Got the repro holster today - lots of pics
 

As soon as I bought my Artillery upper from Don Voigt, I went looking online for the "best" reproduction stock and holster set I could find, and it arrived today. The black leather sets I saw looked very cheap, with lousy stitching, so I knew I wanted brown leather if possible.

This stock and holster set pictured below came from Northridge International, and is advertised on Amazon for $279, however if you go directly to their web site it's $199 + $17 shipping, a significant savings. It came very neatly packaged from California (to Florida) in only two days. I actually ordered it about three weeks ago but the guy with the key to the warehouse was traveling.

http://www.northridgeinc.com/store/index.cfm/c153/i944

So far I only have good things to say about this purchase. I had read reviews online of several stocks and one thing mentioned was that Luger magazines do not fit the magazine pouch without stretching the leather a bit, but this was not necessary with this set. The leather smelled strongly out of the box (like a new pair of shoes) but it has a nice finish that seems to have some "age" to it. Other points:

• Two loading tools were included, one in the pouch (which is big enough for the tool) and one separate
• The cleaning rod also looks "old" with some mildly corroded spots
• The stitching is really pretty nice, and seems to be set strongly
• The brass studs all seem to be set firmly and not prone to breakage. The leather was fit tightly around them but is pliable enough to remove easily.
• Very importantly, my mixed 1917 DWM upper/ 1918 Erfurt frame Artillery Luger fits snugly into the holster. It's a bit tight right now when all the way in, but I can reach a finger into the mag well and extract it easily enough.
• The stock is attached to the leather with flat screws as shown.
• The interface between the gun and the holster fit very well out of the box without any adjustments necessary. The stock slid smoothly on the lug, and is held tightly by the lever. There is a bit of side-to-side wobble, but nothing that concerns me.

As usual, I do have some questions:

• What is the proper configuration of the strap and magazine pouch while shooting?
• How do I properly adjust the strap? Does it work as a shoulder strap for carry?

I took a bunch of pics and will paste them below. If you have questions or comments, fire away.

More pictures...

Last bunch of pictures...

Love the kittie! One of our favorites was all black..lived to be 24 years old!

Good it fits..the stock too. Always nice when that happens. Looks decent at these go..I would remove the metal plate from the carry strap. I don't know where the Paki's got this idea but it's worthless and makes adjusting/installing the carry strap cumbersome.

Jerry - thanks for the tip on the metal plate... purpose unknown.

This cat is the most fearless we've ever had... sure to get stepped on some time and has to be into EVERYTHING. If you leave anything laying around loose, you pay for it in the middle of the night.

I believe there was/is a picture of a "persian" rig somewhere with a plate on the strap- right or wrong, I don't know; but that is where the plate idea came frome IMO.

Lost my black cat in January, only 13 ; yours looks like a baby for sure!

Informative report and great photos. Thanks for sharing. So glad to hear it fit your Luger without drama.

Found an informative video on the use of the artillery holster/stock - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21DIxIDW7Jo

I'm assuming that as usual, it's NOT a good idea to keep the gun in the holster, right?

Is there any trick to adjusting/wearing/shooting with the holster, or does it simply sling over one's arm like a shoulder bag?

Also, I think I understand now that the internal strap goes under the trigger guard as the gun is inserted to assist in getting the gun out of the holster.

I'm looking forward to getting this to the range... will check with the RO first to make sure he's OK with the whole SBR thing. I'll take a copy of the Luger/repro holster paperwork that I found on the other forum.

Yes, he's barely a year old and likely the runt of the litter... found loitering as a small hungry kitten in a driveway in NW Pa and now enjoying the Life of Riley.

SC, Nice to know that these repros of the Persian LPO8 holster/stock rig are still available, as i haven't seen them advertised for many years. Definately better quality than the current repros. If these came assembled with the screws, etc, definately a good deal at less than $300 delivered. TH

Here are a couple of pictures of the Artillery rig in action at the range yesterday. Given that the average 1917 German soldier probably wasn't 6'1" and ~210 lbs, I probably need to take the time to let the strap out a couple of notches as it was a bit of stretch to get it over my head and arm. :)

As I mentioned in the other thread, it ran through three full magazines without a hitch. That snail drum is looking better and better. :)

I do believe it would go around the other shoulder and be handier.
The lower picture is of a Navy rig, but you get the idea.:D

Thanks for the pics Don, it currently slings easily over my right shoulder and hangs at belt level, but I do believe slinging it as shown above would work better (after a strap adjustment) since it would allow a little more room when shooting and would still hang at belt level.

After a trip to the range, I'm really happy with both the gun (thanks to Don for selling his spare artillery barrel/receiver) and the repro stock, which has an "old" look but (obviously) new stitching and fasteners that seem as if they will last a good long time. The new leather smell is still strong but will fade. The range officers were gaga over the whole thing.

Well, I'm near the max strap length (one more set of holes to go) and this is what I have so far. Like I said, I'm probably a tad larger than the average WWI soldier. :) I had to remove one end of the strap and reverse the mag pouch to get it oriented with the flap up when on my chest and hanging as shown.

The metal plate on the strap is the what is keeping me from using the last set of holes and extending the strap as far as possible. I tried to snip the rivets holding the plate with a wire cutter last night but they are too tight and hard. I'll likely (carefully) use a grinder to do it.

Spacecoast, the rig looks darn good to me. But, what do I know. I am just an artillery newbie as well. :D

Thanks for the pictures. I enjoy following your artillery adventure.

Tom, made me wonder, since the owner had the keys to the warehouse, if this guy didn't buy a bunch of these in the 70's? And just sat on them.

I had a holster only, that I had for years, finally sold it. Bought it in the early 80's - from Sarco I think
Ed

Thanks Don, I did a little more digging and the average German soldier was about 5'6" in WWI. I guess I should have shopped at the "Big and Tall" artillery stock store. :)

Ed - that's an interesting possibility, the stock was just bubble wrapped and had no real packaging with it that could help identify its age. The loading tool that was inside the pouch has quite a bit of rust, but I assumed that was just a result of close contact with the leather. They included another loading tool separately, so maybe they didn't know there was one in the pouch. Neither was what I would call a quality loading tool, the one I bought separately (from Sarco I think) a while ago is better made and has some kind of proof mark. That's the one I put back in the holster.

I'm strongly considering a trip to the SoS in February, if I make it there I will put the stock in my luggage so anyone interested can have a look.