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Old 12-05-2007, 06:21 AM
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turnerriver turnerriver is offline
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Linda,see the referenced Forum thread for some information on Evaluators,Ltd.I have a S&W All Models circular dated 1959 with an Evaluators,Ltd. stamp on it & a copy of a US Navy field trial involving revolvers & Berns-Martin & Heiser holsters supplied by Evaluators dated June 1953(a copy provided to me by Rick Nahas-as Charlie Flick states in the referenced thread, he knows more about General Van Orden & Evaluators,Ltd. than anyone else I know).My guess is that your holster was made in the 1950's.
The rawhide thong on your holster was provided as a means to attach the holster to a standard US web pistol belt; I've seen this on a number of Berns-Martin holsters although I also have a B-M holster with a standard belt hook for use with a web belt.Looking at the photo of your holster & the one of John's 3 1/2" N frame holster,I noticed that the distance between the spring stitching & the top back of the holster enclosing the trigger guard is smaller on yours-I would guess that your holster fits a 3 1/2" or 4" K frame S&W or similar sized Colt revolver.You can measure the distance from the inside bottom edge of the cylinder impression to the bottom of the holster & get a good idea of the barrel length.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/for...04/m/419102978

Finally, here's a copy of an entry on a Knife Forum that has some information on General Van Orden, proprietor of Evaluators,Ltd.I found references to a General Van Orden all the way back to the War of 1812-Van Orden is a name long associated with our country's fighting forces.I can't vouch for the information below & have not corrected any errors in syntax,spelling or grammar.

" Wiggington Van Orden
Not a hard name to forget but a difficult one to find. Some time back I wrote an article for Knife World about the first pilot’s survival knives. Marbles played a big part in designing those knives, pre Jet Pilot knives, and their name for the knife was the Wiggington Van Orden Survival knife. I have tried for quite some time to place that name. Well I found him. An e-mail sent to Knife World was forwarded to me by the editor Mark Zalesky. He was Brigadier General Van Orden USMC Retired. It seems BG Van Orden designed this knife and had it sent to the Marine Corps for testing, it was denied. Not to be outdone it was placed into production and sent to the Navy test board and excepted! After the General retired he opened a small store in Virginia outside of the base and supplied young Marines with all the equipment they would need at the cheapest price possible. General Van Orden was very fond of his young Marines and very often they were indebt to him. He would not let them ship out without being fitted out properly even if they couldn’t afford it. Seems to me we could use a few more General Van Ordens today."

Regards,
John Witty
turnerriver
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