Those are cold states in winter. Might the trigger guards have been relieved/thinned to get a gloved finger in easier?


Audley holsters were popular then. Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews wore one wth his Colt .38, which I think was an Army Special, replaced with the renamed Official Police model in 1926-7.
But most of Andrews's famous scientific expeditions took place before 1927.


Would the thinned guards have bypassed the Audley retention system? Some cops may not have wanted that device, but had to wear that holster.