Opinions on USMC Holster

[browningautorifle]

Yes, that's what I thought. There are many repros out there and the real one's I've seen have inspector's marks on the back of the belt loop. Lots of examples to be found on line. It's a beauty, but I wouldn't buy it as a pristine example because of no marking...apparently the thread is the giveaway. You'd need to examine a couple side by side to be sure.

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[Richard Turner]

browningautorifle is correct, the thread and stitiching is a dead giveaway. The originals toe plug were machine stitched, not hand stitched as the one pictured by the OP. Also, the stitching at the throat and the belt loop is incorrect. It should be the same pitch (stitches per inch) as the main welt or seam. You can see that the size/thickness of the thread varies from the welt, when compared to the belt loop and toe plug. The belt loop should be machine stitched, but the one pictured was hand stitched.

From Scott Meadows book "U.S. Military Holsters and Pistol Cartridge Boxes", Page 362, it states that the USMC ordered 600 M1909 USMC embossed holsters from Rock Island Arsenal on 09 August 1909. There are two distinctively different styles of embossing and not all were RIA marked, indicating that more than one manufacturer was involved. There should also be two brass eyelets or grommets on the back of the belt loop to attach an elk skin thong, for the purpose of attaching/tying the holster to the cartridge belt to keep the holster in position so as not to slide on the belt.

Since 1,200 USMC M1909 Revolvers were purchased, Meadows assumed that the remainder of the revolvers were issued with the Mills woven canvas holsters.

I wish he would have photographed the back/belt loop side of the holster, but there are only two front view photos, showing the difference between the two styles of embossing.

I would think that since only 600 were known to have been manufactured or contracted by RIA, that an original in any condition would be rather expensive.

Richard