Remove leather dye

Navy · 04-12-2003, 04:49 PM

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.

04-12-2003, 04:49 PM	#4
Navy RIP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Dc 'burbs in Virginia Posts: 2,482 Thanks: 0 Thanked 16 Times in 10 Posts	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.