U.S. Commercial Luger Holsters
 

The first major import of lugers was American Eagles. Many were sold with some type of holster. WWI and II resulted in thousands of lugers brought into the U.S. There were more lugers than holsters.

In the early 1900's, saddle and harness shops were searching for new markets since, with the advent of the automobile, saddle and harness demands were declining. Making holsters for the ever-expanding handgun industry provided some of this market. This included luger holsters. Some of the major holster manufacturers were Heiser, Audley, Lawrence, Colorado Saddlery, and S.D. Myres. These are well covered by Eugene Bender in his excellent book, "Luger Holsters and Accessories of the 20th Century."

Tandy Leather Company had luger holster patterns as well as pre-cut leather for the "do it yourselfers." Generally, Tandy holsters were the closed type.

Many holsters were made by small leather shops. These were generally custom made on an individual order basis.

Later, Brauer and Hunter made many luger holsters.

The majority of U.S. holsters were made without magazine pouches. There were, however, some made with this provision.

Some were made for artillery and navy lugers. I have one police holster for an artillery?

How do you find these holsters and identify them as luger holsters?

Some custom luger holsters have the name of who made them and luger and/or barrel length stamped on the back. Many others are totally unmarked.

All gun shows have tables with various used holsters. I spend a lot of time going through them. Most gun shops have boxes of used leather to look over. Occasionally I find one. Ebay is another source.

Most, if not all, holsters that have held a luger are easy to recognize by size and impressions made inside by the rear toggles. I also generally carry a luger for checks.

Probably it is not an area that many are interested in. For me, it has added a new luger collecting element. Prices are certainly cheaper than original leather (which I still like very much). I currently have 80+ U.S.-made luger holsters.

Photos:
1. Lawrence, Heiser and Audley holsters
2. What I call "Tandy patterns"
3. Magazine holsters
4. Artillery and navy holsters
5. Names on back
6. Various designs
7. Toggle impressions

Very nice and interesting.

Great collection Bill

Hi Bill, Thanks for the great photo presentation, You seem to have pioneered a whole new field of Luger research. Regards, Norm

I have purchased a couple of holsters and thought maybe I was an oddball for so doing. I guess I'm not alone in my fancy.
thanks Bill
Jack

Thanks Bill!

Nice collection Bill. There's something about old leather holsters. They're just cool...

Thanks...

Bill, I think your particular nitch has saved and preserved a unique aspect of the Luger Pistol, the commercial holster.

I applaud your efforts.

Bill; Darn nice. Sure would like to have a couple of those.

I picked this up while stationed at Ft. Lewis in the '80s. Never liked it's designed position with the belt snap. Was too low and could easily be seen. Up under my arm I needed a tie down to the belt. Worked good though.

Simply a wonderful collection Bill and an article worthy of The American Rifleman magazine. I strongly encourage you to submit your article and photos to NRA publications so that those collectors who are not knowledgable about the Lugerforum can learn from it and enjoy your research and collection.

Very intresting Bill, thanks for sharing with us. John

Thanks Bill. I am enjoying the two commercial holsters I recently got from you.

Being left handed, I particularly like the first holster in the first picture...

This is worthy of a "sticky" status...

Marc

A few more.

1. Commercial luger shoulder holsters
only one marked (9 o'clock) Heiser

2. My favorite

3. Added to original picture
Buffalo Brand (bottom) and S.D. Myres (center)

Just noticed wrong luger in old holster. Should have been 1906 AE.

I can see why it is your favorite, real nice tooling.

This original thread was a couple years ago. Guess it got resurrected. Thanks for the continued interest. I did add a few more today. Bill

Bill;

I finally found this. Knew I had it someplace probably nothing special but I did not see one in your pictures just like it. If you don't have one, let me know, this deserves a good home even though it has been run hard and put away wet.

Looks like the Mfg. mark is something like this:


I am assuming the L is for Luger because a Luger sure fits nice and neat in it.

Gary

Very Impressive...Great Thread!!!! Tks

What an amazing collection :cheers:
Thank you for sharing and the education. I had always wondered about the U.S. Commercial Luger Holsters and now I know a lot more. Thank you Bill :bowdown:

A delightful presentation. Thanks much for sharing.

I only wanted to say "Thanks for your efforts Bill", this post was very interesting indeed!

Sergio