re; dating luger holsters

[Jon]

hi guys , i have an old black german luger holster marked P.08 on the back on the right and bdq.41, eagle and WAa170 on the left. does the 41 in bdq.41 stand for 1941. please post responses. thank-you jon

Yes, the 41 stands for 1941.

The bdq stands for Ehrhardt u. Kirsten, Koffer- u. Lederwarenfabrik, Leipzig.

Amazingly enough, you seem to have the same maker and year holster as Rob...posted farther down the list.

[Jon]

hi hannah,i guess the holsters are twins.so if the holster is dated 1941. the luger that came with the holster is dated 1938 , is this a field replacement or a mismatch?.please post a reply .thank-you very much. jon

[Joe]

The holster could be a field replacement, as the new Lugers were usually issued with new holsters that were manufacturered the same year. Luger issued early in the production year might be married to a left over from last years holster supply and the same is also possible with late year issue, might have next years holster. Yours is 3 years off so that holster is not the orginial to that Luger.

For all we know the change in holsters could have been made by the capturing GI, as the 1938 one might have been in better condition, or there was no holster when he picked up the 1941 Luger and later obtained the older holster. I purchased a matched 1941 Luger from a GI who had the supporting capture papers, with the serial number, yet it was in a 1935 dated holster.

All of my Lugers are in holsters that have the same date as the gun, but in most cases I made the "correction".

[G.T.]

I may have posted this before, but here goe's again.....when I first started collecting, I seldom found pistols matched with the presumed correct holsters.....in fact, I seldom found pistols in the holsters that were designed for them, examples to include...Lugers in P.38 holsters, P.38's in luger holsters, both in soft shell high power holsters, and a little bit of all in radom holsters! Some of the best condition pistols I was able to collect were in early hardshell P.38 holsters...some of the worst, in modified french revolver holsters!.....correct is a state of mind! But, I like to match them up also....so I'll through no stones on this one! till....later...G.T.

Joe hit it right on the nose, I think.

Either a field replacement, or a GI swap.

[William Reese]

I'm about to get my second Luger this week (very excited), A DWM 1916 and I need a good holster for it. I currently have a G.J.Ensink & Co.,Ohrdruf 1917 replica holster for my first Luger. It is very well built and I would like to get another one like it but dated 1916 for my 1916 DWM. Does anyone know where I can get one or if they still make them?

Thanks! William

Jon, The "correction" that you've made to your luger collection by mating up the same date holster as the manufacturing date of your lugers, has been going on ever since there have been luger collectors. Perhaps, this is why you think that they were issued that way. NOT! The holsters were issued thru the clothing depots, not by the pistol manufacturers, who shipped the pistols in large crates to various Ordnance facilities, for further distribution. A soldier who was authorized to carry a pistol, quite likely would be issued a used WW1 holster with a new production PO8 or vise versa. If he was transfered or went on leave, these item were reissued to someone else. Tom h.

[Marvin]

Jon,


I agree with what Tom stated 100%! The holsters were shipped from their factory to a major Distribution Center, and from there they were shipped to the various lower level centers until they reached the field centers. Most of the items were mixed at these various centers and the FILO (First in Last Out) system was used. This is why you sometimes see an earlier WWII holster in mint condition as had been in one of the dist. centers and never issued.


During a war, equipment was needed and issued probably as quick as it arrived, so there are no hard an fast rules to go by. The holster was a more or less expendable item and I feel sure the soldier was issued whatever was on the shelf at the time. I also feel that soldiers that were KIA, or wounded had their pistols/holster reissued to someone else ASAP as Tom had stated.


Now, what I try to do, is match up a holster that is the same year, one year earlier or later to have a complete rig, but this is not always the case. Just my opinion.


Marvin

[Jon]

i see . as a grand fan we match parts and the stock to receiver to restore the gun, here we try to match the luger with the magazines and the holster. sounds like the hunt for the parts is half the fun. thank-you very much. jon


ps, i'll be back. take care all