Lock, Stock and One Modified Messenger Bag!

(Disclaimer:  The following post is about DIY gun concealment.  This was made for a licensed holder.  Though I do have several small children in my home please rest assured that all weaponry is carefully locked, or stored in our safe that only myself, and Señor Hotness have the code for.)

There are some stereotypes that people have of Texans.  Most that I've come across are kind of bogus.  I didn't have a horse growing up.  I didn't have an oil pump in my back yard (still don't), and no matter how much I've teased, hair sprayed or conjoled I have never, ever been able to get big hair.   However, one thing that Texans do love is...shooting. (generally)

Señor Hotness posing with his target from our conceal and carry class.  He's kind of a fantastic shot, and me being a "Backwoods Baby" I totally think thats hot.

Señor Hotness and I love going target shooting.  We do it frequently during our dates.  It is super stress relieving to shoot at things, and it is even more satisfying when you see that you are improving.  Several months back Señor Hotness and I took our conceal and carry class along with our very good friends, Magnificent Monti and his wife Awesome Kristie (who you may remember from this post).

So after we all got our license in, the hunt was on for the perfect concealing options.  I don't know how other guys are, but Señor Hotness is really picky about any number of items.  We have a whole bevy of assorted cellphone cases at our that just weren't a good fit, and our holster stash is getting plentiful as well.  For those unaware conceal equipment is super pricey (usually).  So Señor Hotness and Magnificent Monti were brainstorming how to modify a regular bag to house a conceal holster.  I love it when the boys get involved in the shoestring projects as well.

So this project was going to be their trial run.  For Mother's Day Señor Hotness and the Ladies bought me a dremel set.  I have to confess that I don't know really know how to use a dremel tool so I haven't used it yet.

So they started with a leather messenger bag, a paddle holster from Springfield Armory (here), and a rivet gun that they snagged from Lowe's for less than $20.

So I apologize for the pictures, or lack there of, but I was in the house for a while before I realized they had even started working on this.  That and Señor Hotness is more about working efficiently than he is about pausing randomly so I can get a better picture.

This particular holster is already made for concealing at your waist.  The holster isn't complicated.  The part that houses the gun has a full trigger guard so that when the gun is holstered the trigger can't accidentally catch on something causing a catastrophic accident.

See?  Awful picture!

Here you can see that they basically trimmed the back off of the holster until they basically just had the bare bones of the holster, aka the part that housed the barrel and trigger guard.  When Señor Hotness used the dremel to cut into this.  It didn't cut the high grade plastic of the holster so much as melt it.  So then he switched out the head to the sanding attachment, and sanded down the roughed area then using the dremel further smoothed and buffed it out.  When it was done it looked like it had been manufactured that way.

Then using a drill he made holes in the trimmed down holster.  This also left the plastic messy so he again used the dremel to smooth it out.  Setting that aside they took the discarded holster piece, and used the dremel to cut out a strip of plastic.  After buffing that piece down as well he drilled corresponding holes in this piece too.

Then using the rivet tool, and they affixed the holster to an interior pocket of the messenger bag.  Unfortunately this is the point where the pictures stopped, but when all was said and done they had out fitted a regular messenger bag to accommodate for conceal and carry.  So apparently I'm not the only creative one at our house.