Imperial Navy Holster
 

Imperial Navy holster after visiting Jerry Burney's Magic Shop.

Nice supple leather, no dryness or rot.

Good manufacturer's mark "LOH Sohne Act. Ges. Berlin". No date.

Crown/M on inside of lid.

Thanks Jerry!!!

Bill

Typical excellence from the maestro.

Tom A

Thanks Bill, Tom.
As Imperial Navy holsters go.. this one was a real find! Bill was fortunate enough to find this on a popular auction site and we collaborated on it's restoration.

It came to us as a body and top with most of the small parts missing. As Bill says.. the body & top are in excellent shape, supple with no flaking. This is unusual for an original Imperial Navy.

I made & installed the interior tool pouch, making the brass stud & washer and hand hammering it in.
The pull-up strap knot was hand tied.
The top to the rod sleeve was made & installed.
The stock block restored and ready to attach to a stock.

This holster had been period converted to belt loops, removing the stock block and stitching on two straps.

At the start I thought some labor could be saved by leaving some original stitching in place but on further thought I decided to replace every stitch in this holster.

One of the great things about German holsters is their stitch spacing is usually wide apart but the Saddler who made this holster didn't get the message! I rarely see such tight close stitching..there must be thousands of stitches in this. Most of them in the cleaning rod sleeve.

This is truely an example of what collectors do...salvage and restore a rare piece of history for posterity.

Congratulations Bill! Imperial Navy holsters are indeed a rare find.....

Jerry Burney

Great job, looks beaut'!

Very nice work Jerry

Imperial Navy Holster
 

Picture of Navy Holster after Jerry had taken it apart. He's good!

Bill, This photo was taken before I decided to remove the rod sleeve completely.

Interesting thing to see here..the back panel is the ONLY part the Germans ever glued on a German Luger holster. Everything else was put in place & sewed on without a fixitive.

This photo was a heck of a lot of stitches ago!

Jerry Burney

Bill, when I see your holster I think that I should also collect Navy leather stuff..Congratulations !
christian

Bill, could we see additional photos of the restored holster, the back in particular?

Skilled restoration, whether of leather metal or wood, is IMHO almost an art form that few people have the talent or patience to do. We are fortunate to have Jerry as well as others here with the talent to help preserve history.

Charlie

It would be nice to see photos of the stock!
Thank´s Klaus

Imperial Navy Holster
 

Charlie: Back of the Navy holster - originally had stock block, then period replacement belt loops. I elected to go back to the stock block, which Jerry did.

Klaus
I wish I had one. Looking for a good repro. Thanks Bill

Hi Bill , That is a beautiful holster and I think you made a very wise decision to go back to the original stock block.

Leo

I keep telling you guys... that we need to get someone local to Jerry to get over to his house and work there for FREE to apprentice his skills... It is truely a lost art... except for Jerry of course!

Great work Jerry!

Congrats Bill!

Once Bill gets a nice Odin stock on there it will cover most of the belt loop holes and will go back to what this fine holster was intended for, a short rifle!

Klaus, I will see if I can find time to photograph the 2 original Imperial navy stocks I have.

I bought my first one 15 years ago for the price of a good used car...If I remember correctly from Joe Wotka off an ad in NAPCA magazine before the internet! The second one I ever saw for sale I bought from my good Friend Tom Armstrong with the help of George Anderson at last years Chantilly show. Thanks Guys! It too was not cheap but when I got it home it is approximately 100 numbers off from my first one!

Holsters are extremely rare but are a dime a dozen compared to original stocks.

It takes time to find Imperial Navy items..I am glad I started many years ago...

Thanks to all of you for the laudatory comments. I always am pleased when people who know what they are looking at appreciate it.

John, This subject has come up more than once...I guess like my predecessor.. Frank DeMauro... I will someday go on to my reward. I am hoping I will get to see many more holsters before that. I took it up because I was interested in holsters, was already making replica Luger lanyards and Tom Armstrong asked me to do it.
An apprentice? Not likely. A person more or less falls into his passion because he is involved in someway. A person who wants to fly hangs out at the airport.

This work will not make you rich. Only labor by the hour. It is hard and dirty. It is lonely. I spend many hours indoors by myself listening to music. It is extremely time consuming...You must structure your time and work even when it is mind numbingly boring. It is repeticious. Hand stitching miles of holes day after day. Hard on your hands, pulling thread, using a sharp knife all day long. I also spend many hours a week communicating with clients about the work they need.

The exciting part is when I get a rare holster like Bill's that intrigues me and stirrs my passion. I want to see it come back to life! Like a good book I couldn't put it down. In fact most holsters I restore give me a great deal of pleasure to see them right again.

Back to work!

Jerry Burney


Anyone want to apply?



Jerry Burney

If you havn't ever had a holster repaired/restored by Jerry it's hard to truly appreciate his work. His attention to detail and correctness is amazing. He is as good or better than the best saddler back when. And that's saying a lot. Bill

I just received my '36 holster from Jerry this week. Beautiful work. :bowdown: It certainly is an art form!

Jerry, in those days the holster production were they made by hand stiching or by machines?
Maybe you can give us a few hints how they were made please.;)

Alf.

Alf, They were primarily made on sewing machines. I find certain operations that had to have been partially machine then tied off by hand. I would surely give something to be able to go back in time to see it exactly. All I can tell is from what they did when I take apart a holster...

Jerry Burney

Bill, great holster and Jerry, great work!!!
My Loh Söhne Navy holster was altered for a Weimar Navy Luger with 4" barrel.
It still got it´s Imperial stamps and the Weimar stamps.

What kind of a thread it was used in those days to make a holster? It looks like a rough thread to me. Is it still available to day, or is there a substitute for it?

Alf.

Klaus
Thank you. What does the AG or Act. Ges stand for? Bill

Bill, AG or Act. Ges. = Actien (Aktien today) Gesellschaft means joint-stock company or incorporated company (according my dictionary).
Best regards Klaus

Klaus
Thank you. Your knowledge is greatly appreciated. Regards Bill

To answer Alf's question; I believe waxed linen thread was usually used on lether holsters, harnesses, etc in that era.

Thank You very much alanint.:cheers:
Alf.

Alf, Doug is correct. Synthetics were not developed to any extent untill the later years of WW2. Most all holsters and other leather items made by any country prior to 1945 were made with linen thread.
Linen is a plant fiber made from the Flax plant. It is twisted from smaller strands much like hemp rope. It is typically seen in 2-3-4-5-7- strand. German Luger holsters are usually made with the 3 or 4 strand. Oddly enough the later the holster the thicker the thread. 1940-43 holsters usually have very thick thread.
Yes, linen thread is available today. I get mine out of Ireland.
There are substitutes for it but they are inferior to the real thing for a number of reasons.

Jerry Burney

Jerry, doing some search about what linen thread I found that it is sold with code say 35/3, while the second number is the no of threads the first is the thickness, what is the thickness number for the holster thread please? Thanks.

Alf.

Alf, I have never heard of this code...what is the thickness number ? Heck if I know. Where did you find this? Send me a link and I will take a look if you like.

Jerry Burney

I found it on ebay uk
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=290326088994
Thanks
Alf

Alf..How LinienThread Sizes are calculated.

No.1 yarn is 1 pound of flax spun to a length of 300 yards.
No.2 yarn is 1 pound of flax spun to a length of 600 yards.
And thus;
No.18 yarn is 1 pound of flax spun to a length of 5,400 yards. (300 x 18 = 5,400)

Taking for example a "18/3" thread.

The "3" refers to the number of yarns that have been plied together.
The "18" indicates that it takes 5,400 yards of such yarn to weigh a pound.

It can be seen why bigger numbers mean smaller thread -- the thinner the yarns, the more of them it takes to make a pound.

To conclude.
A 35/3 thread is made of three yarns, each made from 1 pound of flax spun out to 10,500 yards and then twisted together.



Are you trying to repair a holster?

By my calculations I would guess you would want a #18/3 or a #18/4 strand depending on what holster you are wanting to restore.

Hope this helps...

Jerry Burney

Thank you Jerry, great, it is the information I needed. I have this WWl holster with a loose belt loop and I wish to fix it, so I thought I do it at least with the right thread,;)
From your notes I think I should use #18/3 thread.
Thank you Jerry, thank you alanint.
Alf.

Jerry,

When you do your holster repair do you use an "Off White" color thread?

Wayne

Wayne, There are 5 different colors I use depending on the holster. There are 2-3-4-5-7 strand threads so I have to have at least 4 sizes in 5 colors to have the thread necessary for almost any holster repair.

PPK holsters take different size & color threads than Luger holsters for instance.

Jerry Burney

This is a great thread with a load of fine info. Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge.

Charlie

Jerry,

When I cleaned up my holsters I use "Picards" and then buff the leather very lightly.
Some people use something that will gloss up the leather and make it slippery/smooth.
Would you know what they use as the final coat?

Wayne

Wayne, When I cleaned up my holsters I use "Picards" ..I am sorry to hear that. picards is ghastly waxy sticky goo and I would never ruin my vintage leather with this petroleum product.
I have no idea what to use for a final coat...after a coating of picard's what more is there? Motor oil? Tar? roofing cement?

Can you tell I am not a picards fan? I have railed against this crap for years and I still hear of collectors who insist on using it. I give up.

Jerry Burney

Jerry,

I have also used "Connolly Hide Care".
What do you recommend someone use?

Wayne

Wayne
I think many of us have at one time used Pecards. That means many of us made a bad mistake. Use it on your winter boots. On your holster use Connolly's. If you insist on using Pecards look over your shoulder for a mad holsterrepairman. Bill

A small point: occasionally one encounters an imperial holster with orange thread. The orange is the result of the linen being treated with merthiolate to retard insect infestation.
Tom A.