Leather cartridge belt in need of restoration

[johnnytheboy]

I inherited a cartridge belt just recently, it needs allot of tlc

The belt is very dry on its shiney side, plus abit of a dodgy colour and the ends are pretty much ripped. However on the plus side the area with the loops are virtually new and well worth putting in the effort to get it nice and shiney!

1) I want to die it, what should I die it with?

2) I want to replace the ends with some sort of belt! how do I go about stitching belt ends onto it?

 

[Robbi]

i'd cut the ends of the belt off an inch or so past the loops on each end, then stitch the whole thing to another leather or webbing belt.

 

[Oldwoodyrock]

First, dampen it with clean water. You can give it a soak until it stops bubbling, then let it dry back to the colour it was. Then, work as much saddle soap n it that you can. this will bring the leather back. For the ends, you could trim away the damage, scarf on new leather, then work on staining. If you take care, you should be able to match the colour of the new, and old.
Woody