At left is a Seventrees security holster and at right is a Berns-Martin speed scabbard, representing both the slowest and fastest draws available.




The B-M holster is just like the larger ones, a breakfront design where one need only push the gun through the front of the holster to get it in action. The Seventrees holster, in contrast, is quite complicated.



Not one, but two snaps secure the gun, along with a leather flap. To draw, one must unsnap the strap outside, unsnap the inside snap and rock the gun forward to free the trigger guard, pushing through the now-loose flap to clear leather. This was likely designed for police/security work where gun grabs might be an issue.

If you look carefully at both holsters, you see how the Berns-Martin rig obviously influenced the Seventrees design. They are very similar holsters but also quite different as for purpose. The Seventrees holster is basically a B-M with a few retention features added.

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SWHF #448

Great Seventrees rig, I've never seen that model before.

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John

Seven trees never wasted much thread on their stitching did they,,They had a shoulder holster that had very little stitching,,,period

Seventrees is not known for "slow" holsters. Are you sure the second snap is not designed to be either a "pull through," a "twist through," or a "sweep through?"

Many of the holsters from Seventrees utilized such snaps so that the weapon was secure from violent movement, but still instantly accessible.

They're not directional pull-the-dot snaps, thus there's no way to get the gun out very fast with this design. There's a much more detailed write-up on these particular holsters here: ID this odd holster - 1911Forum

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SWHF #448

Txshooter sent me a link to this thread, and as I read it, I thought that I was going to have to add pictures of my holster, but then you made that unnecessary.

Oh, heck...



-db-, we do seem to like the same things.

The classic Seventrees handcuff case was evidently developed about this same time period with a group of leather products designed to require less labor than a conventional stitched holster.

Paris Theodore patents

Patent US3777952 - Secure holster for revolvers - Google Patents Holster

Patent US3870208 - Handcuff case - Google Patents Handcuff case

Patent US3777954 - Cartridge pouch - Google Patents Cartridge pouch

I think I had a companion thread on this forum too, but I can't find it.

-db-

Interesting reading. Those patent apps and the other designs they mention and the inventors of those other designs really tell some interesting holster history.

As Ken Null now has all of the old Seventrees patterns, I suspect he might be able to give you more information about the holster in question.

When you see patent apps mentions the names of John Berns, Loren Shoemaker, John Bianchi, Seventrees, Tandy, Henry J. Parlante, William Myres, Nichols, Hill, Hume, Hellwig, among others, you are seeing, in some cases, company founders, or children of company founders, etc.

The designs and drawings of the Seventrees holsters, cuff case, and cartridge pouch are all presently on Ken Null's page, and this thread sort of makes you "go back in time" when you look at those patent apps, some of which were good, and maybe ahead of their time, while some were not so good. But they were all interesting.

Shawn

What a great thread..thanks for the lessons.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

mbliss57:

I agree. Great thread. I learned much from looking at the 3 patent apps mentioned, as well as many others on which the inventors relied for the 3 mentioned. Amazing what you can find on line these days!