You got me thinking and the very wide part that bends over the belt is similar to one Red Nichols posted in his Brill types by many makers. That one by Kingsville Lumber Co., Kingsville, Tx. 1825-40. the loop attaches in a similar way, too.
I'm posting "almost never" because it's too time consuming :-(.
Wyatt's observation is so good, though, I made this one of these rare exceptions. Indeed that holster is identical to the Kingsville Lumber Co. holster -- except for the cuff shape, it's orientation, and how its attached. I understand KLC took over King Ranch's saddlery circa 1910; so perhaps Hamer's is from the Ranch's era.
I say that because, we now have a fairly high-res image of two significant Rangers wearing such a holster in late 1906, which should just prior to Rabensburg creating what we call the Brill in the first quarter of 1907 (all the players are there together until May).
My point: perhaps it was the KR version that existed first, and the Brill developed
from it ; i.e., the cuff attached to be functional, the fender narrowed, the welt drawn in tightly) -- because all of those rangers -- Hamer, Hughes, White & Brown (the two men in the pic) were in Austin together in 1907. The newly-married White quit the Rangers right after Hughes was transferred out of Austin. Then the KLC version adapted from the Brill, to make the cuff more functional.
Stan Nelson's article held out Hamer (& Hudson, also in Austin that year) as wearing Rabensburg's 'Sunday' holsters; but since their cuffs aren't the same I doubted him. But Brill didn't strike out on his own until 1913 and Rabensburg was long gone by then; perhaps that's when the cuff changed shape from the straight one.
very late 1906
a different KLC holster
