Historical Shoulder Holsters , circa 1890's

[Biggfoot44]

I'm reading a well researched book on the Feud Era in Kentucky. ( Well researched within limits of scant contemporary documentation , with emphasis on eye witness interviews more than the haphazard news stories of the day .)

On more than one occasion, contemporary accounts of " tense moments " moments in courtrooms , and everybody in the room simultaneously producing pistols from " under the arm holsters " .

These were disproportionately very experienced shootists , presumably with serious hardware, while wearing their good suits of the generous cuts of the day .

Accepting for the moment the referenced contemporary accounts - What types and configuration of shoulder holsters would have been common usage by knowledgeable gun people , for full size revolvers , in 1890's ?

FWIW - Figure politicians and successful business people , that could afford reasonably decent gear , not constrained by hardscrabbkw farmer income . And S&W number 3's at least as common as Colts .

 

[Papa Lee]

!800's shoulder rigs.

El Paso Saddlery makes a couple of reproductions: The 1879 "Texas" shoulder rig and the 1895 "Hardin" shoulder rig named after John Wesley Hardin. See their website for pictures.

 

[Biggfoot44]

And now a day later, I've found some answers.

The pouch style , sometimes known as Texas style . Think kind of like a Slim Jim with a should strap . Seen as early as 1870's , semi common by 1880s .

The Skeleton style , such as the El Paso 1895 mentioned in above post was indeed introduced circa 1895 . It was an important evolutionary step , but in this initial form doesn't seem to have been very popular. Probably more of them used today for CAS than back in the day .

The Halfbreed style was introduced 1898 . Had the advantages of the Skeleton, plus more secure and better protection for the gun . Quickly became popular, and was the predominant shoulder holster of first half of 20th Century. Heifer # 125 is an example from 1920 . Earliest had flat leather back , with wrap around leather over the gun . Later was also seen the leather over the gun extended to tie into be front strap a la X-15 .

In the real world 1890's it's doubtful that everyone ran out and bought new holsters the month they were introduced , so when a dozen people whipped out in that Courtroom in 1899 , they were probably Texas Pouch .


My interest in this was probably 75% historical , and 25% practical .

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
It was not uncommon to have a pocked in the coat lined with leather..
A pocket like ones found in todays suit coat and a pocket holster would be similar...