Is it? It’s a gun!

Here is a real old Colt for which you might be interested because of the vintage leather holsters. The revolver is a First Generation Single Action Army chambered for the .38-40 cartridge and with a 4 3/4-inch barrel. A factory Colt historical letter obtained indicated the revolver originally shipped to Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company Chicago, Illinois in 1905. The holsters are a pair of Brill holsters, one quite old and one very old. There are slight differences in the basket weave pattern applied. The darker holster is the older one. Brill holsters are scarce and expensive when found these days, but of course so are old, original Colts.


I am guessing the holster you are showing with the Crossman is a Bauer Bro. out of St. Louis Missouri, a vintage holster and collectible in its own right.

Please do! I always like ol' Colts.

Ooo...! Restoring that air gun would be worse than spending for the cost of restoring a pin lever dollar watch. Nothing to build back on and no value after the restoration expense.

I will take some photos for you tomorrow.

I have many vintage and antique leather holsters on hand, including models from Heiser, Eubanks, S. D. Myers, Braur Bros, Lawrence, Bucheimer, Schoellkopf, Jay-Pee, O. O. Ball, Charles Bluemel, Stelzig, Ben Varga, and others. If you see a maker that you would like to examine in a photo I will attempt to accommodate.

I once collected them when I regularly attended gun shows down here in Texas. I used to post holster photos on firearms forums. My holster photos were stored on Photobucket, which has much to answer for, because they first rearranged my files, then their glitch deleted many of my photos. Then Photobucket went from free to a nominal fee then to a stiff annual membership fee I considered exorbitant, especially in light of the way they had ill used the arrangement of my online photo collection. I dropped the subscription.

I have poked around a bit in a search of online images and found some of my old photos.


Here are all the Brill holsters on hand with the respective handguns they match.

Left to right:
1914 Colt Police Positive Special in .38 Special
1926 Smith & Wesson Military & Police in .38 Special
1931 Smith & Wesson Model of 1926 in .44 Special (floral tooled Brills are much scarcer than the basket weave patterns)
1905 Colt Single Action Army in .38-40 (barrel marked with original Winchester cartridge designation, the .38 WCF)
1947 Colt Government Model in .45 ACP

The light hued holster shown with the 1926 vintage Smith & Wesson is still in near new condition. Here are additional views of it from the side and back showing the typical Brill welt which, with the holster's overall design, provides for a snug fit. Whether in worn or new condition all these holsters will retain the side arm if tipped upside down, without a retention strap, yet the draw from holster is effortless.



Back to the twin Brill Colt Single Action Army holsters and an additional Brill holster that I did not have when the group photograph above was taken.

It is said that one can tell an early Brill from a later Brill by the top rear corner of the basket weave pattern. If it's squared off it is early. If it is rounded then it's late. Now I do not know for certain how early is "early" or how late is "late." Brill production years seem uncertain when searching internet sources. All do not agree.

We had a cousin and his wife come in for the weekend some years back. He and I held a Span-Am/Philippine Insurrection revolver fest out at the local gun club range while he was there.

Anyway, that Friday evening after supper we were all visiting in the living room and he trotted out the Colt Artillery Model he'd brought along that had been his dad's.

I had ask my cousin to fetch the Artillery Colt along the previous year when we had a family wing-ding at my sister's home. It was still being kept in the holster that I vaguely recalled from when I was a kid. I neither observed the maker nor noted the fact that the holster didn't fit the revolver then. When reacquainting myself with the revolver while at the family gathering, I was surprised to learn that it had been housed in a older style Brill holster, albeit one for a 4 3/4-inch Colt. The Artillery Model Colt has a 5 1/2-inch barrel so it is hanging half out of the holster.

Here's a photo I took of my uncle's Brill holster when it still housed the 1880s vintage Colt Artillery Model variant of the U. S. Model 1873 contract version of the venerable Colt Single Action Army.


During our long evening conversation he separated revolver from holster and declared: "Here cuz'. I want you to have my daddy's holster. It doesn't fit his Colt and will fit yours." I was touched as I was keen on my gun crank uncle.

It was very dry. My cousin said he had used saddle soap and some leather preservative on it. I further cleaned it with Saphir Reno'Mat. Then I preserved it with Blackrock Leather'N Rich.

It is the rattiest Brill of the bunch here but the most important vintage holster to me. I kept the non-original rawhide thong and am of a good mind to replace it around the bottom of the holster, just 'cause it was that way when I was a kid.

The New Service is far and away my favorite Colt revolver model. I must confess I like classic Smith & Wesson revolvers more, but the Colt guns hold an honored second place in my heart.

I don't know Waltese. You may be afflicted with deformed hand or something. Or, perhaps I am the one afflicted with deformed hand!

I do know one thing. I can't shoot any of the good ol' classic Colt revolvers in double-action mode for squat and those same New Service revolvers are the worst of the breed for me. A big ol' gun having a double-action trigger that just defeats my ability for accurate shot placement. Of course, it would do for shooting across a trench at Belleau Wood during the Great War. The New Service trigger when used in single-action mode is lovely and conducive to fine accuracy.

A Colt New Service Model 1917 chambered for .45 ACP. These military contract revolvers were produced to supplement the Colt Model 1911 during World War I when a greatly expanded army needed handguns beyond War Department inventories on hand. This example was made in September of 1918.


A Colt New Service Model 1909 chambered for .45 Colt. The Model 1909 was a sort of stop gap military contract revolver, for when the U. S. Army determined that the earlier Colt .38 revolvers weren't cutting the mustard during the Philippine Insurrection campaign. The advent of the Colt Model 1911 automatic canceled orders for the Model 1909. This revolver was produced in 1910.



Here's size comparison of the Model 1909 Colt New Service with its .45 Colt cartridge with a New Pocket (made in 1905) and its .32 Long Colt cartridge. .22 Long Rifle for comparison. The little revolver is dwarfed.

Duricuir1, have we derailed your thread or what?!