Rare? S&W holster with double loops

[ToyotaOwner]

Found this low ride, leather, swivel, S&W stamped holster locally and bought it. Has a brass ring at upper right stamped with a small anchor; could this be a Navy Sam Browne-style holster? The upper left ring is missing.

It was a holster in need of a revolver, so I filled it with a Model 65-4. Probably had a Model 10 M+P originally, I suppose.

Can anyone shed light on this holster? I did some searches and didn't find any pics or references to swivel, double cartridge loop S&W holsters like this one. Thanks!

DZ

 

[rayban]

I'm wondering if it was part of a shoulder rig? Right hand draw from under the left arm. The loops attached to the shoulder strap. Just a guess.

 

[Iggy]

Some State Police and numerous other police agencies use to use rigs like that. The loops connected to a shoulder strap that went to the opposite shoulder. Packin' the gun and that much ammo would almost require some kind of support

Look for old pictures of NY and NJ State Police.

 

[opoefc]

Welcome to the Forum. There are several variations of this model S&W holster, some with one row of cartidge loops and most with the double row. They were called the State Patrolman, Model 16, and were usually used with a Sam Brown type shoulder belt. They swivel and/or detach at the bottom of the ammo.
carrier so the holster doesn't interfer with sitting in a patrol car. They date from 1969-70 era and show in the S&W Leather catalogs of that period. You will occasionally see them on ebay, etc. and they sell to collectors in the $20 range. Ed.

 

[ToyotaOwner]

Great! Cool info. I'm keeping this one.

 

[ToyotaOwner]

The anchor on the ring still isn't explained, though...did the Navy use these?

 

[opoefc]

No, the anchor hs no connection to any Navy use. It's the mark of the maker of that ring ( Anchor Buckels Co. ) Ed.