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Old 08-30-2008, 12:01 AM
Bell Charter Oak Holsters Bell Charter Oak Holsters is offline
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That's a nice example of the Audley-Folsom. One of the more interesting designs of the early 20th. Century. I have several in my collection. Yours is well marked, but others I've encountered sometimes absent the weapon model they were made for. The Colt New Service with 5 inch barrel will also fit. Despite the patent date, my guess is that this particular specimen was made sometime after WWI for the police and civilian market. Here's an old catalog cover.




Marking shown on reverse side for a 3 inch barrel 1917, which still has me a bit puzzeled because we know they (the 1917's) were standardized with a 5 1/2 inch barrel. Audley was not a custom maker but rather a mass manufacturer. So you have to wonder why they would have made this particular specimen for a 3 inch barrel 1917, which probably was never offered by S&W? At least, I've been unable to cite any literature indicating a 3 inch 1917 was ever offered by S&W. My conjecture is that this one may have been either part of a limited production run for a PD or other agency, using post war modified 1917's. Or, simply that the company (Folsom) used the 1917 mark/stamp on the Audley models merely to identify the holster size as being compatible with the S&W N frame and Colt New Service frame sizes. In any case it is an enigma.


3 Inch 1917 marked model Center, pictured with a custom Colt New Service Model 1905, .45 LC.


Edited to add;

The 1914 date refers to the patent registration date of the holster design. They made many variations of the Audley from that patent for many different revolvers. I'm also going to go out on a limb and suggest that the "A145" stamp was the Folsom factory mark to indicate (A) Audley Model, (14) Patent Date, (5) Barrel Length. This is pure conjecture subject to correction. When you compare the markings on yours with mine, they appear to be uniform and stamped with a 1 piece die. On mine, it certainly looks like each character (letter or numeral) has been individually stamped, a bit crooked or uneven. To mix the pot a bit more, this leads me to believe yours may be older, perhaps some of the earliest examples. I've only observed the stitched toe plug on the large frame revolver models. The stitching is called "French Edge", where they use a curved needle. You will note that in the photo above, the smaller frame hand ejectors have a folded and stitched muzzle.
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