BCC

You are absolutly right. I made an observation earlier regarding the climate in Europe and the fact that in the field the leather could not keep from getting very wet and taking days to dry out...(once the rain stopped). The chemical leaching and moisture from wet holsters plays the devil on a pistols finish. This could be off-sit by wrapping the pistol in some form of wax paper...etc or keeping it smothered in oil...or both. I know that at least sometimes these things were done as per first hand accounts. I personally think that it is important to try and obtain some understanding of the effects that true war usage can have on firearms rather than judge a "vet" as if one were buying a 22cal rifle from Wal-Mart!