F.B.I. holster for 3.5" pre model 27

[crazyphil]

Reading old threads, as I like to do, I came across one titled:
what holsters did the F.B.I. use with their 3.5 27
It was in the S&W Hand Ejectors 1896-1961 forum dated 9/11/13
but for some reason I was unable to pull it up with the search function.
Google found it by the title.

I don't believe the F.B.I. issued the Myres #614, but it was
authorized, and it was quite popular with agents, who could
afford it.

I think my Myres #614 was probably made for the 3.5" S&W
N Frame. My model 29 with 4" barrel is shown in the photo
on the left. Notice how the front of the trigger guard is not
resting on the welt as it should be.

My model 27 with 4" barrel, fit a little bit better, but
still not all the way down to the welt.

So, my answer to the question, is the F.B.I. agents who used
the S&W pre model 27 with 3.5" barrel, probably used the
Myres #614 made for the 3.5" barrel.

Heiser may have made the #457 for a 3.5" barrel, but I have
not seen one.

Sorry, only a little over 5 years late.

 

[turnerriver]

Phil, here is a 457 with a Franz-Loc clip made for the 3 1/2” .357 Magnum. I’ve had several over the years although 2” small frame and 4” medium frame holsters are much more common. I have some correspondence between Evaluators Ltd. & Heiser discussing the Bureau ordering some 457 holsters at some point, I have also seen discussion of the Bureau buying holsters from Crump.
Regards,
turnerriver

 

[crazyphil]

Thanks for that John. But I don't think the FBI would go for the
retention strap, do you?

 

[rednichols]

Of course Jelly Bryce and his friend Jerry Campbell both used 3-1/2" Smith N frames in 44 Spl as their versions of 'pre-M27' revolvers acquired 1927 whilst the former worked for the State Game Commission Warden, just prior to both men working at OCPD; and carried them in Myres 614s. Campbell's revolver is pictured in the book Holstory and I wonder, often -- is it actually Bryce's missing 44 with Jelly's unique left grip removed (color image is a forum member's):







On the other hand, the Jelly article states that he had not ever fired his (gold) revolver in the 5 years he owned it; but he had killed plenty of men during that period! Which suggests that the perfect condition of the plating is explained: at least Jelly's was not carried at all, and he carried and used another revolver for his gunfighting; and is pictured with the gold version 'for show' at the PD's range in '32.

Also 'of course', the Heiser 457 didn't exist until 1939; whereas the Myres was available from 1931. If Campbell's is a second revolver, then I'll suggest they were acquired together; the engraving being otherwise matching Wolf & Klar, a Texas gunsmithy. Which then poses the question -- what pistol DID they carry? Jerry had a .38 Spl M&P that is pictured with a matching Lewis holster but I doubt that Lewis was in business in the '20s; not least because holsters with wire-form springs began appearing in the mid-'30s. Jerry would have used his N frame Brill which is an 'early' -- so pre-357 Mag.

Color images of all Jerry's guns and holsters are in Holstory.

We forget that Jelly, like Threepersons, was part Indian; Jelly from Oklahoma Territory and the western half of what is now Oklahoma, and Tom claimed to be from Indian Territory (can't be proven so far) and so the eastern half of same. They were a curious pair (they almost certainly knew each other because Jelly is pictured with Tom's very good friend, the former Sheriff of El Paso Chris Fox, while Jelly was in E.P.): both men each appeared twice in the U.S. Census, in two different townships; Jelly twice in 1930's and Tom twice in 1940's.