In a corner of Mexico City away from the chaotic highway traffic and the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life there is a quiet barrio of narrow streets, small apartments and tiendas. One of the neighborhood’s largest employers sits behind a non-descript steel security door. Invisible to the rest of the world until a watchman rolls it open revealing a hornet’s nest of activity. The rhythmic tapping of industrial sewing machines, the heavy thumping of hydraulic clicker machines and the distinctive smell of leather welcomed me to 1791 Gunleather’s factory.
I was invited for a writer’s tour of the factory and found both the city and factory fascinating. Our host arranged for us to stay in a boutique hotel in a trendy part of Mexico City in a neighborhood filled with cafes, restaurants, bars across from one of the city’s many public parks. We were treated to a boat tour of Xochimilco’s canals as well as the Aztec ruins and historic Metropolitan Cathedral. Our small group was overfed and treated with typical LatinAmerican hospitality.
1791 Gunleather’s History
Over the last couple years, I have used 1791 Gunleather for several of my articles and had even met with company representatives at the SHOT Show but it wasn’t until this trip that I had the opportunity to learn of 1791’s back story.
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Our host, Ramiro Romani, or as he prefers Rambo, is the CEO and founder of 1791 Gunleather. He was born in Argentina to two Italian immigrants. Entrepreneurship runs deep in his genes as his father started a pharmaceutical company. Romani was an international child having also lived and received primary education in Mexico City and college in the United States. He speaks English, Spanish and Italian fluently and for many years he worked as representative for his father’s drug company. After his father sold the company Romani looked for a new business to start.
CCW Market
He was intrigued by the explosive growth of guns and accessories in the United States and looked for a niche in this market. With CCW growing in popularity Romani came to the conclusion that a quality line of genuine leather holsters might be popular. In 2016 he attended the SHOT Show with some rudimentary samples and came home, to his surprise, with orders. Now his search started for someone to handle the production of these holsters.
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This led him to Jesus Colin who had a small shop at his parent’s home in Mexico City. Obviously, with his company headquarters in Miami he would have preferred to have found a manufacturer closer, but Romani was that impressed with Colin’s skill and attitude. Romani wanted to give him an order for 10,000 holsters to begin his company but balked when he was quoted a 4-month fulfillment time. “It became obvious that not only was I starting a new holster company but would have to invest in a factory to produce them.” But his faith in Colin never wavered as his expertise was critical in building the premier holsters that Romani demanded.
The 1791 Gunleather Familia
The two have not only become fast friends but Romani describes his relationship as that of a brother. “He’s my advisor and confidant,” said Romani, “and we’ve also given him equity in the company. He’s now an owner!”
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“We’ve already moved once,” said Romani. “We just ran out of room. You can see we have our raw materials stored in every corner of the building. We’ve just acquired the property next door and that will help some but we’re too afraid to move as that might cost us some of our valued employees. 1791 is important to this community.”
“Our employees have become like family to us. Many of them are single mothers so we started a nursery and preschool here so the moms could bring their kids to work with them. We also started an evening class so they could get their high school equivalency certificates. Some of our folks have even gone on to higher education and we’re extremely proud of them.”
Currently the 1791 Gunleather Factory occupies approximately 4500 square feet of space and employs between 80 and 120 people depending on orders and at its maximum capacity can produce 2,000 holsters a day!
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The 1791’s factory is an amalgamation of several buildings with walls knocked down between them. Nearly every room has a transition between them of measuring from inches to feet. The heavier machinery is located on the first floor while the drying and finishing processes are completed on the upper floor.
Gordo y Feliz
After a lunch of arrachera, guacamole, picanha, frijoles and home-made tortillas, prepared by Jesus Colin and several workers on site, Rambo made each of us a generous offer. “I’d like each of you to make a holster for yourself so you can experience the entire process and see how much work goes into each holster.”
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I selected 1791’s popular BH1 for a 1911. I have quite a few 1911s but the one I had in mind for this project was built by Ted Yost and engraved by the late JR French. I commissioned this pistol to commemorate my work a decade ago with federal law enforcement to curtail gun-trafficking to Mexican cartels. Chambered for .38 Super my pistol is a real show piece, and I wanted an appropriately handsome holster to go with it. Rather than trying to amateurly assemble a holster I asked Rambo to have his most experienced operators build it. After hearing the story behind my .38 Super he graciously agreed.
Building the BH1
The BH1 is a simple pancake holster consisting of two layers of leather with an additional piece of leather sewn over the ejection port and trigger guard area to prevent the holster mouth from collapsing when the gun is withdrawn, and this makes one-handed re-holstering easy and certain. It features an FBI forward cant and is contoured to fit the curvature of the wearer’s hip.
For precision cuts 1791 craftsmen use steel dies and a hydraulic clicker press that neatly cuts out the pattern. After this the leather edges are beveled, and the stitch line is scribed giving the sewing machine operators a guide. The 1791 logo is embossed on the back of the holster at this point.
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Areas that need to be glued are roughened up with a hand tool giving the rubber cement nooks and crannies to flow into. After the two parts are matched up mallets are used to tap out any air pockets.
Industrial Grade & QC
1791 uses industrial grade saddle stitch machines designed to easily punch through stiff and thick leather. Once sewn, the holsters belt loops are cut through the two layers of leather using a long-handled press with an oval cutting die. At this point the holster is given a quality control inspection, and loose threads are trimmed with an electric hand tool that melts the excess thread giving it a neat and clean appearance. Edges are then cleaned up and burnished with rotary tools.
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One of the more interesting pieces of equipment, which Romani asked me not to describe in detail, is a machine that uses compression to form the leather. After the holster is submerged in water, an aluminum gun form is inserted, and it is then placed in an apparatus that applies hydraulic pressure to the holster. After this ten-minute process is complete, the holster is then hand-boned by a 1791 craftsman using a piece of polished antler. This process conforms the leather even more to the shape of the pistol and gives the detail that makes their holsters so attractive.
Holsters are allowed to dry for 24 hours before they have the final finish applied. A waxy preservative penetrates the leather and effectively protects it from water damage and gives it a darker and richer appearance.
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Pensamientos Finales
Watching my holster being built from start to finish I was impressed with just how many hands it passed through as well as the attention to detail that was paid to every step of manufacture. The finished product is a beautiful and functional holster that securely holds my prized .38 Super pistol. I was amazed to find that 1791 retails this holster, the BH1, for under $60! Romani’s hunch that American shooters desire for affordable quality leather holsters is confirmed by 1791’s explosive growth. That’s good for us and for one small barrio in Mexico City!
1791 Gunleather offers many different styles of holsters for most popular handguns, including revolvers.
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