Finishing up with the Mle 1945 holster in this post.
Here, we see a general view of the closed flap with a pistol present in the holster:
You can see that the pistol is a perfect fit when the lower closure slot on the flap is used:
If you were to try to use the upper closure slot, it would be impossible to close the flap.
Here, we see the holster flap secured by the lower closure slot with no pistol present:
Notice the line produced by glare from the sun is generally straight except at the very top where it ever so slightly curves to the left of frame.
And here, we see the holster flap secured by the upper closure slot with no pistol present:
Notice the much more exaggerated curve to the glare line. Using this closure slot actually warps the shape of the holster. The reason for the two slots is that this was intended to fit most French pistols then in service. However, it would not fit pistols larger than a PA35 i.e. a P38 which was in service at that time.
This must have been an unpopular design though, because yet another holster was introduced in 1948 as the 1948GT (Grand Taille, Large Size) and it's the one illustrated in the 1st Edition manual of March 1951:
The 1948 is shown on the left and it's a later version of the 1948, the main difference being the belt loops. It looks to be about the same size as the 1945 but in fact is much roomier and will fit anything in service at the time including the P38. This holster would fit the Mle 1950 pistol too and I have no doubt some are still being used to this day as I think there are still a few PA50's still floating around France. Notice that it also has accommodation for a spare magazine, something absent on the 1945 jobber. And this is where we stop. Everything I have shown up to this point ranges from almost unknown to very seldom encountered and the point of this has been to document these things for future researchers. The 1948 holster is extremely common in all of its many versions so I see no need to discuss it at this time.
One last thing. Since I discussed trying to fit a 1950 pistol into a 1935-37 holster, I might as well do the same with the 1945. It looks like a 1950 pistol kinda' fits:
Until we try to close the flap:
No amount of stretching or pulling is going to work!
So, at long last, I have finished this article. If you own a 1935S and wondered about early accessories, well, now you have the most detailed information about the subject to be found online. I could still write a little more by looking at some of the manuals and other French government documents I've used to write this. If you want to see them, let me know and, if enough people respond, I'll take the time to do that. Otherwise, this is it for this topic. I hope you've found it helpful in one way or another and I hope to see you again soon. Bye for now!
Mom, as always, thank you for EVERYTHING you did over the years trying to raise me right. I hope I haven't let you down and I wait for you every night in my dreams. Thank you for stopping by once in a while. I Love you and I'll see you soon.