what holsters did the F.B.I. use with there 3.5 27

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Some history on .357 Magnums and the FBI:

American Rifleman - A History of FBI Handguns

After initial authorization in 1934, a number of models were acquired and issued to agents. These included the Colt Government Model in .38 Super, registered N-frame .357 Mag. revolvers and S&W .38 Spls. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was known to have owned or been issued several different revolvers. One, a Colt Pocket Positive in .32 caliber with a bobbed hammer, is in the FBI Academy Gun Vault. He was also given a Smith & Wesson .357 Mag., Registration No. 1—but its present whereabouts are unknown (at least to the FBI). Both the .38 Supers and the .357 Magnums were acquired to better penetrate car bodies as well as the steel-plate vests often used by the gangsters of the period.
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More:

American Rifleman - The History of the .357 Magnum

Agent Hank Sloan with a short .357 Magnum:

AgentHankSloan.jpg


Lots more on "G-men" and their weapons here: http://historicalgmen.squarespace.com/
 
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This is a Heiser model 457 FBI holster that the company claimed was developed for the FBI with their input. I have just obtained a collection of holsters and documents associated with Evaluators Ltd., some of the letters are from Evaluators to Heiser discussing this very subject.
Iggy observed agents wearing Threepersons holsters. There are photos showing agents wearing SD Myres Threepersons holsters- one well known one shows I believe Agent Jerry Campbell shooting a Thompson with a Myres holster prominently displayed on his hip.
I also have a holster made by Crump & some correspondence about getting the FBI holster business away from them- it too is a Threepersons type holster for a K frame revolver.
Regards,
turnerriver
DSC_0007-29.jpg
 
Hank Sloan & the holster he designed is another story. The FBI would reportedly not let Hank or the maker Bucheimer refer to the FBI while marketing & selling the Hank Sloan model holster.
Regards,
turnerriver
 
Skeeter Skelton on Berns-Martin and the FBI:

Hide For Your Handgun

When I want speed with a short belly gun I use the Berns Martin “Lightnin’” shoulder holster.

As fast as its name implies, this unusual marriage of spring steel and light leather holds the snubbie butt-down under the armpit. The gunstock drops naturally into the small of the waist, enjoying excellent concealment under a coat. Drawing from the Lightnin’ involves simply grabbing the gun hand pointing it at the target as it is swept from the spring-tensioned lips of the open-faced holster. The shooter’s wrist remains straight and in firing position all through the draw, with no need for adjustments in grip between drawing and shooting.

A variation of the Lightnin’ is the Triple Draw, also for 22’ revolvers. Essentially this is the same shoulder outfit, but with a belt loop allowing it to be used as a hip holster after detaching the figure eight shoulder harness. Thus used on the waist belt, the draw is different, with the open face of the holster right in line with the forward thrust of the shooters arm. The hand grasps the gunhandle and moves forward, aligning the muzzle on target and never the need of jerking it up and clear of the holster’s well before starting the forward motion.

Berns-Martin, now of Eberton, Georgia, makes the same rig, with belt, for heavier, longer barreled guns. Called the Speed holster, it was long popular with Special Agents of the FBI who favored the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
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Evaluators Ltd. sold both Heiser and Berns-Martin holsters. The correspondence I referred to also includes letters to and from them as well as Heiser. I'll get it sorted out eventually & make the information available somehow.
DB as usual right on the money with germane facts and quotes.
Regards
turnerriver
 
turnerriver said:
This is a Heiser model 457 FBI holster that the company claimed was developed for the FBI with their input. I have just obtained a collection of holsters and documents associated with Evaluators Ltd., some of the letters are from Evaluators to Heiser discussing this very subject.
Iggy observed agents wearing Threepersons holsters. There are photos showing agents wearing SD Myres Threepersons holsters- one well known one shows I believe Agent Jerry Campbell shooting a Thompson with a Myres holster prominently displayed on his hip.
I also have a holster made by Crump & some correspondence about getting the FBI holster business away from them- it too is a Threepersons type holster for a K frame revolver.
Regards,
turnerriver
DSC_0007-29.jpg
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That's the holster I remember seeing and all the agents carried 3 or 4 inch K frames.
We had FBI agents for firearms instructors at the WY LE academy.
They frowned on anyone carrying anything else too. Anybody that carried anything else was a dumb "cowboy"!
I did then and still do fit that moniker to a "T":cool:
 
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I'm bettin those are his s'penders or as my Grandpappy called them "Galluses."
 
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Yep, people sure knew how to dress back then.
 
This is not what you have in mind, but ... In about 1975, the one FBI agent I saw with a 3 1/2 inch .357 Magnum was using a brown Safariland holster with snap strap, which would make it a model 25.

He was the SWAT coordinator, and must have been a hobbyist, I would guess, to be carrying the N frame in that era. He said he also owned 4 inch and 2 1/2 inch mdl. 19's.

Tangentially, at about the same time, I met an agent with a 2 1/2 inch mdl. 19 in the first Rogers break front I ever saw.
 
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That's an outstanding package and provenance, dswancutt. Thanks for sharing the letter and photos.
 
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