Hey old guys, explain this to me!

[BehindBlueI's]

http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/541820000/541820838/pix932346525.jpg

I know it's a swivel holster, but does it thread onto a duty belt or do you need something else to hook it on? What's the steel rings on top for? What era would this rig have seen actual use?

Thanks in advance.

[okie john]

I know it's a swivel holster, but does it thread onto a duty belt or do you need something else to hook it on? What's the steel rings on top for? What era would this rig have seen actual use?

Thanks in advance.

Is that a Bucheimer rig?

I'm pretty sure that it slides onto a duty belt with a two-pronged buckle. I believe that the D-rings are attachment points for the cross-straps on a Sam Browne belt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Browne_belt). The swivel lets the barrel swing out of the way so you can sit down while you're wearing it. I'd bet that they went out of style in the mid-60's in most places, and that they hung on in isolated pockets of backwardness for quite some time after that.


Okie John

[BehindBlueI's]

Is that a Bucheimer rig?

I'm pretty sure that it slides onto a duty belt with a two-pronged buckle. I believe that the D-rings are attachment points for the cross-straps on a Sam Browne belt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Browne_belt). The swivel lets the barrel swing out of the way so you can sit down while you're wearing it. I'd bet that they went out of style in the mid-60's in most places, and that they hung on in isolated pockets of backwardness for quite some time after that.


Okie John

It is.

I'm clear on the use of a swivel holster and also that if the swivel broke the gun stayed behind in the car. :D The cross strap makes sense. Sort of like a call box key, it's just obsolete police gear I thought was pretty cool but have no real use for.

[Al T.]

Oakie nailed it, I think. Darryl will be by shortly to fill us in on the exact company, the exact person on the sewing machine and the pet name of the cow who graciously donated it's hide to the cause.

[Malamute]

Are you thinking of buying it? Is it for a K frame? How much are they valued at today?

[BehindBlueI's]

Are you thinking of buying it? Is it for a K frame? How much are they valued at today?

I'm kicking it around, but I don't know. It's on gunbroker if you're interested, and yes. I think it's at $17 or so at the moment.

I'd like to have it, but on the other hand I don't know WTF I'd do with it. It's just be clutter in my gun-stuff closet, most likely. If you bid on it, let me know and I won't.

[Malamute]

I dont really have a big need. My arm is bunged up a bit and the drop of that type would help in my dog walking adventures. I cant quite use a regular height holster yet. More curiosity I guess, and they are sort of interesting in the historic sense.

I have a somewhat similar holster without the swivel and cartridge loop but the strap came off. I havent figured out a reasonably simple way to reattach it.

[BN]

It has a thumb break, so it can't be too old. 70's or 80's.

[SLG]

Swivel holsters suck beyond belief if drawing fast matters to you.

[1slow]

Nothing messes you up like having to search for the pistol on the draw.

[LSP972]

It has a thumb break, so it can't be too old. 70's or 80's.

Agreed. Thankfully, swivel holsters were pretty much old news in this part of the country by the time I hired on (1978). I can only recall seeing a few- very few- of them. The Jordan River holster from Don Hume Leather was our issue item, from the early 70s until 1990, when we switched to L frames and the SafariLand Top Gun as issue items. Of course, we were well into semi-auto transition by then, but it was strictly a voluntary/buy-your-own-shit proposition until 1996, when we began issuing Sigs and the proper accoutrements.

I thought I still had my old issue River holster to show, but I have a deputy friend in Texas who collects old revolver po-lice stuff, so I imagine I sent it to him. I know I gave him my CM Leather duty holster and the six-loop top-off carrier I had made.

Yeah, the item shown would strictly be a collectible, although it might have some utility for a person with shoulder issues like Malamute.

.

[Chuck Haggard]

The belt should slide through the area behind the bullet loops. The rings are for the Sam Brown type shoulder strap.

There were guys at my old job carrying holsters like this when I hired on.

[BehindBlueI's]

The belt should slide through the area behind the bullet loops. The rings are for the Sam Brown type shoulder strap.

There were guys at my old job carrying holsters like this when I hired on.

Thanks.

I've decided that it'd just be clutter I'd eventually throw out and watch my wife say "I told you so" when I did...but it was cool to learn a bit more about it.

[LSP972]

There were guys at my old job carrying holsters like this when I hired on.

In there amongst all the Looper brothers' and Carl Martin holsters?

Oklahoma was a mecca for cop leather in the 60s and 70s.

.

.

[voodoo_man]

There are dozens of officers I see carrying like this. We have one guy in a neighboring AO that has a safariland holster in one of those rigs.

I am amazed.

[rsa-otc]

Here's a picture of my dad with one of those holsters circa 1960. I can't remember the number of times I heard stories of the swivel breaking and guys looking back to see their gun still in the holster laying on the sidewalk. One of the the first things I did when put in charge of the company firearms program was replace every one with Jordan style holsters. Later moving to the Safariland Topgun mentioned earlier when it came available. The NJ State Police still had many in service up till they moved to the H&K P7.

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z417/rsa-otc/Mobile%20Uploads/SCAN0035.jpg (http://s1188.photobucket.com/user/rsa-otc/media/Mobile%20Uploads/SCAN0035.jpg.html)

[Chuck Haggard]

In there amongst all the Looper brothers' and Carl Martin holsters?

Oklahoma was a mecca for cop leather in the 60s and 70s.

.

.

They were issuing the Jordan Border Patrol rig and dump boxes when I hired on, but some of the old timers still had this type of rig, I don't recall if they were issued or personally bought.

[serialsolver]

When I hired on there was a couple of old heads that was using widow makers. full flap holsters. one carried a S&W pinto m27, so it won't get scratched up. Old Sgt. Wright wore one, he was fast with it. He taught me a thing or two.


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[mmc45414]

I am just reflecting on the fact that I clicked on a thread that said "Hey Old Guys"....

[LSP972]

I am just reflecting on the fact that I clicked on a thread that said "Hey Old Guys"....

Either you is, or you ain't.

If you is, then times are good. You play around with your part-time retirement gig (if you have one), answer youngster questions like these, and the best part… you're always meeting new people, and you never have left-overs.;)

.

[mmc45414]

Either you is, or you ain't.

Just turned 57, wondering where I fall in :)

[JAD]

Just turned 57, wondering where I fall in :)

The bath, typically.

[xray 99]

I can remember as a boy circa 1970 I would see Massachusetts coppers carrying these rigs. The spare ammo was often covered with verdigris. NJ troopers utilized a rig with a very wide loop that held 24 spare rounds as I recall. No crud on the ammo, however.....

[TheNewbie]

Were there problems with the old holsters that had exposed triggers, or did the strap over the trigger prevent NDs/ADs?