John Berns was working at a Navy radio station in Alaska, and had
the idea for a holster that would keep the muzzle of his 7.5" SAA
out of the snow. Of course Elmer Keith claimed that he helped
John with the design.
Bill Jordan endorsed the holster. Charles Askins used it in his
Border Patrol job, calling it the fastest rig he had ever tried.
Askins said the holster was made by Jack Martin in Calhoun,
Mississippi. The first speed holsters were made in 1932.
I don't believe the B-M holsters were issued by the F.B.I. but
they were authorized and marketed by Evaluators Ltd. They
were favored by quite a few F.B.I. Agents.
The back of my brown B-M Speed holster is shown below left.
The top patent number is for Ed Clark's forward draw holster
from 1932. The lower patent number is for John Berns in 1935,
and the name Berns-Martin is stamped above the patent numbers.
2nd from left is the back of the little black speed holster that has
the maker mark Berns-Martin and Elberton, Georgia.
3rd from left is my brown speed holster on a Mexican cartridge
belt, with my S&W Model 19.
The business existed in Calhoun City, Mississippi until 1962
when Jack Martin sold to B.F. Coggins. Coggins moved the
business to Elberton, Georgia, where it was operated by Walter
McNeely and his wife.
4th from left, the black holster was made in Elberton, Georgia.
It has quite a narrow belt loop, so the only belt I have that would
fit is the old Uncle Mike's Mirage. It is shown with my Model 10
with 2" barrel. Red Nichols has written that he believes Calhoun
holsters are more desirable than the Elberton holsters because of
their higher quality leather and workmanship. I now have one
from each place, so I tend to agree with him.
5th from left, as shown in the advertisement, the Elberton
management started calling the original speed holster the
"Universal Speed Holster". Jack Martin died in 1968 which
pretty much marked the end of B-M. John Berns died in 1974.
The name Berns-Martin was registered to Martin and Criswell.
Operators of the business, after them, were on a license agreement.
Martin was also probably on a license agreement,
paying Berns for his design. John Bianchi ended up with the
remaining patents. Red Nichols owns the name Berns-Martin.
With thanks and appreciation to Red Nichols and John Witty,
and their beautiful book Holstory. Without those two I wouldn't
know much.
A TALE OF 2 BERNS-MARTINS
Linear Mode
