Oliver O. Ball holster

crazyphil · Feb 27, 2016

Oliver Ball was a Lt. (homicide detective) on the Ft. Worth, TX.
P.D. 1940-1976. Passed away in 1983. He made holsters for
graduates from the police academy and for many Texas law
enforcement officers. I was fortunate to obtain this floral carved
holster with the "dog ear". Shown here fitting perfectly in my S&W
Model 19 Combat Magnum. $56. Who says there are no
good buys on ebay?

boykinlp · Feb 27, 2016

Very Nice!!! If you get a chance, I would like to see a picture of his makers mark.

crazyphil · Feb 27, 2016

boykinip there is no mark. Just says: O Ball Ft. Worth, Texas
A man of few words.

turnerriver · Feb 27, 2016

Most of the Ball holsters I've seen are like yours. This thread gives me a chance to show off one of the oddest holsters I own. Made by Ball for a Colt pocket auto. Boykin, you can just make out his stamp- "O. Ball Ft. Worth".
Regards,
turnerriver

Doc Barranti · Dec 20, 2016

I had never known of Oliver Ball holsters until reading this thread earlier this year. I was recently contacted on Facebook by a gentleman wanting to give me a holster. The story goes that it was given to the mans grandfather by a Texas Ranger, who's name the man doesn't recall, and that he wanted to send it to me as a gift. I just picked it up at the post office and was pleasantly surprised to find that a slim barreled N frame fits perfectly!

DoubleAdobe · Dec 20, 2016

Man, I love old Oliver's flowers, they are what some guys used to call Texas cabbage, ha. F.O. Baird was a big fan of this style as well.

crazyphil · Dec 20, 2016

Doc Barranti said:
I had never known of Oliver Ball holsters until reading this thread earlier this year. I was recently contacted on Facebook by a gentleman wanting to give me a holster. The story goes that it was given to the mans grandfather by a Texas Ranger, who's name the man doesn't recall, and that he wanted to send it to me as a gift. I just picked it up at the post office and was pleasantly surprised to find that a slim barreled N frame fits perfectly!

Looks like he used the same floral pattern on both yours and
mine. But yours shows a little more use.

rednichols · Dec 20, 2016

I had an O. Ball holster on 'that' site for a while recently and it attracted zero interest at any price. I was quite (unpleasantly) surprised. I kept the belt and cartridge slide that came with it, though they are not marked with his (or any other) name. The holster went back to the USA to my agent to support the auction, if anyone would like to have it (free) it's a Border Patrol style with exposed trigger guard and rear sight guard a la Bianchi 99R with plain safety strap (it's Mexican carved, black of course).

crazyphil · Apr 15, 2017

We discussed this maker a while back. (See the date)
But apparantly there is some renewed interest.

bmcgilvray · Aug 4, 2017

Adding this one to the thread though the photos may not "stick" after photobucket turns my account off once the subscription expires. Not going to submit to extortion.

Anyway, this O. Ball holster turned up at the San Angelo Silver Spur gun show a few weeks back. A holster was needed to put to work toting the 3 1/2-inch Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum and this one is a dandy. Still sound, it's already seen some carry duty.

bronco45 · Aug 4, 2017

Absolutely cool thread!

rockquarry · Aug 6, 2017

Oliver Ball holster discussions come up regularly on this forum and a search may turn up some good information. I'm not a holster guy, have little interest in them, and only own a very few. However, I bought an S&W revolver more than thirty years ago that was in a highly-tooled Ball holster. So well made and attractive, I'd never part with it.

boykinlp · Aug 6, 2017

rockquarry said:
Oliver Ball holster discussions come up regularly on this forum and a search may turn up some good information. I'm not a holster guy, have little interest in them, and only own a very few. However, I bought an S&W revolver more than thirty years ago that was in a highly-tooled Ball holster. So well made and attractive, I'd never part with it.

We need pictures of that gem!!

rockquarry · Aug 6, 2017

I have no idea how to put a photo on here and have little interest in learning. If I can talk my wife or a daughter into doing one in the next day or two, a photo will be posted, but don't hold your breath.

crazyphil · Apr 24, 2019

Looks like there is a little more interest in Oliver Ball, so I drug up this
older thread.

Papa Lee · May 10, 2025

I decided to revive this thread that was started by Crazy Phil when I found this rather pristine O. Ball holster lurking in my safe. A perfect fit for my 3 1/2" modified 1917 model.

THE PILGRIM · May 10, 2025

Continue to be amazed at how similar are the carvings on these ‘Texas Holsters’ from different makers, locations and time frames.
Bought this one many moons ago from a Gun Dealer who bought it and others in person from a San Antonio Wholesaler - Jobber. No markings.

HardToHandle · May 11, 2025

Papa Lee said:
I decided to revive this thread that was started by Crazy Phil when I found this rather pristine O. Ball holster lurking in my safe. A perfect fit for my 3 1/2" modified 1917 model.View attachment 756229 View attachment 756231 View attachment 756232

Stating the obvious, that’s an interesting and unique stitching scheme on the belt flap.

The good Officer Ball likely believed in more is betta, but looking good is important. I assume he had an iterative evolution in stitching or maybe just varied the belt flap stitching per model.

Either way, nice looking holsters. Thanks for sharing!

Truckman · May 11, 2025

crazyphil said:
boykinip there is no mark. Just says: O Ball Ft. Worth, Texas
A man of few words.

My memories of Mr. Ball are few...I grew up in Ft. Worth (3501 Hamilton Ave.) and the Ball family lived just 2 or 3 houses away I think on the same side of the street...He was a very nice, although very busy, man but never too busy to say hello to a neighbor kid...I knew his son Jerry a little better although he was a couple years older than me...Jerry helped me to learn how to stay on the 26" Schwinn I had bought with money saved from mowing yards and odd jobs...The bike was way too big for me at the time, but I rode it all the way until I bought my first car in high school...

I remember still the great smells of leather in Lt. Ball's shop, and to this day I cannot find the finished belt holster for a Detective Special which he presented to a kid just because I admired the carving on it...I also recall a large sheet of reinforced glass (about an inch and a half thick) which he used as a doorstop in his shop...He said it came from the Ft. Worth jail, but I never got an explanation for the approximately half inch hole in it that didn't go quite all the way through...If my memory is correct, his son Jerry went on to a career with the Secret Service...

I do remember his mark on the back side of that holster which was the same as what I've seen in this and other threads...

...Ben

boykinlp · May 11, 2025

Since this thread was originally posted, I have been able to acquire a couple of Oliver Ball holsters. Here is the first one, a ring hand version. It is lined, and well used. I believe it is the PERFECT Oliver Ball holster. A holster specifically made by a member of the police for a member of the police. It was made for a S&W 2” M&P revolver which would be the perfect gun for a police detective in the San Antonio Police Department back in the day. In fact, in my mind, it WAS carried by the Head of the SAPD Police Detective Unit.

Larry

Oliver O. Ball holster

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