I recently made a thread about this holster marked "Handi-holster, S.F. Gun Exchange, San Francisco, Ca. M&P". Turnerriver told me it was made by A.E. Nelson. They are still in business up in Oregon. They might be real familiar to some of you but i never heard of them until now. I contacted them and they said this:

We did make this holster and it was probably made in the early 1950's. It was made almost exclusively for the S.F. Gun Exchange. We can still make this style of holster.
A.E. Nelson Leather Co.

So, for those of you that love the old Berns-Martin holster I thought I'd let you know someone out there can make a pretty close version of one, springloaded and all, and it still has that old look. The hidden spring system is different than a B-M. Maybe they make them on request. I think someone else mentioned on this forum makes them, too, but I'm not sure. My thanks to this company for their quick reply. They are very nice on the phone, too. They have a webpage.

I gave them a call, they are very friendly. They'll give me a price by next Monday. Thanks!!

A.E. Nelson Leather just called back with a price of $150. You have a choice of colors. They'll do a holster for two inch barreled J or K frame and Dick Specials, also with a two inch barrel.

I’ve used A. E. Nelson holsters off and on since the 1970’s (Bennett Nelson, son of Adelbert E. Nelson, ran the company back then). They may be the last maker of leather break-front duty holsters in this country still making them. A lot of cops out this way used A. E. Nelson duty holsters and gear back in the duty revolver days. These are good folks with good products.

I highly recommend this Scio, Oregon company.

A. E. Nelson Leather Co.

Blackhawk makes a Berns-Martin design too:
BLACKHAWK! Speed Classic Leather Concealment (S&W J-Frame) - BLACKHAWK!

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

CW, did you know you can get it (Blackhawk) on Optics Planet for under $30?

Very interesting. I'll have to check it out.

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