Mid War Krieghoff Holster
 

Anyone know what a mid to late war Krieghoff holster should look like? I've been told they won't look as fine as the early contract holsters. I was told that the Krieghoff factory was scraping the barrel for leather scraps by this time (44/45) and that the holsters had mixed leathers; for example smooth leather outside/pebble grain on the inside. Does anyone have info or photos? All help is greatly appreciated!

Well, others have made extensive studies of P.08 holsters but I will have a go answering your question.

First, Krieghoff did not manufacture holsters or supply them with the guns. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Luftwaffe procurement service had an office at the Suhl factory and processed orders of holsters and loading tools through there for delivery to Luftwaffe units as they were not getting priority from the Heeres.

The majority of holsters were made by H. Egger & Linde. The vast majority of HK deliveries on the initial contract were completed by 1938 before WWII even began. German war production was humming along.

There were deliveries of HK P.08s up to 1945 but the quantities were insignificant. Now Mauser P.08 volume production was completed in 1942 and a few clean out the factory pieces were delivered in 1943. Production of P.38 holsters began in 1940 for the military taking a lot of production away from P.08 holsters. The demand had dried up.

Frankly, I do not see any reason why there was "scraping the barrel" involved and it sounds like an exaggeration. Unfortunately most LWaA issued holsters did not have dates so production is difficult to track. But for a couple of hundred 1944 guns and maybe 30 or so 1945 guns, I suspect that the problem was sorted out someway or another.

Additionally, 1941 saw the production of pigskin holsters which eased the pressure on cow/calf skin. However, I must say that I have never seen a pigskin LWaA accepted P.08 holster.

BTW, a mid-war Luftwaffe issued P.08 holster looked like any other except for the LWaA stamp and the fact that the thread was black not white.

Hope this helps.

John

John,
Thanks very much for the info. I appreciate your insights.