In researching one thing or another, I came across articles about the Talo exclusive edition of the Ruger Wrangler .22 revolver. (See this article at The Firearm Blog and this one at American Handgunner). Besides coming with a nice set of wood stocks, the Talo version also comes with a rather handsome leather holster from DeSantis called the Wild Hog. In fact, I liked it well enough that I decided to get one to replace the rather uninspiring nylon holster I've been using.
DeSantis lists the MSRP for the Wild Hog as $52.99, but I purchased one from Amazon for right around $40. It arrived in a zippered plastic pouch with some instructions.
The main body of the holster is in a soft light tan suede leather, with the the areas that need to be stiff or stronger, such as for the belt loops and the retention strap, made of a thicker finished brown leather. Stitching was generally good. In fact, the overall fit and finish looked good, although I doubt that the soft suede leather would hold up to long term use, especially if worn often and/or for long periods of time. This is more a holster to wear for the shooting range than for the cattle range. On the other hand, the suede leather will probably better protect from finish wear, which is important to those using blued handguns.
There are belt loops on both sides of the holster, and the retention strap has snaps on both sides, allowing the holster to be used ambidextrously. The strap also has a slot cut in it to accommodate the hammer spur and providing a better hold on the handgun. However, at least the little bit I've fiddled with it, having the hammer through the slot on the strap also slows down the speed of accessing the firearm. In other words, with the strap in place, this is not going to be a fast draw holster.
Although I came across the holster as one for use with a the Ruger Wrangler, a .22 reproduction (or interpretation, rather) of the Single Action Army (SAA), DeSantis indicates that it can be used with most SAA revolvers. So I decided to put it to the test.
On the top is my son's full sized SAA chambered in .45 Colt. Below is my Ruger Wrangler chambered in .22 LR/Long/Short. First, I decided to try the Wrangler, which fit into the holster without problem. In fact, the holster was almost (but not quite) too big. Below are views from both sides:
The full-sized SAA was, obviously, tighter in the holster, but with a little effort it fit and I was able to snap the retaining strap shut. If the holster was going to be used for the SAA, I would probably use some leather softener on it to stretch the retention strap just a bit and make it a bit easier to fit the handgun in the holster.
The only real issue I encountered with the holster was when trying to draw the larger SAA revolver which seemed to hang up a bit on the tightening strut running through the holster. (See the photograph below). The tensioning strut seemed to be catching the nob on the end of the extractor rod, and required that the firearm be pulled out at a slightly forward cant. I don't know if this is something that could be corrected by reducing tension or otherwise getting the holster better molded to the firearms.
The smaller Wrangler could be holstered and drawn without any problem.
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