I recently got this early pre-Victory .38 Special.





Our experts here say it probably shipped in the Spring of 1942, and given it's "sanitized" backstrap was most likely marked by a plant or defense company before finding its way to someone's home.




I'd like to outfit it with a period correct holster and duty set up. Does anyone have any contemporary photos that would show a typical arrangement for a WWII era plant guard? I suspect it would be a simple leather holster with a strap and maybe a belt slide with cartridge loops. Anyone know for sure?

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Using Ford's B-24 assembly plant at Willow Run as an example, if the badge looked like this:



I suspect the rest of the uniform and equipment probably looked a lot like most 1940's police uniforms.

My guess is that these guns were carried in black uniform holsters with the butt approximately even or a bit below the belt. The holsters would have had a primitive cross strap snap retainer. Some of these holsters also had swivels for added comfort when seated. A chest strap going to the left shoulder (for a right handed individual) was also common.

I'd bet on a flap holster or something like the old Lawrence No. 24, but from a cheaper maker. Wouldn't be surprised if the flap holster was on a swivel.

Personally, I'd be looking for belt and shoulder holsters like Naval aviators carried the gun in. Not all Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard Victory Models had the top strap marked.

Ammo seems to have been std. speed .38 Special with 158 grain jacketed bullet at 850 FPS, hotter than the feeble M-41 round of the 1950's and later.

See the recent thread about police holsters for 1940s to 1970s. The Industrial Police/ Security Guards would have had a substaintial overlap with public police gear of the same era. Maybe a little more range to the low end.

The bottom line from the other thread would apply here also - Pretty much anything contemporary to the era ( actual age or design) in black, medium to low ride, that would fit a 2.25in belt would be plausibly correct. ( Ok, probably not blatently cowboy rigs, but otherwise.)

Perhaps something like this, it dates to the late 40's/early 50's.

IIRC (?) a military style flap holster (plain black) or a cross draw holster (plain black). Belts were police type with a shoulder strap

Zoom in on the left part of the attached photo, look at the holster of the security guard under the wing. This is at Northrop Field, CA. It's 1946, and this holster most likely contains not a Victory, but a Colt Commando, shipped there on a DSC contract during the war like the Victorys were. I'm sure because I have one of Northrop's Commandos. But the flap holster style was pretty standardized at the time.

Attached Images

image.jpg (54.1 KB, 234 views)

I agree, just about any pre-war black police type holster would be appropriate.

Here's an Audley belt holster with the retention trigger tab:







Here's a photo I took of some Civil Defense items including a Civil Defense Air Raid Warden armband... the Victory model is marked "Civil Defense", the holster is a brown US Military Victory flap holster.

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Linda
SWCA #1965, SWHF #245

Linda-

Good to seee you posting again. I'd missed your superb photos.

Pretty good thread, so I thought I'd bring it back.

DSC Victory that shipped to the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company in San Francisco, CA.

The holster came with the gun. Notice how "formed" the holster is to the gun. The only mark on the holster is "MP 4" on the back.

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	DSC holster & gun.jpg (239.1 KB, 78 views)
	DSC holster.jpg (154.7 KB, 88 views)

The few period photos I remember mostly showed a strong-side flap holster slung kind of low.

A friend once showed me the firearms her grandfather used while guarding coal mines during WW2. They were a SAA in 44-40 with caliber matching 92 Winchester carbine. I found the story interesting because she also showed me a picture of him playing for the Ohio State University baseball team his senior year, 1918. The man was a mining engineer and should have been retired by WW2. I've wondered if he came out of retirement to guard mines he help put in. Given the wear but care these firearms showed I also wonder if these were carried during his mine exploration days in the 20's and 30's.

I'll bet many carried their Victory in an Enger Kress like this

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John

Here is a shot of my Uncle and brother taken in 1942.



My Uncle is the one in uniform.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

He (the uncle) is wearing a Sam Brown rig.

Several manufacturers made holsters for the Victory Model S&W.
Most of them that I have seen are either full flap or half-flap designs.
They were used in the military and by security guards in defense plants.
I have seen more brown ones than black, but both were used, depending
probably on their uniforms.

__________________
In Omnia Paratus

I have seen a photograph of a Boeing Aircraft Security Guard that was wearing a full-flap holster. I imagine the odds of actually having to use the gun was pretty low at most defense plants.

While not a Victory Model, this Colt Official Police was shipped to a defense contractor plant just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor. The Folsom Audley holster is typical of many police holsters from the 1930's & '40's. I assume that the "ST" designation for this model meant State Trooper. It is designed for a Sam Browne belt rig. It looks "period correct" enough for me.

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Colt OP With Folsom Audley Holster.jpg (108.9 KB, 38 views)