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Old 02-22-2017, 08:18 PM
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rednichols rednichols is offline
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Originally Posted by texmex View Post
I don't think all the 27s were marked CHP. I had one in the 1970s that I carried a 6" 25-2 in. A big difference between the 27 and the 2800 is the way the holster covers the rear of the trigger guard. The rear seam on the 27 goes all the way around the trigger guard till it bumps up against the grips. This kind of interferes with getting your middle finger all the way up against the grip especially when using target grips. The 2800 leaves a small portion of the bottom of the trigger guard exposed and covers the rear of the trigger guard with part of the holster that acts sort of like a strap. It makes it much better for getting a good grip on the revolver during the draw. The 27 was the first holster I know of that had a "jacket slot". The belt loop was attached to the holster near the muzzle end so your jacket could go between the holster and the belt.
The original idea of the Berns-Martin was a high ride holster (to keep the gun out of the snow) that you didn't have to pull a long barreled revolver so high to get it out. In law enforcement, this meant a four or six inch barrel revolver could be high enough on the belt to clear the car seat plus it was difficult for a suspect to snatch especially from the rear.
I still have a Speed Safety holster for a 4 inch N frame which was similar. I don't use it on duty because we wear nylon gear now. I also have a break front holster for a 1911 that is not an Auto Draw model 3000. I'll have to find it an see who made it an what it is called.
Yup, all that is correct. The Model 27 is Bianchi's original 'hit' forward draw and was built around the N frame so popular with CHP and others; and was sold for the Python and K frame, the latter of which really rattled around inside it. The oversized body also interfered with grasping the K frame revolver grip because the revolvers all indexed off the internal cylinder recesses; so the K dropped into the holster too far to clear the grip properly. And the magnum grips were increasing in popularity whereas the N frames (think the 38/44 and the M28) used previously were rather more used in police work with the small grips.

The 27K was created specifically to make the holster itself more compact -- recall that the K Magnum was still relatively new -- and to clear the grip as best we could. The thumbsnap 'adaptor' strap was created for LAPD's existing holsters; made in two parts, its stampings were created to allow them to be assembled in one way for the N frame and another for the K frame, yet attach to the existing snap studs on the holster. The original 27 was then used only for the bigger N frames which had renewed popularity with the 41 mag and with the Dirty Harry movies and the 44 mag, especially in California where we at Bianchi were based.

I still believe the 41s would have 'taken off' if there had been a 41 Special round for them; I had a Model 58 that was as punishing to shoot with Magnums as a 44 Mag, and of course heavier with the smaller bore in barrel and cylinder; whereas the 44 Mag could be fired with 44 Spl. Yes, tried the so-called Police loading of the 41 Mag, didn't feel much different to shoot to this particular 98 pound weakling! Aha!! I thought, I'll get a pair of Herrett's Jordan Trooper grips. So bloody big that no ordinary human could get his hands around them!
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Last edited by rednichols; 02-22-2017 at 08:23 PM.
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