Remove leather dye

[Mauper]

Just got a nice brown luger holster,well it was brown, bubba put black leather dye on the front,(back is still brown)is there any way to remove the black dye from the front?

[lugerholsterrepair]

Mauper, You can try carburator cleaner. Spray it on and it quickly takes it off. I have only used it on heavy stains that couldn't be touched any other way. I do not know the long term affects on leather but it appears to evaporate quickly with no damage. It smells terrible at first but the smell eventualy evaporates and goes away. Spray and wipe immediately.Have a brush handy for the thread. I would treat with Connoly's hide food after. I do not guarentee this or even recommend it. If it damages your holster you are SOL. Jerry Burney

[Thor]

Becareful, Tom Armstrong told me that some Miltary holsters were done this way by the Germans. (please dont shoot the messanger!) All I am saying is check with Tom first!

[Navy]

Luger leather is always interesting and presents riddles, wrapped in conundrums surrounded by mysteries.

Thor is quite correct and has a good memory. I would recommend reading Whittington, Volume III pages 8-10. Athough not explicitly so stating, one can reasonably infer from Whittington's work that commercially produced brown holsters were dyed black to be in comformity with regulations.

Having said that, exceptions certainly do exist. On page 255 and 256 of Bender's Luger holsters and accessories is 1916 dated 4" Imperial Navy holster. I am currently the owner/caretaker of this holster and it's pistol. The holster is black on the exterior and brown on the interior. Upon examining the area under the bucket strap, one can see areas that are plainly dark brown, indicating that the piece was dyed black after assembly.

I have encountered many, many dyed holsters over the years; a good many dating from W.W.I and earlier as well as Weimar and III Reich period pieces. The dye jobs have ranged from complete coverage, both inside and out to face and bucket to bucket or face only. These period dye jobs are relatively easy to spot as the dye tends to become blotchy with age and the brown beneath it appears almost cordovan in spots.

If the dye job is not period, done by boobus americanus, it will be pretty uniform in color and appearance and hard as hell to remove without doing damage to the leather.

I would not attempt removing the dye until I had gotten the expert hands on opinion of our in-house expert and former comrade in arms, Jerry Burney.

My zwei pfennigs,
Tom A.

[lugerholsterrepair]

My good friend and former comrade in arms Tom is correct in everything he says.I gave a direct but too quick answere. You really should take his advice and think about such a step before removing the dye. If it is still brown on the back it could be a period dye job. Really hard to say without careful inspection.

Another thing, no matter what you use it is rarely possible to remove the dye from the stitching as it has likely soaked into it. You will probably never restore this piece back to it's original color. Jerry Burney

[pisto]

Thats my knowledge too, I have read in a book that 1916(?) came out a military advice to turn holsters from brown colour into black. I have a very nice rig where You can see that. The 1916 holster is dyed black outside.
But what reason is for WWII holsters still being brown? Are tbhey for Police, Party leaders etc.?

[Ron Wood]

How many of you guys can remember the transition from the "Brown-shoe Army"? In basic training I was issued a pair of brown combat boots and a bottle of black dye. An inspection was scheduled for the next day (and spit-shines were expected). No sleep that night.

[Navy]

Roland,
The reason for brown holsters in W.W.II is as stated in the Whittington citation I provided.
Brown holsters were Officer personnel and Luftwaffe.Obviously since there were FAR fewer officers,and not nearly as many Luftwaffe, there would be far fewer brown holsters. Luftwaffe holsters are also identified by a distinctive Luftwaffe acceptance stamp as they were not procured through the Heeres Waffen Ampt.

Ron's memory of the transition to the black shoe Army is probably a good scenario of what happened in 1916 when der Kompanie chef sprache "Herr Feldwebel; alles pistolen tache macht schwartz!" or better German to that effect. :-)
Hope this helps,

Tom A.

[pisto]

Tom, I did read that belonging to the Luftwaffe, personnel on aircrafts don�´t carried any Lugers, because they have been to heavy. Lugers were carried only by parachutists and probably by the ground crew. Added a picture of my brown holster stamps...
So You mean that acceptance stamp is from the Luftwaffe?

[Edward Tinker]

Roland, I took the liberty of lightening the picture a bit, but can't help you with the markings,

ED

[Dwight Gruber]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by pisto:
<strong>
I did read that belonging to the Luftwaffe, personnel on aircrafts don�´t carried any Lugers, because they have been to heavy. Lugers were carried only by parachutists and probably by the ground crew...</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">FWIW, I just read in John Walters's "The Luger Story" that there are
instances of medium bomber and recon aircrews carrying P-08, documented when the planes were shot down and the pistols surrendered or retrieved. Apparently this practice was only practical in these larger aircraft.

--Dwight

[pisto]

Tom the Number of the stamp is WaA28 or WaA26.

[Navy]

Pisto,
Your holster is Army and a nice one at that.

P-08s aboard aircraft were generally only on transports or bombers; there simply wasn't enough room in a fighter cockpit for the pilot, his parachute, Mae west, maps, etc and a big P-08 rig. Consequently,fighter pilots carried smaller pistols. The most common was the FN 1910/22, followes by the Mauser hsc and the small Walthers.

Hope this helps,
Tom A.

[Aaron]

Wasn't the Hungarian Femaru one of the major Luftwaffe pistols?

[Navy]

Aaron,
Yes, the P-37 was used extensively by the Luftwaffe, particularly in North Africa. I have a couple of them with canvas and leather holsters that are Luftwaffe proofed and marked under the bucket"Nur fur P-37"

Tom A