnap the retention strap and remove the gun, holster and all. The slide is very small in size and is non obtrusive so it doesn't cause any issues while you are not wearing the gun itself and only the slide. I'll let the pictures show the details a little more. I wish I could take better photos but you'll get the idea.
This is his basketstamped holster with a nice border stamp edge. The slide has a matching border stamp but with his hammered finish inside the border with my initials carved into the center which are also my son's initial and is who I will give this holster to in a few years with a gun to fill it
Guys, if your're already in line, congratulations, be patient, I promise the wait will be worth it and for those that haven't ordered yet, you should get in line. Thanks Mike!
www.barrantileather.com
The slide
Mike and Gabriel with a scaled down EK holster to fit Gabriel's Harton Bearcat.
