Pete:
On Jan Still's GunBoards site, he had a very nice presentation on the American Eagle Luger and also went into some detail regarding the AE Test Holster. The holster Jan shows in his presentation is the same one pictured in his book "Imperial Lugers" on page 212.
You'll notice in his discussion he mentions that a Colonel H.H. Whitney submitted some Test Eagle holsters for consideration by the Army with the "butt forward", but these were rejected.
Additionally, these holsters are not marked other than the U.S. encircled stamp on the front of the flap. Jan believes, as he mentions, that these holsters are real and not some relatively modern reproduction.
I will try to provide a link to this article, but if it doesn't show up, you can simply go to his site and do a search under "American Eagle Holster" and his article/presentation will come up. I have a chance to purchase one of these "butt forward" holsters exactly like Jan's with the exception it does not have a brass ring in the drain hole on the bottom. Hope this helps?
Best Regards,
Bob
Here is the verbiage presented by Jan. Unfortunately, the pictures did not accompany the message when I copied the URL.
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Figure 9. Right side, 1900 American Eagle, serial number 6671, test. Shown with holster.
The Rock Island Arsenal manufactured 1000 holsters for the U.S. test Luger in 1902. These all bore the hallmark â??ROCK ISLAND / ARSENAL / E.H.Sâ? and were made to be worn with the butt to the front when being worn on the right side. The holster shown above is opposite to the Rock Island holster and is intended to be worn on the right hand side with the butt to the rear.
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Figure 10. 1900 American Eagle Test Luger in its holster. The fit is perfect for the A.E. test Luger.
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Figure 11. Front of Luger holster . The only marks are the U.S. in an oval on the front of the flap. Its flap is about 3/4 of an inch shorter across the top than the Rock Island holster. The holster shown above is very similar to the Luger holster shown on page 241, Meadows (U.S. Military Holsters and Pistol Cartridge Boxes, 1987). Like the holster above, the holster shown on page 241 was designed to be worn with the butt to the rear when worn on the right side. It was submitted to the Army by Colonel H. H. Whitney. The Army rejected it.
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Figure 12. Back of Luger holster. While not exactly the same, it is very similar to the Rock Island Arsenal manufactured A.E. test holster.
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Figure 13. End plug of the Luger holster. Unlike the Rock Island Test Luger holster that has a drain hole, this holster has a built in brass loop to attach a hold down strap.
I have a few questions for the early Luger holster experts. Is the U.S. stamp restricted to holsters produced for the U.S. Army. I would suggest that this is a commercial holster produced for the various commercial Lugers and the surplus Army Lugers sold by Bannerman. However, I searched through Benderâ??s holster book did not find a commercial holster that resembles the one shown above. It is always possible that the holster is a modern replica, however it does appear to be aged and came with the test Luger shown.
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Jan C Still
Site Owner - Operator
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