CMR holster critique\ way long!

[lugerholsterrepair]

To one and all I wanted to give you a critique of a CMR holster that was sent to me for conversion by Luke Smithwick. I have never previously seen one of these holsters made by this company and since they have been praised on this Forum and the previous one I thought I would give you all my professional opinion.

To start off, this will not be a "Flame" but rather I would like to point out some rather obvious defeciencies in the construction by this Co.

The holster sent to me by Luke was supposed to represent an Imperial German Navy type 1. He wanted to convert it to a Type 2 and since CMR does not make this model he contacted me for the conversion.

The first impression I had was, not bad. But as they say, the devil is in the details.

1. The holster was made too short and my 1917 Navy pistol would not fit into the holster far enough to close and snap the top shut. Even though the barell was to the end of the holster. Luke tells me his wouldn't either.

2. The top and ears of the cleaning rod pouch were exceedingly small. They were not only way too small but located in the wrong place on the top flap and uneven to each other. They were also only sort of machine stitched on, not at all like they should be.

3.The stock block was not stitched properly according to the German way of doing things and the most obvious fault is it was double stitched at the sides where the Germans used only one line of stitching. Also the stitching did not go through both the back leather and the inside lining as it does on originals. There is no attempt to replicate German stitching methods or tieoffs. Another thing on this subject which really bothered me ,is the use of cotton thread. This is a very poor choice as cotton thread is much weaker than linen and frays and in general looks bad. It will not hold up nearly as well as linen.

4. The cleaning rod sleeve was placed at least a half inch too low. This misplaces where the ears and top flap should meet the cleaning rod.

5. The brass closure stud on the front and the stud on the tool pocket in the top flap were hand hammered on as they should be. I was somewhat surprised at that. The inside leather lining on the back of the closure stud should be round and was not. It looked as though someone picked up a scrap off the floor and stuck it on.

6. The body of the holster was well formed even if it was too short. The top flap was well made except they hacked out the closure hole. The leather the holster is made out of seems to be fairly standard, high quality. The finish is shiney and would be good except it is dyed a cordovan or odd tan. Navy holsters were only black, with black linen thread.


7.Last but certainly not least is the Pull-up strap. I cannot remember ever seeing one this amaturish. The knot was formed by a child. I make these myself , of course when a holster needs one and yes they can be difficult to make properly. This wasn't even an attempt to replicate this important part of a Luger holster.


All in all, I would not personally buy one of these holsters. They are just not well made enough to warrent any money at all. Yes, they are cheap; enexpensive too. But if this is the best on today's reproduction market it is a sad indicator of exactly how far we have sunk in quality manufacturing since the turn of the century.
I believe this company could make a good replication of an Imperial German Navy holster that would be worth having if they would research what a real one looked like and pay close attention to the small details. That is what makes a great deal of difference in holster building or repair. While I realize it would take more time and money to do this it would be worth the small effort it takes to make a quality product.

What really bothers me about this is the impression it makes on new collectors in the Luger field. I would hate to think that anyone who recieves this holster would believe this is the way they are supposed to be. I have no problem with reproduction products as long as they are faithful to the original and I am sad to say the one CMR holster I was able to observe fell way below any reasonable standard that one could expect. Jerry Burney

[Luke]

Received my (originally brown) CMR Navy holster back from Jerry today with the Type1 - Type2 and other modifications and a new black finish.

Jerry really did a superb job, and the "new" holster is beautiful . . . . and it looks authentic.

We are very fortunate to have craftsmen like Jerry on the Forum. [img]smile.gif[/img]