you can get new belts with snaps, and swap your old buckle, i like easy. 
these last about a year. oh, and you can still get good buckles to.
I already made all new rigging for my 1904 McClellan. It's not so hard. I just laced the buckle foldover, but I ought to get a leather rivet tool.
The belt I bought around 1978 at a little leather shop in Anchorage, Alaska.
