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S&W Revolvers: 1961 to 1980 3-Screw PINNED Barrel SWING-OUT Cylinder Hand Ejectors WITH Model Numbers


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Old 03-23-2015, 11:29 PM
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Lew Archer Lew Archer is offline
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Default Horseshoe Leather Products Shoulder Holster

I've been a long time fan of Andy Arratoonian's Horseshoe Leather Products, a true one man holster shop. Andy has been producing top notch concealment gear in the United Kingdom for decades.

I've been using custom leather for serious business for over 20 years. I've used and owned holsters from Milt Sparks, Greg Kramer, Mitch Rosen, Ken Null and Lou Alessi, not to mention gear from the major producers, such as Bianchi, Galco and Safariland.

No one makes a better holster than Andy Arratoonian. Few come close to his work. First rate design, all time proven. First rate materials. Execution is flawless..he's an artisan. Life-saving gear for a lifetime. My first Horseshoe rig was purchased in 1996. It's still going strong!

Anyway, I checked out his very informative website recently, holsters.org.

He was offering for sale two shoulder rigs he made in the 1970s but never sold. Both were made for S&W Model 19s with six inch barrels. One in Cordovan, one in Saddle Tan. I was able to purchase the cordovan rig. He hasn't produced holsters for revolvers in many years. So, these two were both holsters impossible to find. Handmade, as all Horseshoe rigs are, by Andy's own hands. Brand new, never sold revolver holsters! In 2015!

I emailed him and asked if either were available. He promptly responded in the affirmative and I selected the Cordovan, a favorite colour (must use the British spelling here!).

Here's a quick photo of it with my Model 19-3, which, per the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson, was manufactured in 1969.

I found this fine Smith at Martin B. Retting's shop in Culver City, CA some years ago. The gun was, and is, in excellent condition. Its grips, while from Smith, weren't original to the gun. I later stumbled across a fine used pair of Herrett's stocks (don't call them grips!) at Goleta Valley Gun in Santa Barbara. Both Retting's shop, and Goleta Valley Gun are worthwhile places to drop by, should you find yourself in Culver City (which is surrounded by Los Angeles) or Santa Barbara.

I'd never purchased a holster, though, for the Model 19. With a six inch barrel, I thought a good shoulder rig might be just the thing. Since I don't carry a revolver for work, getting a holster wasn't a priority. However, a good gun deserves a good holster...

So, at long last, my Model 19 has a world class rig. Very secure, very comfortable and very fast. Dirty Harry would have approved! Incidentally, I have a recently produced Lawman Leather rig for a Model 29 with 6.5 inch barrel. The Lawman rig is very well made, marketed as the "Original Dirty Harry Shoulder Holster". Yes, I know all the customer service stories...though I happened to get mine promptly several years ago. The Horseshoe Rig shares some design details with that rig. Like the Lawman rig, it's plenty rugged. It has an elegance, though, that is unmatched. I also prefer the design of the Horseshoe rig's shoulder harness, which offers simpler adjustment.

By good fortune, the holster happened to fit me perfectly as is. No adjustment required.

Anyway, thought some here might appreciate a classic and truly old school but brand new rig.

If anyone's interested, maybe that saddle tan rig may still be available. Expensive but worth it! There won't be another chance to buy one of these, brand new, from Andy Arratoonian.

His website, by the way, is well worth checking out, just for the discussion of the different holster designs and their pros and cons.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427167839.422928.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1427167853.021479.jpg
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Last edited by Lew Archer; 03-23-2015 at 11:50 PM.
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Old 03-24-2015, 12:32 AM
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Great looking rig! If I had that rig I'd have to buy a 19 for it.
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Old 03-24-2015, 05:46 AM
629shooter 629shooter is offline
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That is a nice looking rig.
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Old 03-24-2015, 11:45 PM
SpartanDCI SpartanDCI is offline
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Wow, I'm glad Andy is still kicking and stitching together great leather! I wrote him a letter by snail mail when I was in college in the 1980's since I bought a then hard to find CZ85 pistol and needed a nice belt holster. He sent me back a nice letter and catalog and he recommended a strong side hip holster or shoulder holster like he made for your Smith. I took the plunge and had him make me a belt slide holster and spare mag carrier. I was blown away at the great quality leather and attention to detail. Only thing was back then you had to send him payment by International Postal Money order in English Pounds Sterling! That holster and mag keeper is still going strong with its current owner, although the CZ has new stocks on it and the bright blue finish has been changed to ROBAR N3. Andy is a talented saddle maker and holster maker! You made a wise choice on your Model 19 holster. BTW, Martin Retting used to be one of my haunts when I lived and worked in Long Beach. There used to be a hobby shop/gun shop across the street too, if Rettings did not have anything I was looking for - but I forgot the name of that joint!
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Old 03-25-2015, 12:57 AM
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Wow, I'm glad Andy is still kicking and stitching together great leather! I wrote him a letter by snail mail when I was in college in the 1980's since I bought a then hard to find CZ85 pistol and needed a nice belt holster. He sent me back a nice letter and catalog and he recommended a strong side hip holster or shoulder holster like he made for your Smith. I took the plunge and had him make me a belt slide holster and spare mag carrier. I was blown away at the great quality leather and attention to detail. Only thing was back then you had to send him payment by International Postal Money order in English Pounds Sterling! That holster and mag keeper is still going strong with its current owner, although the CZ has new stocks on it and the bright blue finish has been changed to ROBAR N3. Andy is a talented saddle maker and holster maker! You made a wise choice on your Model 19 holster. BTW, Martin Retting used to be one of my haunts when I lived and worked in Long Beach. There used to be a hobby shop/gun shop across the street too, if Rettings did not have anything I was looking for - but I forgot the name of that joint!
Might have been Red Star. If so, it's long gone. Martin Retting remains a truly great gun store, although the prices are premium. Hell, any gun shop where you hear classical music playing is worth a visit. They always have something of interest. For example, I found a beautiful old, but still new, Colt Cobra there a few years ago.
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Old 03-25-2015, 01:22 AM
SpartanDCI SpartanDCI is offline
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Yup, Red Star! I walked in there once with a friend who worked for the Movie Industry - who was taking us to see Stembridge guns. The owner knew this guy named John really well. He took us in the back and there was 3 Thompsons that the owner said someone had left at their door in the morning before they opened. All were marked with something like OCSF or similar. They looked brand new on the inside and the wood was worn from being racked or being in a car trunk - or something. Once of the guys with us was an off duty LAPD detective who also moon lighted doing motorcycle duty for movie shoots in LA.

He offered to call his station to have the serial numbers checked out - quick story - they were listed as "stolen/Missing" from a Cali Sheriff's Dept. The owner of Red Star got a pat on the back and I believe a contract for ammo for the PD/possibly a reward for returning the thompsons and I got to handle them - wishing I could keep them. Syd Stembridge heard our story and let us shoot the M1 Thompsons he had in the vault at his shop with blanks! My friend Wayne/the detective said the guns walked during the 1950's and it was only by luck the records were still in NCIC to be checked.

Rettings always had the weirdest or nicest stuff walk in their doors! I was there looking at the used pistol case at about 15 Belgian Browning High Powers for sale, when an older gentleman walked in with a McMillan 50 BMG rifle with scope. He said he bought i back in the 1980's from Gale McMillan but he thought it had been outlawed in Cali so he wanted to sell it. I asked the gent how many rounds had been fired, and he looked at me and said it had never been fired outside of the factory! He wanted $2500 for it with the Leupold scope and I went to the Bank of America and got him cash for it and Rettings charged me a fee to run it through their books to my dealer in Maryland. I also ended up having to buy IN and Out Burgers for their whole staff for buying it out from under them . Dan Retting was good natured about it - since I had been buying Mad Dog knives from him like they were going out of style - and all those knives helped pay for my new truck when I sold them.

That Mcmillan never got fired, but was sold to a retired Navy Commander who helped design it fro the Navy's Anti material rifle program. I know he is shooting it at his Nevada digs!

I bought a Browning High Power from Retting a little while ago, and it looked like it had never been fired and it was priced at half what they were priced at auction or high end retail.

Good times!

Last edited by SpartanDCI; 03-25-2015 at 02:35 AM.
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Old 03-25-2015, 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by SpartanDCI View Post
Yup, Red Star! I walked in there once with a friend who worked for the Movie Industry - who was taking us to see Stembridge guns. The owner knew this guy named John really well. He took us in the back and there was 3 Thompsons that the owner said someone had left at their door in the morning before they opened. All were marked with something like OCSF or similar. They looked brand new on the inside and the wood was worn from being racked or being in a car trunk - or something. Once of the guys with us was an off duty LAPD detective who also moon lighted doing motorcycle duty for movie shoots in LA.

He offered to call his station to have the serial numbers checked out - quick story - they were listed as "stolen/Missing" from a Cali Sheriff's Dept. The owner of Red Star got a pat on the back and I believe a contract for ammo for the PD/possibly a reward for returning the thompsons and I got to handle them - wishing I could keep them. Syd Stembridge heard our story and let us shoot the M1 Thompsons he had in the vault at his shop with blanks! My friend Wayne/the detective said the guns walked during the 1950's and it was only by luck the records were still in NCIC to be checked.

Rettings always had the weirdest or nicest stuff walk in their doors! I was there looking at the used pistol case at about 15 Belgian Browning High Powers for sale, when an older gentleman walked in with a McMillan 50 BMG rifle with scope. He said he bought i back in the 1980's from Gale McMillan but he thought it had been outlawed in Cali so he wanted to sell it. I asked the gent how many rounds had been fired, and he looked at me and said it had never been fired outside of the factory! He wanted $2500 for it with the Leupold scope and I went to the Bank of America and got him cash for it and Rettings charged me a fee to run it through their books to my dealer in Maryland. I also ended up having to buy IN and Out Burgers for their whole staff for buying it out from under them . Dan Retting was good natured about it - since I had been buying Mad Dog knives from him like they were going out of style - and all those knives helped pay for my new truck when I sold them.

That Mcmillan never got fired, but was sold to a retired Navy Commander who helped design it fro the Navy's Anti material rifle program. I know he is shooting it at his Nevada digs!

I bought a Browning High Power from Retting a little while ago, and it looked like it had never been fired and it was priced at half what they were priced at auction or high end retail.

Good times!
Great stories!

Very interesting about those stolen Thompsons. Amazing someone thought to drop them off at Red Star.

Yes, you can usually find something of interest in Retting's...or someone of interest. A few years ago, I found myself talking to a modest. pleasant old gentleman by the name of Charlton Heston buying a gun for his grandson! We had a nice chat. He was well known to the staff. Very down to earth.

As you said, good times...
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Old 03-25-2015, 11:52 AM
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Retting looks like a great place to visit. Thanks for the memories, Theo

http://retting.com

Beautiful shoulder holster Lew!!!! Cordavan all the way
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Last edited by theoneff; 03-25-2015 at 11:54 AM.
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