[G.T.]

Hi Roger! I have been collecting P.08 pigskin holsters for quite awhile now, and although they have never been cheap, most of the increase in cost has occured in just the last few years....They are rare, especially in excellent to mint condition. The manufacture that I specifically like, and have the most experience with are the DLU 42 holsters....I have seen them with leather small parts, loops & straps etc...and I have seen them all pigskin....I think that the pigskin parts were used intermixed with leather, and no special effort was made to keep them seperate. For some strange reason, most of the DLU holsters that I have encountered, have been in excellent to mint condition, when compared to the run of the mill P.08 holsters that one sees with all the other codes combined. This may be the reason I have been drawn to them...The DLU holsters are also a high polish holster, and sometimes a close look is called for to determine if it is a pigskin variation or not! Another interesting code, is erg pigskin holsters. They are quite different and have an appearance and texture more like a football, (not to be confused with textured leather or late war pebble grain paper) or at least it is the type of surface you might expect pigskin to look like.. these are not common either, and I have had several that were as new, with the mag. pouch clipped for a P.38 mag! As far as price, I have seen a range from $350, to over $1000, That leaves a lot of room for subjective pricing! The easiest way to determine if a holster is pigskin, is to look on the inside, pigskin has a unique hair folical pattern, they are in groups of three...and it is readily appearent when viewed from the inside of the holster...Also pigskin was not nearly as wear resistant as leather and may have seen a bit more attrition then the leather, this could also account for some of the scarceity! Hope this helps! Till...later...G.T.