Pictured is an early 1900s German photograph in the form of an original black and white, unused post card depicting a German version of an American old west cowboy in full western regalia, except not with an American West “Six-Shooter”, but with a German Luger, specifically a P.08, with a title of “Texas Patty^[1], Mexikan. Meisterscharfschütze” or “Master Sharpshooter”.  The mixed metaphor of Texas Patty and Mexican is curious, as the Germans were, apparently, not quite sure what constituted a cowboy. Interestingly, there are many photographic examples of Mexicans and Lugers.

At the turn of the 20^th century in America, with Rodeo being the only real sport of the time, Wild West shows were very prevalent as were the circuses of the time, where sharpshooters and sports shooting was the largest sport of the time in our country - before Baseball, Football, Basketball, etc.

Also, at the turn of the 20^th century, Germany and America were on good terms and the Germans were fascinated with the American old west, especially cowboys, glamorized by the likes of the early Bill Hart and Tom Mix silent movie stars. This fascination carried on up to WWI in the international Luger collecting fraternity, where German collectors were in competition with Americans for old west collectibles; a perfect example are American made holsters for German Lugers.

H.H. Heiser of Denver, Colorado, a famous out west holster maker, featured on the front cover of one of their early 1920s catalogs, a pint-sized cowboy shooting at a rooster and on the rear cover, pictured with a poster of Bill Hart (1864-1946), early silent movie American cowboy star, most likely familiar to the turn-of-the-century German public.

The Holsters

This article is a compilation of mostly American made commercial holsters for the Luger of various barrel lengths that cover the entire manufacturing range of the Luger from 1899 to 1945 and beyond into modern times. Many of the examples pictured herein can be identified by their markings, while others, without markings, are very difficult to identify, some possibly not American made. Many are made by the major American holster makers, including H.H. Heiser, George W. Lawrence, Colorado Saddlery and other lesser-known American holster makers and many, heretofore unknown American holster makers.

There are literally hundreds of American holster makers for the Luger, of which this article (book) represents but only a fraction of holster makers and variations. Listed are but a few of the many leather makers identified by state featured in this article: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia.

As much information that is available on any example will be documented and described. If no information is available, which, is the case in many examples, they will simply be pictured. The decision to start this article was based on the fact, simply, that the current holsters in the collection were considered to be of sufficient representation. However, as new information is discovered and new holsters are acquired they will be added, along with corrections, which is the advantage of a virtual document over a printed publication. 

Commercial Luger holsters from the pre-WWI era are a scarce commodity, especially of American manufacture and acutely rare for short barrel Lugers, namely the very few produced, circa 1902 Fat Barrel Lugers and the 1906 new model grip safety and P.08 style 9mm Lugers, including the circa 1913-14 commercial 9mm Luger. Pictured are numerous such holster examples.

It is only fitting to start this holster collage with a very rare, one-of-a-kind, custom made commercial holster for the predecessor of the Luger, the Model 1893 C93 Borchardt pistol, first made by Ludwig Loewe & Company and later by DWM. The unique holster is a custom made private purchase, circa: 1893 – 1900 aftermarket open top closed toe belt loop commercial holster for the Model 1893 C93 Borchardt pistol.

The commercially offered 1893 Loewe and DWM Model C93 Borchardt pistol was mostly sold as part of a custom made case, accompanied with several accessories, including an attaching board-stock with an attached, black died leather sheath type holster. The frail, thin leather used in the making of these C93 Borchardt pistol board-stock holsters, now well over a hundred years old did not survive well: pictured is one rare example that did.

Through the years a few C93 Borchardt pistols have been separated from their cases and sold without the board-stock holster, occasionally requiring a need for an alternate, simpler belt loop type holster, such as the subject early 20th century, custom made example pictured with an original, American manufacture, 50 round box of C93 Borchardt pistol ammunition.2) Pictured are four views of the subject C93 Borchardt commercial holster and another view of the original board-stock holster with inserted C93 Borchardt pistol compared with subject C93 commercial holster with inserted C93 Borchardt pistol.

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^[1] Tom Mix (1880 – 1940) is a “Dead Ringer” for Texas Patty, Mexikan. Meisterscharfschütze or Mexican. Master Sharpshooter, pictured in a circa 1910 German postcard with an over-the-top cowboy outfit, substituting a P.08 German Luger for a six-shooter. The German posing as “Texas Patty”, an unusual name, was probably picked for this, possibly promotional picture because he looked a lot like Tom Mix.