Old and Retired but my Designs Can Still Attract a Bit of Attention :-)

An FOH (Friend of Holstory) was kind enough to send along this (very) small mention of my work, in the most recent American Handgunner.

It's in horsehide and was under the Berns-Martin brand, for editor Roy Huntington back in the day. It's far more than a styling exercise in the 'pancake' milieu; it is constructed very uniquely and has a cylinder recess inside its backside and a stress-relieving slit in its outer, for the cylinder face.

Made in two colors, originally for Roy's Kimbers, then the flavor of the month vs the Taurus this time. These two are his pics; no guns here:

Details of the model "North by Northwest's" construction. It was the ultimate in 'asymmetrical' pancake construction. Horsehide itself has no equal for gunleather and below one can spot the slit at the face of the cylinder:

Other fitments and features follow. No lining required: horsehide is as smooth on the inside as it is on the outside and releases the pistol accordingly.

That sewing showing on the backside at the guard? "Twister" that forces the asymmetrical revolver to lay flat instead of with the grip pushed outwards under the clothing. The 'wing' is part-n-parcel with it. Must've been a prototype, it's not marked:

These with the ostrich leg trim have the slit at the cylinder face concealed by the trim's edge.

All my designs, then and now, were engineered to use common parts; here, only the holster body varied depending on the pistol. Otherwise the slotted panel that overlays the cylinder recess, and the 'trailing slot' extension that completes the carry system is/was the same for all sizes; the letter is inserted into the seam to allow it to be made of a thicker, stouter horsehide than the body. In the case of holsters I found that 3mm and slightly under in thickness is/was ideal for the body, 4mm and thicker is/was ideal for the carry panels and for 'twisters' that underlay the trigger guards (extra layer at upper left in image below):

I've said before that a hundred years from now, someone wanting to duplicate the performance of my horsehide holsters from my Berns-Martin years would never be able to succeed; no horsehide available, not knowing how to heat treat it if it were, thinking they're 'improving' it be leaving out the non-obvious features. Thanks to the likes of AOC there might not be any cowhide leather at all, either: no meat available, and hides are taken only as a byproduct of the meat packing industry.

Read more in my book titled "Holstory -- Gunleather of the Twentieth Century -- the Second Edition" that is available at www.holstory.com and printed for you/shipped to you in USA.