Kriegsmarine holster
 

At the Portland guns show this afternoon I observed a holster marked:

LEDERWERENWERK
CURT VOGEL
COTTBUS

1933

eagle/WaA94

eagle/M (Marine)

The holster is in rather good shape, black, properly aged and without new smell, exterior is not marred or deteriorated. I am not knowledgable about leather, so I have no idea if this suite of markings is legitimate. The stamps are between the belt loops, and the Kriegsmarine stamp appears to have been stamped before the wear patches caused by the belt.

My question is, does this sound like a legitimate item, and what is the value of this holster? The question is academic and for my continued education, I am not in a position to buy this item.

The holster is accessory to a 1939 42 Mauser, not a collection quality gun, and is accompanied by a non-matching fxo mag. Table price for the set is $1,550.

--Dwight

Dwight,

The holster seems correct based on what you have described. Vogel was a large supplier of KM holsters; I don't have a problem with their not being present a Reichsmarine (Reichsmarine transitioned name to Kreigsmarine in '34) Anchor M. A logical explanation is holster was in Army stores until transferred to Navy sometime after '34.

In good to excellent shape( Firm leather, no scuffing, threads tight , completely intact), the holster would bring from $300-4o0 on the East coast.

I bought one very similar last year that was in almost unissued condition and gladly paid $700 for it.

Tom A

Dwight,

I looked at the same holster and I read it as 1938 not 1933. The gun in the holster was a 42 code 1939 so 38 would have been more likely. After looking at the gun more closely it was not as bad as you make it sound, the bluing looks mottled, especially on the barrel, but there are no rust pits at all. All numbers match and the barrel is excellent. The grips are not numbered but do have some letter stamps, I don't know if this is correct or not. Bill DeMander looked at the holster and felt it was correct. I talked the owner down to $1125 for the rig and think I can make money on it if I want to split it up and re-sell the gun and holster separately; at least I don't think I am in over my head, but I have been wrong before. If others are interested I'll try to take some pictures (I still need to build a light box to take pictures in) I don't know if I can get a picture that will allow the date to come out any clearer. It's a toss up but I still read it as 38. I thought the holster was at least $400 and would probably bring more on e-bay.

Thanks,
Bob M.