The earliest of the clamshell holsters were by Jewett and built by a his partner Northey. A contemporary article tells us that Northey fabricated the entire shell and spring, and his wife covered the assembly in leather. The images are otherwise self-explanatory. The holster was also made by Jewett's ex-wife's family under her maiden name Stanroy; one I've examined was of aluminium (this Jewett is steel and a bit on the heavy side); and they were made by or for Hoffman, a police uniform retailer; and finally by Safety Speed Holster until revolvers fell completely out of favor by the '90s.

Rather than 'skin' the case, I simply cut out the center liner; which is of much thicker leather than I expected, and so leaving the stitching and covering intact. One can tell the various makers apart, usually by their marking except -- not all are marked, and Jewett's are marked inside on the lining; and by the various 'stops' used behind the trigger, which in this case is part of that fixed wire running across the top of the metal shell that also acted to keep the revolver from being pulled up and out.

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The Holstorian

I bought one NOS a while ago..and am amazed by the whole concept of the clamshell holster. Ill have to find it and post some pics.

Found it..don't know why the photos uploaded sideways..must be one of those days... Pretty cool design..place hand on weapon...put trigger finger into trigger guard and push button...clam opens..draw gun. In all honesty..not really practical....but it is Bat Cave cool! The clam fits a K frame 4" perfectly. That's my 15-2 USAF modeling..

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Interesting anatomy for a holster. I read about clamshells in the 60 but never saw one in real life.

A TV show cop had one, Adam 12, if I remember correctly.

When I wore a badge we were issued a variation of the Border Patrol holster.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

They were kind of a novelty with cops in my area, only one nerdy copper used one. I was a Hoyt break front guy. Had one for my 4” 686 and 2.5” 66/19.

It's my understanding you could conceal three Hostess Donettes within.

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213th FBINA

I bought one in the 1990s but of course never wore it on duty. I figured every one knew about the secret button. When I sold it to a fellow holster collector on line I was quite surprised to have him call me and ask how to open it.

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Gun Safety is no accident.

I used one in the late 1960s (?) but soon went to a "Berns-Martin" as I didn't care for a swivel holster.

First time I ever saw one was on Adam 12. Thought they were strange and wondered how would you re-holster with one hand? I'm glad my department issued the border patrol style.

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Support your Police, & NRA

Was there supposed to be some sort of advantage to such a complex holster ?

I believe that the biggest advantage in using the holster was speed of the draw to get the sidearm into action. Additionally, the holster being a "shell" of metal (steel or aluminum), protected the gun from damage while in the holster. But the most practical advantage was the speed of the draw.

The swivel allowed an officer to carry a six inch barrel revolver with some comfort while riding in a patrol unit. (besides it was the new toy on the scene at that time.)

I have never seen one in real life, that I can recall. Interesting desgin.

While I wouldn't necessarily disagree with the other comments about the 'why'; but for context bear in mind that at that point the effort was to carry a long barrelled revolver without having to LIFT it so high. Hence the Berns-Martin was created to keep the revolver out of the deep snow 'cause otherwise avoiding the high lift meant a low-slung set. The Hoyt forward draw appeared at the same time, which is mid-1930s. And Jewett's clamshell.

There are clamshells without the swivel at all and worn high on the belt; there are even swivels with the high loop also on the backside. Ironically they were, at their most popular period, entirely swivels :-). Realize that the officers WANTED/expected the holster to lay next to them on the seat. Bulky clothing for cold weather almost required the swivel holster.

stanroy (4).jpg actually a Stanroy

So I'm going to say that the driver for the 'trick' holsters was to avoid forcing the officers into short barrels for what they perceived to be a fast draw, and allow them to use long barrels. Again, ironically, the Adam 12 era holsters were swivels -- for 4" barrels.

Like the myth that the Threepersons was created for the automobile (it was not), that the various Speed holsters were created hand-in-hand with the swivel style is not correct (and though there were forward draws like the Hoyt in swivel, their claim to fame was the high ride to keep the grip under the elbow during assaults). In Captain Hughes' day (very early 20th century) he could simply shoot them dead; but not beginning in the '70s and into today.

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The Holstorian

No actual Berns-Martins were harmed in the dissection of this holster; it's actually a cheap clone. Basic construction is the same tho. In the 1930s the wire-form spring instead of the leaf spring appeared; B-M stayed with the leaf for its Speed holster on the belt but its upside-down Lightnin' holster used a wire form. Clark stayed with the leaf for certain shoulder holsters but added the wire-form spring versions. Hoyt patent both in the mid-1930s, too.

These three had in common, that the wire-form was often inserted from above the revolver rather than from the muzzle, as was popularized by JB (John Bianchi) beginning in the 1960s. Here's the Lightnin' clone, which by the way failed the 'snap test' as easily as a baby drops its pacifier:

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If this holster had been a collectible Berns-Martin in great condition and complete with original harness, I would've x-rayed it instead of cutting it open. This one appears to have been made in Mexico based on the ultra-fine needle and thread used.

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The Holstorian

Thank you for the cutaway picture.

Clamshell holsters were also featured on the 1950's TV show Highway Patrol - as were break front and swivel holsters in various seasons.

On Highway Patrol the actors have to hold their holsters out horizontal with the off hand to re-holster so instead stick their revolvers in their pants when handcuffing prisoners.

I have a screen shot of Martin Milner performing a one-hand re-holster in Adam 12, but of course I can't find it right now. The later holsters with the plastic trigger guard plug appear to have a bit of a hook to hold the revolver.

In 1960, gun writer Charles MacDonald Heard declared the clam shell holster to be obsolete.
In 1970, E. Dixon Larson declared the clam shell holster to be obsolete.
In 1985, Mark Fricke in SWAT declared the clam shell holster to be a fine police holster. Go figure...

Just because if tickles me, I added a screen shot of Boyett taking cover behind Broderick Crawford. I suppose Crawford was slow to respond to the "Action!" direction, or perhaps it was to be an intentionally humorous out-take that made it into the episode.

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Fantastic post. Larson also credited Audley with inventing the clamshell! And saying it was 1920s!

I suppose, beginning with when I wrote an article about the clamshell for HQ in 1990, I've long wondered why the holster opened up as far as it did, anyway. The idea was to REDUCE the lift vs eliminating it altogether. The B-M Speed holsters worked in that fashion: tilt, lift, point. Not dragged straight forward through the opening.

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The Holstorian

Here's one I completely stripped down, re-sized to hold my N frame, then recovered with new leather, and re-stamped with the Safety Speed logo. I wish I'd taken pix of the 'guts', but will take some step-by-step pictures of an upcoming clamshell recover project. I tried to qualify with it a decade ago - the range instructor was horrified when I showed him how it worked!!

Saw a few of them, but never owned or carried one. The front breaks were becoming popular in my area of rural California in the '70's I carried my 4" 28-2 in a Bianchi copy of the Berns and Martin. Ran into an out of state officer visiting relatives in town. He saw my holster and said, "I see you've got one of them fancy California front openers".

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Dave Frost

I never saw one like this. Very cool I’ve got a lapd swivel style in plain black.

It is super fast on a draw

I was on the East Coast and my duty Holster was the Bianchi Model 27. I liked it very much. They were pretty secure from theft from the back and side but in the early 1980s we saw that in the prisons in California inmates were being trained in disarming Police Officers by grabbing his revolver from the front pulling it out of his holster through the slot. My department stopped us from using front breaks after one of our officers was disarmed from a Don Hume Breakfront. That particular holster was in my estimation the poorest breakfront holster ever designed.

My Bianchi Model 27.

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Gun Safety is no accident.

Yep, I agree. Technology wasn't what it is today. At the time, we thought we were carrying the top of the line in terms of development. These holsters were not at all safe for a number of reasons. In one incident, I jumped out of my patrol unit after a pursuit a Deputy and I were involved in. He had one occupant proned-out on the roadway as I was exiting my unit. As I wrenched myself around the door to secure the suspect, the front strap on the holster un-snapped and my 28-2 popped out of the holster under the torque of my movements. The 28 slid to within a few feet in front of the suspect as I ran towards him. All I could do was warn the suspect not to reach for it. Luckily, he complied. Got him hooked up after I retrieved my 28 from the roadway. I got myself a thumb break holster shortly thereafter. By the way, the 28 didn't have a mark on it, as I recall and the Deputy returned with the driver after chasing him down and over a fence into a cotton field.

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Dave Frost

The Adam-12 lunch box shows the holsters opened. Nice touch adding that detail. I saw one of these holsters at an antique shop with trashed leather. I thought about buying it as a fun project recovering with carved leather but it looked a little complicated and it wasn't cheap. Seeing the pictures here I see how complicated it would have been. In the low budget Frank Sinatra western "Johnny Concho" the sheriff carried a Colt SAA in one of these.