Did some shopping... for a different chunk-o-steel (Warning, Defense Weapons)..

Texas provided for legal open carry after January 1st of this year. I'm still waiting to see the first person who takes advantage of it. The entire community in which I live is firearms oriented, yet I never see a side arm on a hip. I'm employed with a bank and have a view of the bank lobby all day. The bank does not care if one carries while conducting bank business and chose not to post signage that prohibited carry on premises. I figured on seeing a few after the 1st of January but, halfway through March, no one has been seen totin' so far.

I am not looking to debate open carry versus concealed carry but chose not to carry openly. I like the fact that "nobody has to know."

Meanwhile pre-World War II carry options, open and concealed.

A Brill holster. Extremely well-designed and well-crafted and considered to be a very collectible holster. Once the choice of many Texas Rangers, Brill holsters are tough to find today. This one could date from the early 1920s to the 1940s and was made to fit a 4-inch Smith & Wesson K-Frame Military & Police revolver, later known as the Model 10. This holster conceals well with a covering suit coat or sports coat. With its expertly executed basketweave tooling, it would also well serve for open carry as a part of a "barbecue rig" if filled with a suitable nickel-plated or engraved revolver.








The revolver is a 4-inch Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Military & Police .38 Special that dates to 1926.

For "inside-the-waistband" concealed carry, this Heiser holster model was state-of-the-art at the time it was made. This design still works extremely well, much to my surprise, though I wouldn't take it seriously for actual use. The leather in both this Heiser and the Brill above is perfectly supple and satisfactory yet. The style of maker's mark indicates this holster was produced sometime between 1910 and the very early 1920s. Heiser is considered to be another premium quality holster maker from back in the day.







Designed to be used with the roomy gabardine trousers of the period in which it was used, it still worked pretty well inside the jeans I was wearing when I modeled it. Would have been more effective if used with trousers the next waist size larger and a proper stiff gun belt.


The revolver is a somewhat less common round butt variant of the Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Military & Police, is also chambered for the .38 Special and dates to 1917.

Is that an original Winchester Model '73 carbine or a reproduction? Neato photo! Combines a couple of my hobby interests.

Just bought a Winchester Model 1873 chambered for the .38-40 but it's the standard rifle rather than the very desirable saddle-ring carbine.

Clever to catch the "glow."

I'm not so high-tech. Neither gun sights nor most watches glow here. This Colt Detective Special has been the usual choice but only when concealed beneath a sport coat in the office.




"Original second year production with super low serial number. Antique guns of various types are my other sickness!"

My affliction as well. I don't even make serious use of many firearms designed after World War II and am positively allergic to plastic and aluminum as components for firearms. The use of either in firearms manufacture is the equivalent to quartz watch movements to me.

Same "Dick Special." Same wicker chair seat. Different cameras, different years. The revolver's not so old. It dates to 1966. I'm older than that. Well ... you could be right. It could be old.

Colt introduced the Detective Special to the market in the mid-1920s and sold them for nearly 70 years. A bit of an external cosmetic update occurred in the early 1970s but the "innards" remained unchanged throughout the model's production. It became too costly to produce and be able to sell competitively as well as too out-of-style for a new generation of pistoleros to embrace.

Oh man! I don't wanna hear it. 1966. I was in the 4th grade.