So... any of our members here have an interest in firearms?

OOOooo ... Wryfox. I love old leather holsters and their makers!

I began a vintage leather show 'n tell thread on a firearms forum or two a few years back. I need to get back to it. We could retread it here if there was interest.

I'm about to go out of town for a week and a day and will only have a table which is an annoyance for forum fun, but when I return we could host a vintage leather thread and see how it goes.

I may have made an aborted effort to begin this topic here on the Forum a few years back. Anyway, we'll make a start and see if Wryfox and I can gen up some additional participation within this thread.

This is just a cut 'n paste of the introduction of the original.

How about a classic, vintage holster thread for all of us to share?

I was cleaning up in the gun room a couple years ago, properly putting away all the stuff that inevitably stacks up on one's reloading bench. I was replacing some holsters in the holster bin and got to looking at the bin's contents. There were a lot of holsters in there. A lot of cows died for those holsters! Over the years holsters had accumulated: acquired with some handgun purchase, picked up out of a used holster bin on a gun show exhibitor's table, been given me, or occasionally purchased for cheap just because I liked the artistic carving or basket weave adornment. There were holsters enough to stack on shelves, several deep with three large paper grocery sacks full in the bin at the bottom of the metal locker where they are kept. Something clearly had to be done so I began sorting them into a keeper pile and a white elephant pile.

I was having a good time poking through this menagerie of leather. The more I looked through the holsters, the more I was liking a lot of them, just for what they were: Obsolete defunct manufacturers, bygone designs, trends from long ago yet many exhibited really outstanding materials and workmanship. Sure, some were a bit clumsy, not too cutting edge for concealment, and just generally out of style but then they were from another time. Yep, something clearly had to be done so, rather than divest myself of the holsters, I kept nearly all of them and then added the odd one along the way.

The inspiration hit me that it might be fun to feature old holsters in a Forum thread. That way everyone could pronounce judgement on them and we could just generally chew the fat on old holsters. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I went insane in summer of 2013 and came back out of retirement to bite off more than I can chew as a one-person compliance department in a local bank so never seemed to get "a round tuit" on beginning a Forum holster thread.

So now, over two years later, we're going to give this a try. I'm going to try to resurrect this thread on occasion to add new photos of old holsters as time allows for photographing. Am hoping that y'all all will add photos and narrative of your own about holsters you have. We can all remark about each others' leather.

Rules (which are made to be broken)

Y'all be sure and participate in this as well by featuring photos of your vintage holsters. Any holster can be featured as long as its genu-wine leather.

Nasty ol' materials like Kydex, canvas, whether tacti-cool black or OD camo, don't really belong in this thread unless they hold special meaning to the member, in which case, stick 'em up too along with the tales to go with 'em. I'm sure that sometime later on, I'll get around to photographing some neato British WWII canvas Webley holsters and putting them up.

With such an astute membership, we're bound to cover some ground looking in from time to time on old holsters. I'm hoping some of y'all can help me figure out what I've got, help with holster maker history and lore and all for fun and frolic.

With all that introduction, here's the first holster I'm going to stick up here.

It pays to hitch to the House of Heiser

The inaugural holster I'm placing here is the one that nurtured a budding interest in old leather. It has to be the first one because it holds the most sentimental value to me. It's a Heiser holster, with floral carved motifs and white latigo-laced trim made for the Colt Woodsman. My old gun club friend, Cres Lawson sold me his Woodsman, purchased new in 1928. This pistol was one of two shipped to Ad Toepperwein's hardware store and gun shop in downtown San Antonio, subsequently resold directly to William Crites of Crites gun shop just around the corner and down the block from Toepperwein's. Cres worked for Mr. Crites summers and when he was home from college from about 1926 to 1932. He said it was only gun Mr. Crites sold him for full retail, not giving him a normally generous discount and he'd always wondered why. Some 70 years later, Cres learned the rest of the story, about his Woodsman was shipped to Toepperweins, from whence Mr. Crites fetched it to fill Cres' order. Crites and Toepperwein were good friends as well as business competitors so Cres was much amused at this discovery found within the Colt factory letter I had requested.




Cres originally purchased a Brill holster to fit the Woodsman, purchased from A.W. Brill's shop in Austin, Texas. Both Cres and his father had traded there on occasion plus Cres was in Austin from 1927 to 1932 attending the University of Texas. The Brill, a holster which Cres waxed enthusiastic about, was later left in Mexico on one of the Lawson family visits to their ranch west of Cuidad Victoria. There the holster got away from him. So, he ordered this Heiser sometime later on.



The Hermann H. Heiser Saddlery Company almost lasted a hundred years, from 1858 to 1955, turning out very well-respected leather goods of all kinds. Hermann H. Heiser was born in Saxony the year of Texas' hard won independence from Mexico. He immigrated to America and by 1858 had opened a saddlery and harness business. He apparently made quality leather goods and he had a good head for business as well for the company prospered. He brought his sons into the business and when he died in 1904, they continued operating it for many years afterward. A better history than I can offer is provided in this link: Hermann H. Heiser Saddlery Company History and Maker Marks - www.vintagegunleather.com California

No man ever lived long enough to wear out a Heiser Holster

Cres always spoke of the Heiser holster line as being the premium line of gun leather back in the day. He did reserve a special place of top honor for the comparatively scarce Brill holsters. Perhaps this was because he traded in their shop and he and his dad knew the Brills personally. The Heiser holsters I've examined are very good holsters, made of high quality leather, near as thick as saddle skirting. No scrimpy thin wallet leather here. They are well-formed and ruggedly stitched. Though the newest Heiser is now over 60 years old now, the leather is generally found to be supple, is not found to be rotten, and the holsters remain serviceable. Any holster leather can break down when used and abused but Heiser holsters are generally found to be remaining in better condition than many more modern makers from the 1950s forward that one may see in collections of used holsters offered for sale.

Cres' Heiser holster has seen a good bit of use. I don't know its exact age but am guessing late 1930s/early 1940s. Heiser changed their maker's mark in the early 1920s and this holster features the later mark. Heiser snaps were of brass, amply large and decorated with the Heiser logo, all art deco in style, up until the late 1920s or early 1930s. It's possible to have a Heiser holster with the later style maker's mark but having the large brass Heiser-adorned snaps so there was overlap of these features for a few years in the 1920s. Later, the snaps became smaller, were of stamped steel construction, dark brown enamel painted and more simply marked "Heiser." Even later, the Heiser marking on the snaps was deleted which is the style seen here. Last style of snaps appear to be bright metal.

Heiser gun leather - Life is too short to take chances!





Cres never scrimped on what he termed "cheap-jon guns" or on accessories. The Colt Woodsman came to me in a vintage Boyt fleece-lined leather zippered pistol case. I don't know its age but am guessing it to be from the 1930 to 1950 time period. The Woodsman always lived in this case when Cres had it, the pistol carefully preserved in a coat of RIG so that's the way the Woodsman lives in my safe.

















Old pamphlet advertising the Toepperwein's (spelled Topperwein in the text) Winchester shooting exhibition.

Here's a Bucheimer Federal Man holster. The 4-inch K-Frame Smith & Wesson rides high on the hip, concealing nicely beneath a jacket when this holster is used. I'm old enough to have purchased Bucheimer holsters brand new and now they're gone. This is one I purchased new and used for 30 years or so.


The stitching finally let go on this one after the photo was taken. Intend to sew it back. Meanwhile, I found another just like it, still new in the package so snagged it for use.


Of course if I hadn't bashed it on rocks the stitching might have held up longer.


So, I got on Ebay and gathered in a new-in-packaging replacement to stand in until I can get around to restitching the old faithful.

Here's a Model 1916 holster. There are several of these around here but this is the first one acquired and the one I've had the longest. I got it at a gun show too and seems like it also cost $5 at the time. I had just bought my first 1911 and needed a holster. I did carry the pistol in this holster on hikes around our place for the first few years I had the 1911. Now these are somewhat collectible. Warren Leather Goods was the World War I holster contractor who made this one. The holster's dated 1918.








The first 1911 acquisition was a 21st birthday present I got myself, purchased at a Fort Worth pawn shop.

Bought my first handgun 45 years ago last December, this Smith & Wesson Model 10 Heavy Barrel. A new holster was called for so went into Larsen's Sporting Goods in Cleburne, Texas and gave $7 and change for this Smith & Wesson holster. Wore the hooey out of both gun and holster for around 35 years. The inexpensive holster finally died. The gun's still alive and kicking.

This holster what Wryfox pointed out in his post above. Holsters were and are tools. The ones that serve, the ones that are well loved are used up.

A good holster, it was. Leather is thick and well, if simply sewn. It could have gone on longer if it hadn't had so many drenchings (including going in swimming more than once), dustings, thrashings with brush, smushed on rocks, caught on barbed wire, tossed into shooting boxes, under pickup seats, in car trunks, door pockets and consoles, and toted a million miles in the field. Was shamefully neglected too. Might have been oiled twice in its life.

After it was retired to an honored place on the gun rack on the reloading bench, I adopted the Bucheimer shown in an earlier post in this thread, pressing it into service as a field holster. Previously the Bucheimer served as a concealment holster under jackets and sport coats, something the old Smith & Wesson holster wasn't good at doing. A couple years of this abuse blew the stitching out on the Bucheimer. About the time I noticed this tragedy, my good ol' brother-in-law presented me with a gift for Christmas, a replacement Smith & Wesson holster. He said he couldn't bear to see me afield with the Model 10 stuffed in any other holster. The model numbers are the same on these but the newer one has an open toe and the older one is closed. Carries just the same though and feels familiar.

Here's another Heiser holster, a gun show find which was made to fit a 6 1/2-inch Smith & Wesson N-Frame revolver.




I'd longed for the original N-Frame Smith & Wesson, a Triple Lock for a jillion years, sadly watching prices for this very collectible model spiral upward and always remaining out of my reach. Only produced from 1908 to 1915 with a total production figure of a little over 15,000 and suffering a high attrition rate through the years due partially to numbers of these made under military contract for Great Britain and chambered for .455, the Triple Lock is elusive to find. A couple years ago a friend offered me a deal on a 1910 vintage 6 1/2-inch .44 Special Triple Lock that he'd picked up and had rehabilitated by Gene Williams. It had been a sad sack heavily polished and then nickeled revolver and Williams did the best he could on restoring it to a blue finish. I am not keen on refinished guns but the temptation of the Triple Lock, the fact that my friend had it and cared enough about it to restore it was too hard to resist. When I got it I was well-pleased as it is mechanically first rate and shoots a treat!

Here's the restored Triple Lock, the vintage firearms equivalent to a redial.



I was grateful to stumble on a Heiser floral carved double loop holster made to fit a 6 1/2-inch Smith & Wesson revolver. Such a holster, made for 6 1/2-inch Smith & Wesson N-Frame revolvers, is difficult to find. This holster would have been late 1930s production most likely, probably intended to fit a Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman or maybe a Registered Magnum. Still, Heiser made this style for quite a few years in the early 20th century so it was brought home for the Triple Lock.




The Triple Lock, photographed before restoration years ago.




For anyone interested, the nifty-neato third locking lug which gives this model its "Triple Lock" nickname. The original factory catalog name for this revolver was the New Century.







The left side of the gun showing the lug when the cylinder is closed.

Here's a late vintage Brill holster for a 4-inch K-Frame Smith & Wesson. It is an awfully good holster; in my opinion the very finest holster I have ever examined. The design, leather, construction, and attention to detail in finishing is all outstanding. I have only used this one a couple of times, most recently carrying my old faithful Smith & Wesson Model 10 to church in it one Sunday morning. I hate to wear out the original but would like to have a duplicate made of it. With its cant, this design affords both an outstanding measure of concealment beneath a jacket or suit coat as well as placing the revolver's butt advantageously for the draw. Revolver fit is first rate and such a fit can't be only a happy accident but as a result of care in crafting the holster. It has no retention feature but the holster practically sucks the revolver into place and holds it securely while easily giving up the revolver when the wearer has need of it.

I'm a little inclined to prefer the basket weave over the floral tooling. A Brill holster featuring floral patterns is apparently more valuable these days.

This holster was made in a time when gun belts were somewhat narrower.









Brill holsters are hard to come by. Saw two Brill holsters at a San Angelo, Texas gun show within the past year but the ratty one was priced at $250 and the nicer one was $450. Those kinds of prices put them way beyond my means. Apparently Brill was a regional favorite in the southwest and was said to be popular with Texas Rangers back in the era when Brill was active. My old friend, mentioned earlier in connection with the Heiser Colt Woodsman holster, thought very highly of the Brill holsters. He and his father traded in the Brills' leather shop in Austin. I'd enjoy learning more about this particular brand of holster. Here's a link providing more history. http://www.vintagegunleather.com/company-marks/brill_history.html








Revolver is a Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Military & Police in .38 Special, produced in 1926; a garden variety example.

I'm certainly not a true holster collector but have an accumulation of "trash and treasures." I wasn't completely aware of what was on hand until that time I dug around in that holster bin a couple years ago. Most of the holsters here are well-used and perhaps not always properly stored examples. There are some heavy hitters in vintage holster collecting out there that the interested person would do well to get to know.

That'll get us started. Hope that others will take it up.

The narratives were written up six years ago. Some comment is dated and some links may not work. I see some glitches in the text that leave extra spaces between words, but don't have time to clean things up. I gotta head out so will get back to this later when I have more time.

Good call going for the standard sights (with which I have had no issues with snagging).

The 365 is an excellent value proposition and is purpose-built to be carried; a role it fills very well. Would I prefer to have a 1911 with me all the time? I mean, yeah because they're pretty. But the Sig is a more practical defensive carry piece for an "every-day" setup (my opinion only).

Please do keep us posted on how you like it once receiving it.

Here's my first contribution of vintage leather. This Tom Threepersons holster was made for my dad by an old Mexican cowboy that lived near us when I was a kid in central Colorado. It's not all that old, only going back to the mid to late 70s but is definitely of an older style pattern with the retention strap going over the grip safety instead of over the back of the slide.