BORDER PATROL HOLSTERS RE-VISITED
I know this old horse has been beat on ad nauseam, but it is
still interesting to me. And I hope to you too.
Charles Askins became firearms instructor for the U.S. Border
Patrol in 1936, and around that time, he and Sam Myres
designed and produced the holster that became the official
Border Patrol Holster.
Someone etched "Python" on the back of my Askins. I know
that was a Heiser practice, but had not seen it before on a
Myres. I have found that S&W K Frames, if they have the
adjustable rear sight, fit nicely into holsters made for Colt's
OP, Trooper, Python, etc.
Shooting Times Magazine, January 1984, had an article,
written by Bill Jordan, entitled: How The "Jordan" Border
Patrol Holster Came To Be. Here are a few excerpts that I
have paraphrased a little bit attempting to be brief.
Around 1941 Bill Jordan was a Border Patrolman. He was not
satisfied with either the Askins holster or the Tom Threepersons
holster that was very popular at the time. So Bill set out to
design his own druthers. He borrowed features he liked from
Askins, Threepersons, and from an Army issue holster for the
.45 Auto holster.
From Askins Border Patrol he kept the drop shank with the
reinforcing going all the way to the top of the belt loop so there
would be no wear or flopping at the bottom of the loop and the
holster proper. A leather plug closing the holster bottom to
stiffen it and prevent anything from getting into the barrel of
the gun. A combination of fore and aft slant and overall length
which would just clear the holster from a car seat and the grip
frame from the seat back.
From the Threepersons a completely cutaway trigger guard
allowing free access to gun butt and trigger. (That also reduced
the bulk a little bit). The way to tell the difference in Askins
and Jordan's designs at first glance is to look at the trigger
guard.
From the military .45 ACP holster a plug or welt sewn into the
top inside of the holster so the butt end of the revolver was
forced away from the body into a straight up-and-down
alignment which allowed the hand to contact the gun butt
without interference from clothing.
Finally added a safety strap designed to close over the hammer
for security, or to snap out of the way when speed is more
important. (See the 2 snaps on my Jordan Border Patrol.)
Then Bill went to an old German saddlemaker in Alpine, Texas
(who I believe must have been C. H. Werner) and had his
holster design made. In the article Bill mentions that it was
made for S&W's .357 Magnum with 3.5" barrel. But then He
also had a Colt revolver, chambered in .45 auto rim, made,
also with 3.5" barrel. I suspect because going to the Marines
the .45 ACP ammo would be more available than .357 magnum.
After island hopping across the Pacific as a Marine in WWII
Bill's holster was pretty well beat up, so he stopped into Myres
shop in El Paso and had a new holster made for the Colt's New
Service, with 4" barrel, that was BPs issue sidearm at the time.
Myres included the Jordan holster in his catalog calling it the
"Jordan Border Patrol". It wasn't long before every pistolpacker
in West Texas was sportin one. Everyone, it seemed, wanted a
holster "just like Bill Jordans."
In 1950 the Korean War started . Bill was called back to duty.
By the time he got back, 1953, Sam Myres had passed on.
Everyone was making copies of the Jordan holster. It was
very popular. The quality of some of them was not so hot,
so Bill got his holster name trademarked.
Then Bill gave exclusive right to the use of the name to his
friend Don Hume. By 1960 Hume was doing so well that he
left his law enforcement job and moved his business to Miami,
Oklahoma.
The original Jordan Border Patrol holster had the longer drop
loop. Since the River Belt became so popular, most of the
Jordan Border Patrol holsters have the shorter drop. Mine,
shown below, are all the shorter drop.
Hume sold his business to Oklahoma Leather. He passed
away just a couple of years ago.
Illustrations shown below LEFT TO RIGHT:
(Click on the photo once or twice to enlarge.)
ASKINS/Myres original Border Patrol holster, on a ranger style
belt given to me by Red Nichols, with my model 19 Combat
Magnum on board with Herrett's Jordan Trooper stocks.
JORDAN/Myres Border Patrol holster.
JORDAN/Hume Border Patrol holster, on a Bianchi belt,
with speed loaders and double pouch.
JORDAN/Hume Border Patrol holster updated with thumb break.
__________________
In Omnia Paratus
Last edited by crazyphil; 12-21-2019 at 06:12 AM.
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