Next up is the Model 1945 holster, part number 159-021 412 101. I have examples in both natural and black:
Other than the color, these are identical. The stamps are faint so it's hard to get a good picture of them but the black one is dated January of 1946 and the natural one is from March of 1946. These holsters are exceedingly rare these days and are seldom encountered outside of pictures in books.
Gone are the elaborate attachment buckles, rings, and tabs and we are left with a simple single belt loop. The 1935-37 holster was just plain overcomplicated.
This one dispensed with the overcomplicated pull strap and instead used the much simpler design of cutting the leather lower so that you could get at the grip on the pistol:
The downside of this holster is the lack of accommodation for extra magazines.
Just as with the 1935-37 holster, we get two stamps on the inside of the flap, a round one and an oval one. On the black holster the oval one, while pretty much unreadable, is obvious. The round one, not so much:
Here's a closeup of the round one on the black holster:
While you probably can't see it, it's a little easier to read the January of 1946 date in person.
The oval stamp is so faint as to be gone on the natural finish holster but the round one is still barely readable. The camera can't really pick it up but it's dated March of 1946:
From this point forward, we're only going to be looking at the natural example. The closure strap is held in place by a steel rivet. Here's an outside view:
And an inside view:
Detail of the closure strap passing through its steel hoop:
Notice that there are two positions the flap can be closed in. The position shown is necessary for both the 1935A and 1935S. Presumably, you can use this holster for even smaller pistols by using the other slot in the leather.
A couple detail views of the leather square used to attach the steel loop to the holster:
Attaching it this way keeps the loop from coming into contact with the pistol and rubbing against the finish.
Stitching detail showing where the front and rear of the holster meet:
We continue with the Mle 1945 holster in the next post.