"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
For me, a 1 3/4 makes a big difference vs a 1 1/2 belt. Just more surface area to distribute the weight and tension. I get dress pants that fit a 1 3/4 belt, or modify pants at the tailor as needed. The wider belt also holds the holster more securely — prevents flopping or sagging.
I prefer leather belts for gun carry. I’ve used a lot of nylon belt variants — Wilderness, a few riggers belt variants, first spear agb, etc etc.. I,ve just never found nylon to be as comfortable over time as leather/ horsehide.
Nowadays — I only use 1 3/4 belts from Sparks or Kramer.
You may have different results, but this is what works for me.
With many custom belt makers, one can have the best of both worlds. One can order up a 1.75 inch belt throughout the bulk of the body and have a taper to 1 1/2 where it buckles. My go to leather belt is set up the same way, albeit 1.5 tapering to 1.25.
A little later than the period you requested, but in the early 90s, I carried my 1911 in a Milt Sparks Summer Special, a Milt Sparks Executive Companion, and a horsehide Kramer Vertical Scabbard.
The Summer Special was a great rig. It was comfortable, easy to reholster, and it concealed very well. The same things were true of the Executive's Companion but I developed a rash from something in the leather and stopped using it. The Kramer Vertical Scabbard has all the advantages of an OWB holster plus it conceals far better than you'd think from looking at it. I liked it so much that I bought a spare, but horsehide is so tough that I never needed it and I gave it to my then father-in-law for his 1911.
This is what it looks like after 16 years of daily use. The fit is a little loose, but I could return it to Kramer and have it re-blocked.
This one is a straight drop, but with my body type it rides with the muzzle slightly to the rear, so it's essentially an FBI rake.
I carried a Browning Hi-Power in a Milt Sparks Yaqui slide on two occasions before I decided that it was better in theory than in practice. It's great when you're standing up, but when you sit down the muzzle can catch on a chair and push your pistol out of the holster and let it fall to the floor. It also doesn't conceal well for my body type and retention is sub-optimal, but it's the hot ticket if you need to look like a studly Orange Gunsite instructor.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Why, as I get older, do I want to sell/trade in all my Kydex and Glocks and just get three 1911s, a Milt Sparks Summer Special, and a Milt Sparks 55BN. I have no practical reason other than facing my own mortality I'd rather spend time with things that I enjoy more than things that are just practical... Then, I think "#OKBoomer!"
I'm partial to the Alessi DOJ, this is a RH for a SIG P228:
Another one I've used a bit, the Bianchi Askins Avenger. Took Gunsite 250 with one of these for a 1911. This LH one is for a Detonics:
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.