Plains leatherworker finds niche in pistol holsters

Tucked in the corner of Dave Wonder’s home, you will find the tools of the leather trade.

Most of the commissions that Wonder creates are one-of-a-kind pieces for customers as far away as Florida, but most of it is local. Almost all of his customers come from word-of-mouth referrals, asking for custom purses, specially designed belts and different styles of holsters that are custom-fitted for each pistol model.

Wonder said his favorite piece to design and build is a holster.

Wonder became interested in leather work as a 9-year-old in 4-H. Throughout his early teen years, Wonder continued creating unique leather pieces until life and girls became a bit more interesting.

He took up the ranch-hand life as an adult enjoying the hard work and its lifestyle. It was in 2008 when Wonder’s mother, a leather worker herself, gave him all her leather working tools because of severe arthritis in her hands. Wonder was working on a ranch, on the Crow Reservation at that time.

By 2012, Wonder was picking up more tools of the trade and in 2014 found himself with a new bride living in the Chicago area. This is where he made his first sale.

The lifestyle of Montana called him back and Wonder, with his wife, moved back to Plains. He continued working with leather and made a few commissioned pieces.

It was when Covid showed its ugly face that his business took off. Partnering with a local gun store in Plains, Wonder was crafting two or three holsters each week, requiring about 30 hours of work to complete each one. Wonder, with the pistol in question, form fits the leather around the pistol.

Wonder said, “since 2020, I’ve probably made close to a hundred holsters plus other things, cell phone cases, some belts, knife sheaths, wallets, check books, you name it.”

Each commissioned piece requires the leather to be cut, stamped (type of decoration requested by client) dyed, form fitted and sewn together.

Wonder purchases leather from several sources, with his main supplier being Tandy Leather in Billings.

He said most of his regular holsters are priced around $75 - $100 with the shoulder holsters running around $150. Pricing depends on the number of decorations and accessories the client’s request.

Wonder can be reached by email at oldsilvertip@yahoo.com. He said that as long as people keep buying guns, "I’ll will keep building holsters."