A mangled but none the less interesting A.W. Brill holster

Papa Lee · #1 09-08-2023, 11:00 AM

This holster was on a table of a friend in New Mexico. Note the unusual loop stitching 2 places on the back skirt of the holster. I have a number of Brill holsters and have not seen this stitch pattern before. Others may have...

boykinlp · #2 09-08-2023, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa Lee

This holster was on a table of a friend in New Mexico. Note the unusual loop stitching 2 places on the back skirt of the holster. I have a number of Brill holsters and have not seen this stitch pattern before. Others may have...

That is odd, Lee!
Larry

rednichols · #3 09-08-2023, 02:26 PM

You had me at 'Brill' :-).

Look again, the original stitchlines have been picked out and the ones you don't recognize were added, to create a wider belt loop. Not how Brills were equipped with wider loops; the fold was moved.

And you didn't notice the hack job of the holster pocket itself? All its retention has been cut away. It used to be a Kluge scabbard.

Papa Lee · #4 09-08-2023, 05:29 PM

RED, I guess I should have put on my cheaters and looked closer at the picture to see the evidence of the original stitching;-). Of course I noticed the cutaway, that's why I called it mangled...The toe was mangled too.

Kansasgunner · #5 09-08-2023, 05:32 PM

Is it just me, or does the impression on the back of the holster resemble a Mauser HSC?
Makes you wish it could tell it’s story.

boykinlp · #6 09-09-2023, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rednichols

You had me at 'Brill' :-).

Look again, the original stitchlines have been picked out and the ones you don't recognize were added, to create a wider belt loop. Not how Brills were equipped with wider loops; the fold was moved.

And you didn't notice the hack job of the holster pocket itself? All its retention has been cut away. It used to be a Kluge scabbard.

Yeah Red, you couldn’t miss the “Bubba” job on the holster pocket! I noticed it only having a single welt, being a Kluge holster. Obviously, Bubba didn’t care about the collectibility of this early Brill and ruined it, which should be a “hanging offense”!

The only thing that could possibly make the alterations to the holster acceptable is if, like Tim said, it has a fantastic story behind it.
Larry

Papa Lee · #7 11-09-2023, 07:22 PM

For a Colt 1911. Currently on an auction site. The seldom seen extended shank model. The only other one like this I can recall seeing was pictured in Holstory (for a SAA Colt).

My friend Drexel Doran tells me that the extended shank holsters were some of the last Brills made, probably in the 1950's. He avoids them.

rednichols · #8 11-13-2023, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa Lee

For a Colt 1911. Currently on an auction site. The seldom seen extended shank model. The only other one like this I can recall seeing was pictured in Holstory (for a SAA Colt).

My friend Drexel Doran tells me that the extended shank holsters were some of the last Brills made, probably in the 1950's. He avoids them.

I think your friend doesn't actually know what he's talking about. Brills of the 1950s, for example, were made by N.J. Rabensburg and therefore are the best of all the Brills. He even spoke of making them in his interview during retirement. Notice that the belt loop tunnel is completed by a pair of 'X' stitches because the cuff has stayed in place and can't complete the tunnel as it does on high ride Brills.

IMHO these extended shank holsters were made largely in the late 1930s, because they have the 'transition' muzzle stitching of Kluge on the basic N.J. configuration, while both men worked at Brill before Kluge retired 1940ish. Just a deduction, can't prove it; but can prove that N.J. did not use the straight Kluge muzzle when he made the Nelson holsters in the 1950s :-).