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ca. 1875-1880 SINGLE LOOP BROWN LEATHER HALF SKIRT
HOLSTER AND CARTRIDGE BELT – FOR A LARGE FRAME SINGLE
ACTION REVOLVER 7 ½” BARREL LENGTH – BELT WITH .44
CALIBER LOOPS – AN EXCELLENT EARLY MATCHED SET:
This is a very attractive matching set consisting of a
classic single loop holster designed for a large frame
single action revolver such as the Colt Single Action
with a 7 ½” barrel, mated with a matching leather looped
cartridge belt. This holster and belt obviously saw
regular use during its service life, worn by a man who
felt the need to keep his revolver close at hand on a
daily basis.
More than long enough to fit a Colt Single Action with a
7 ½” barrel, this is very well made quality holster.
The pouch is secured with a single wide loop in a
truncated half length skirt - a characteristic believed
by some students of early civilian gun leather to
indicate an early manufacture and to have been a common
feature incorporated by Texas makers.
There is a fine line of decorative stamping along the
throat, down the seam, and on the edges of the skirt and
loop. The leather surface retains a bright, clear,
shiny surface - smooth with no crazing or flaking.
There is some minor stressing on the pouch face from the
leather being stretched over the end of the pistol’s
extractor housing, and some stretching to the left side
of the loop where it molded around the cylinder. The
toe of the pouch is worn through on the reverse side,
and from all appearances, the holster continued in use
long after the muzzle of the revolver wore through the
leather – apparently something that didn’t concern the
owner. The leather is supple and holds its shape with
no other weaknesses. The seam is fully intact down to
the rounded toe with no loss of stitching above the
aforementioned wear. The holster measures 11 ½” OAL and
5” OAW. The belt loop formed by the skirt easily
accepts the matching 1 ¾” wide belt, but is wide enough
to easily accept a belt up to 3 ¼” wide.
The looped cartridge belt is constructed of a single
piece of skirting weight leather, measuring 35 ½” long
and 1 ¾” wide, with an additional 8 ½” of the billet
extending beyond the end of the belt body. This narrow
width is indicative of an earlier date of manufacture,
certainly contemporary to the holster. As with the
holster, the leather surfaces of the belt retain a
bright, clear, shiny surface - smooth with no crazing or
flaking. The belt features 35, .44-.45 caliber
cartridge loops. Six of the loops are split or worn
away, as can be seen in the photographs below – the
damaged loops concentrated at the ends of the loop strip
where the holster and perhaps a knife sheath would have
worn against them. The remainder of the loops are full
form and intact with no wear to the top or bottom edges,
no tearing, and the stitching is intact between the
loops. The nickel plated buckle is secure in its
stitched billet. The buckle billet is stamped “4R”,
likely the maker’s model number, and “44C”, indicating
the caliber. For what its worth, the damage to the
cartridge loops may be the result of them being sized to
accept a .44 caliber cartridge, but the original owner
carried a .45 caliber pistol and cartridges. As noted
above, many of the loops will now accept a .45 caliber
cartridge. When new, the loops would have stretched to
accommodate the larger cartridge, but over time and with
age, the stressed leather split wherever there was a
weak point.
This holster and cartridge belt present as a matched set
made to carry a large frame revolver and the large
caliber pistol cartridges, and showing enough age and
evidence of use to indicate that it was worn regularly
during the period by a man who had a need for such a
rig. The obvious signs of wear and age combine to
present this set with a genuine western flavor and a
very pleasing appearance.
Matching leather cartridge belt and holster sets from
this early period are anything but common, and those
which were intended to carry the larger framed, full
length barreled, heavy caliber revolvers are so much in
demand by modern collectors that they simply do not
appear on the market very often. Think long and hard
before you pass on this opportunity. (0907) $1850
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