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I'm not sure you could. This is not a normal snap. I've never seen anything like them before. When I get it, I'll post some better photos. The male portion is serrated in a star like shape. This evidently is what goes bad with them, they separate from the leather.
The seller did have a photo I missed:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../bWqDhOw-1.jpg
Holster came today. I don't think I can really improve on the photos, I do see where the back is marked AF which is where the Portuguese connection comes in.
New question. This black paint is undesirable to me, anyone ever try to take it off? I use citristrip on wood, not sure how it would work on leather. I've seen hot water soaking, mild soap, sugar soap and acetone as a last resort. It is flaking off in some areas and the leather looks fine underneath. I don't want to ruin it of course but I only have $15 into it also. It's brown underneath. The black doesn't bother me but it's high gloss black.
I took the plunge and started removing the paint. This is going to be a long ordeal. I used two coatings of citristrip and that removed maybe half of it. Not sure what the problem is but it either took it off or it didn't. Maybe the amount I put on is the key, heavier amounts dissolving it better. After that, I tried scraping it off and that works but is slow going. I have it maybe half complete now. Leather is OK underneath but where there is a crack in the paint, the leather is also cracked. It is still pliable. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be much happier with it when it's done. I did not like that high gloss paint. It was brown originally but may have been dyed black at some point, I can't tell for sure. I'll probably have to dye it something to make it consistent in color.
I have about 98% of the paint off and getting time to start thinking about the next step. Leather is not my area of expertise. These can obviously be brown or black with brown being the original color, black probably postwar police use.
So what to do with it? Just seal it with a leather conditioner as is, dye it brown or dye it black. Not trying to create perfection, it's a 100 year old holster. My preference would be brown which it sort of is now but it's blotchy.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../iB1KUJA-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../417kH5y-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../u09RG2G-1.jpg
I'm with you on the preference for brown. Wonder how much some neatsfoot oil would darken the lighter spots. Maybe enough to lessen the contrast with the more blackened bits?
Any kind of oil will darken it. It'll be almost black after. Why not use Fiebing's leather die to get your color once you have it stripped to what you want? I think it's still full of paint.