Posted 10 years ago
Chrisnp
(310 items)
A tale of three holsters - These are holsters I have bought over the years for my previously posted Luger pistol:
Holster 1 was purchased as original, but I now suspect it’s a fake. The holster is well worn and the reverse is marked “Kern Klöger & Cle 1936 Berlin”. The trouble is with the stitching. Starting sometime after WWI, belt loop stitches were recessed into slits inside the holster to prevent wear and breakage as the pistol rubbed against them. I have a close-up of the stitching in photo 2. Also, the holster seems to never have had a loop under the buckle to secure the flap strap through, the thread seems too white, and the quality of the dye job isn’t there.
Holster 2 is the mystery I hope someone here can solve. It is unmarked, and does not have the standard belt loops on the back. Instead it has what I believe are loops to secure it to a wooden shoulder stock board. The leather back does not extend to support the spare mag pouch, which is made of noticeably thinner leather than the rest of the holster. Buckle is brass instead of steel. If anyone knows the era and country of origin for this holster, I’d love to know.
Holster 3 is the holster I finally settled on. I feel certain it’s original. It’s been cut away for easy access to the pistol grip. This is a modification that I doubt any German soldier would make on his equipment, and I fancy that it may have been done by the GI who captured it. Personally, I think it gives the holster character – like it tells a story. The back of the holster has the name “Graf” scratched into it and is marked “HANS ROMER NEU-ULM 1936” over a German Waffenamt equipment mark.
Thanks for the love petey, blunder, geo26e and fortapache