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Old 07-04-2020, 10:31 PM
SG-688 SG-688 is offline
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Default Shortened Heiser 510 deja vu

I'm holding a cut-off/shortened basketweave Heiser 510 on a 61 drop loop belt for a friend until I can send it along to him. Besides the crude shortening, it's notable for having a thong instead of a the safety strap (stitch holes visible) and a cut-out to clear an adjustable rear sight. Antique good condition or thereabouts.

A couple of days after packing the holster back in the box, I browsed the 'net, bounced around FB and then hit upon the page for a man identifying himself as an archivist at Colt. How cool is that?

I scrolled down his page enjoying pictures of a variety of very nice Colt handguns when I noticed one and then two pictures of a Colt Official Police with a shortened Mexican Loop holster on a drop loop Buscadero belt. I gave those a brief look and went on ... and then went back. I opened the pictures to full page and then copied them to blow them up more....

Same holster. Every detail matched, including the basket stamp and stitch count. The OP was identified in the pictured factory letter as having been shipped to Major John Irving whose name was factory engraved on the sideplate. The date is partially covered but might be 1937.

Thinking there might be a story there, I pm'ed the archivist who replied that he had owned both the holster and the revolver - but they were not a set. He'd bought and sold the holster separately. Still, I was tickled at the discovery. What are the odds?

I neglected to ask permission to post his pictures, so you'll have to take my word on the match.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Heiser 510 4 bskt cut-off a.jpg (103.6 KB, 53 views)
File Type: jpg Heiser 510 4 bskt cut-off b.jpg (90.1 KB, 43 views)
File Type: jpg Heiser 510 4 bskt cut-off d.JPG (159.2 KB, 38 views)
File Type: jpg Heiser 510 4 bskt cut-off g.JPG (162.0 KB, 38 views)
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Old 07-05-2020, 12:12 AM
crazyphil crazyphil is offline
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Causes me to wonder why one would butcher a perfectly nice holster like
that for his immediate, selfish, gratification. Many years ago I was looking
for a Lawrence 34V Special Agent with the outer layer made of pigskin.
In my search I found this one, shown below. A previous owner also cut
this one down to shorten it. I imagine the motive was to make it more
concealable. Rather than ruin a holster, would it not be better to just
buy another holster for your need, or maybe even buy another gun to
fit the holster you are contemplating butchering? Just my 2 cents worth.

Oh, and by the way, the revolver is my Model 29 with 4" barrel.

And, I eventually did find the Special Agent I was looking for.
Here it is with my Model 10 with 2" barrel, on the right.
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File Type: jpg SAM_0905.jpg (98.8 KB, 37 views)
File Type: jpg SAM_1411.jpg (70.5 KB, 40 views)
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Old 07-05-2020, 08:23 AM
jframejoey jframejoey is offline
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CrazyPhil that special agent is one sharp looking holster
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Old 07-05-2020, 10:07 AM
crazyphil crazyphil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jframejoey View Post
CrazyPhil that special agent is one sharp looking holster
I agree. That is one of the reasons I looked for it
for a long, long, time.
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Old 07-05-2020, 03:02 PM
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flagman1776 flagman1776 is offline
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I hand made a few holsters for friends to keep them from butchering the holsters that they had. I should have kept pictures, I guess.
When i couldn't find the holster I wanted for my 3" M66-2, I made it myself. Full suede lined like the best of the day. I shamelessly copied features from Bianchi and Safariland.



My hands were better then.
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