"Clothes" for pistols and revolvers - wood, leather, canvas
U.S. sailors train to quickly draw their pistols from their holsters.
"With the Mauser that my father gave me,
I never parted.
Mauser was small, comfortable,
in a soft suede holster.
"School" A. Gaidar
I never parted.
Mauser was small, comfortable,
in a soft suede holster.
"School" A. Gaidar
stories about weapons. As you know, holsters are worn on different parts of the body, but some of their types are more common, and some are less. For example, there are holsters worn around the ankle, but these are rare. Underarm holsters - an indispensable attribute of all films about spies and secret agents, are more common, but the most known to all of us, including from personal experience, are army and police holsters that are worn at the waist. There are holsters that are worn behind the back, on the hip, and sometimes in the bag. And here the material from which this holster is made acquires a special role. To be able to return a pistol to a holster with one hand, it must be made of a sufficiently rigid material that holds its shape well so that it does not deform when the weapon is not inside it, but at the same time the holster should be not only strong, but also light .
The traditional material, especially for pistol holsters, is leather. It has an attractive appearance and can be dyed in a variety of colors and even decorated with intricate embossing for aesthetic reasons. For example, like this holster in the photo below.
Leather holster with embossing for pistol "Colt" М1911А1. Well, there are such aesthetes that they acquire such holsters for their pistols
Ballistic nylon is another common holster material today, as the fabric is tough, hard-wearing, and strong enough that it can even provide protection from a bullet. But this material is modern, whereas a hundred years ago there were only three main materials: wood, the dressed leather already mentioned here (and its variety of suede, most often used in holsters for "ladies' pistols") and ... ordinary tarpaulin, from which ersatz were sewn -wartime holsters, when such material as leather was no longer enough.
Danish leather holster 1905 for the pistol "Luger"
Finnish leather holster for the pistol "Luger"
It should be noted that the first automatic pistols were rather bulky. Therefore, their creators immediately thought about using them together with attached butts, for which it was immediately decided to use wooden holsters. There is no better example than the Mauser K96 pistol. In which only movies it was not shown. Here you have "Mandate", and "White Sun of the Desert" and even the series "Four Tankers and a Dog". And this is not surprising, because it was used starting from the Anglo-Sudanese war and up to ... the Korean war of 1950-1953. However, this pistol with an attached butt is not used almost anywhere in the cinema. But in vain - it would be interesting to show such a method of its combat use.
Pistol FN1903 with attached holster-butt
However, the Mauser was by no means the only pistol with a wooden butt holster. Almost the same wooden holster was equipped, for example, with the Belgian FN1903 Browning pistol of 9 mm caliber.
The holster had an attachment to the pistol grip and a hole in the lid for its grip.
Moreover, it is interesting that the order for pistols with attached wooden holsters to the "Factory Nacional" came from the Russian Empire: a certain number of pistols were purchased in 1908-1914. for the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, and all these pistols had “Mosk. table. police" or "SME", "O.K.Zh." and "Security guards of the North-West. wish. roads" (stamp "S.Z.Zh.D."). In addition, in February 1907, the same pistol was included in the list of recommended pistols that officers of the tsarist army were allowed to purchase privately as a personal weapon instead of a revolver mod. 1895.
Moreover, the holster to him was with a secret. The fact is that the pistol was attached to the holster by the protrusions on the end of the handle, and in this mount itself there was a slot for a longer magazine! The standard magazine was for 7 rounds, but the magazine, inserted into the handle with an attached holster, held 10.
And this store for 10 rounds was not stored anywhere, but in a holster. You can see it well in this photo.
Holsters can be classified into four broad categories of use: service holsters worn by uniformed law enforcement, law enforcement, and security personnel; tactical holsters used by the military, security personnel and law enforcement in certain situations; disguised holsters, which are exploited by law enforcement officers in civilian clothes and private individuals; and sports holsters used for sports shooting and hunting.
The German 7,65 mm Parabellum pistols also received a buttstock in the form of a figured wooden panel stuck to its leather holster. Mikkeli Infantry Museum, Finland
Service holsters are designed to be worn openly, so the problem is not that they are inconspicuous, but in holding and appearance. They can be made from leather, nylon, or plastic; they are designed to be attached to the service belt and are one of the elements of the uniform. Service holsters are usually used only for service and compact pistols, as opposed to small subcompact pistols, since they are usually used only as a concealed carry weapon. The design of such a holster is the result of a compromise: on the one hand, the owner of the pistol must be able to quickly draw it, and on the other hand, it must also prevent the attacker from taking possession of the service weapon.
Holster for long-barreled artillery "Parabellum". Front view
View of the stock on the holster for this pistol
Tactical or military holsters are usually made from nylon or plastic. They can be made with a camouflage pattern to match the wearer's uniform. They are often of a flap-flap design with a weapon-holding device. Some military holsters still use the old large-flap design (also called the "suicide holster"), which is bulky and slow to open, but provides good weather protection for the holstered firearm.
Black leather holster for artillery "Parabellum" model 1917
Camouflage holsters are designed to be easily concealed, so they are usually light and inconspicuous. As a rule, they are intended for small-sized and compact pistols, since they are the easiest to hide from prying eyes. Camouflage holsters are designed to be worn under clothing, such as on a belt under a coat, under trousers in an ankle holster or in a trousers pocket. Since the holster is held close to the body, it is very important that the fit is comfortable, so such holsters often have wide surfaces in contact with the user's body to distribute pressure over a wider area and prevent chafing of the skin. Protecting the pistol from the user's sweat is also an important consideration for such weapons. Often the outer part of the holster is made wider so that the contour of the pistol cannot be seen through clothing. For pocket holsters, the outer flat side is often the side with a pile or rough surface to hold the holster in place when the pistol is drawn.
Original leather holster for the "sea" pistol "Parabellum" with a barrel length of 152 mm
Sports holsters should provide maximum access to the weapon for quick shooting, there are special adjustable holsters, old-fashioned holsters used in cowboy shooting, holsters with maximum protection designed for hunting with a pistol. The main thing here is to maximize the benefits of a particular holster, taking into account the rules of a particular game or competition, so the most specialized holsters are used for competitive sports.
Luftwaffe officer's black lacquered Parabellum holster, circa 1940.
Brown holster from Portugal, also for the Parabellum pistol, 1943.
And this is 1944, Italy, a soldier with a Browning pistol, but the holster for him is the cheapest - made of tarpaulin
Holsters for hunting can be generally unique, especially if they are designed to carry a large-caliber pistol, and besides, it is also equipped with an optical sight. Large pistols are often carried in holsters that are slung over the shoulder and removed before the pistol is drawn. Slow access is acceptable in this case, as the pistol is intended to be used exclusively for hunting.
Holster pistol "Piper-Bayard" Danish army 1910-1914.
And this is our good old PM and a holster for it. Photo by LLC "Varyag"
The holsters of a number of pistols are quite complex. They provide receptacles not only for spare magazines, but also for various spare accessories. Of course, this seems to be reasonable, just like, for example, attaching a ramrod to a pistol on a holster, but, on the other hand, this increases its size and weight.
And, of course, holsters can be seen not only in real life, in museums and in movies, but also in comics. Here, for example, what kind of "cowboy holster" was added by the illustrator to the beauty on the cover of the American magazine "Planetary stories"(1952), and the holster with a revolver seemed to him not enough, and on the forearm he also added a scabbard with a dagger!
PS
The material uses photos of the Simpson Ltd auction company and the littlegun website.
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