Holster for old Colt

If you have a leather store within an easy drive, ask them which of their employees or customers make reliable holsters. A custom holster for your love’s special revolver...lots of points towards marital happiness.

That trigger guard looks a bit big to fit a good quality J frame holster. It could be the angle of the pic though.

herrwalther said:

Despite my attempts to dissuade, my wife wants to carry her grandmother's old Colt Police Positive as a daily carry firearm. This is the 38 S&W (not Special) version. One issue is the barrel has been cut from the factory 4 or 6 inches to 2 inches. She is leaning toward an OWB leather holster, with a thumb break.

Are there any holsters designed for modern revolver that would fit? I am thinking it should fit into holsters for a J frame but want to be sure. Revolvers just are not my wheel house.

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Maybe a 2 inch k frame holster? Can't be much larger than my 66, I know colt ran them bigger than smith if I'm correct

Check out the holsters from Hunter
https://www.huntercompany.com/

The PP is a Colt D frame

Larger than the SW J frame and smaller that the SW K frame

Find a new or used holster that is made specifically for the Colt D frame

Since your barrel is cut to 2”, then any holster made for the 2” Detective Special should work ok

There are plenty of holsters still being made for the DS

Howdy

Not too many years ago you could go into any good sized gun shop and they usually had a box of used holsters you could poke through until you found something to fit a particular pistol.

Which is exactly what I did a bunch of years ago for this 4" Colt Police Positive Special.






This is a Hunter holster. It fits the old Police Positive Special like a glove, and it is a perfect fit for its 4" barrel. Yeah, it has some stains on it now, and there is some green verdigris eating through the nickel plating on the brass snaps. I have no idea what this holster looked like when I bought it, it was a long time ago.






Anyway, it is one of their 1100 series holsters. This one happens to be a 1100P 17. Notice the trade mark word hunter stamped inside a powder horn.






I just checked Hunter's website, and this specific model is not listed, but they make lots of 1100 holsters that will fit lots of different guns. Yes, The Police Positive Special has a frame and cylinder slightly longer than your wife's grandmother's Police Positive, but not that much longer.

Hunter does not list any holsters for a Police Positive or a Police Positive Special today as far as I can see. Probably because those guns have not been made for a long time. But the Colt Detective Special uses the exact same frame and cylinder as the Colt Police Positive Special did. Even though the cylinder is longer, it is the same diameter. They list the 1100 size 7 as a good fit for a Detective Special, which if I recall correctly usually had a 2" barrel. At least my old Detective Special from 1934 has a 2" barrel. I'll bet even though the Police Positive Special frame and cylinder are slightly longer than the Police Positive, that would be a pretty good holster for that old Police Positive.


https://www.huntercompany.com/products/holsters-1100-series-sizes-3-48

As Maia007 suggested I would also look for a holster that was made for a Colt D frame like the Detective Special, Agent, or Cobra.

herrwalther said:

Most were also made in 38 Special. Would the different cylinder sizes make a difference at all? The Special is a bit longer.

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Yes, the Police Positive's frame is a tad bit shorter than the Police Positive Special or Detective Special. But I don't think it will make a difference. Likewise, the slight difference in cylinder dimensions shouldn't make a difference either. It might if it were the other way around...trying to fit a slightly longer frame into a holster made for a shorter frame.

My objective was to steer you away from the Smith J and K frames, because those fits will not do even if a holster you find for those is simply a generic scabbard and not actually built or molded to fit the gun well. Holsters for the J/K frames are common enough in stores where it should be easy enough to try the fit in find out for yourself.

I went to eBay and found a number of generic looking Detective Special holsters with thumb breaks at various price ranges including inexpensive ones in leather. Some of these might do well enough for cheap. Many of the older designs with top straps, like the the Hunter for example, are merely leather envelopes that do not exhibit the higher degree of fit that many of the more modern holsters do. That said, your gun will go into those made for the DS and they will work if you find one that gives a half way decent degree of tight-enough fit. But I really doubt that you will find a mass produced holster made today that is specifically made for your PP. So if you want to go the mass produced route, find something you like made for a DS that is not highly molded and or made of too-stiff leather.

Given that the PP was dropped from the Colt line just after WW2, it will be difficult to find a maker that will have a mold to make a custom fit for the Police Positive. There is just no demand for them. The one exception that occurred to me might be Lefty Lewis. Among his designs are some old school ones by the legendary Chic Gaylord, as well as many of his own.

I went to Lewis's site to see if he makes holsters for the Police Positive (and not just for the PP Special or the DS) and it states that he does. So you could get one from him that should fit very well for around $100, which is reasonable for a custom build holster of quality. If it were me, that's what I would do if I were serious about carrying your particular firearm in a well fittied holster. Such a holster would not necessarily need a thumb break or an over-strap to provide good, safe retention.

https://www.bellcharteroakholsters.com

Go here to find out if yours is a first or second issue.

http://www.coltfever.com/Police_Positive.html

Personally, I think you're a lucky man just to have a wife enough into guns to want to carry one.

Nice looking gun, by the way.

Good luck with your holster search!

Interesting, I've never heard of a pistol sawed off to a snubbie length barrel.

I owned a Police Positive in 4 inch, and it was made for 38 S&W caliber. Not the easiest ammo to find NIB at the store.

Are you looking for an OWB, or what type?

You want a holster for a Colt Detective special . There are many on ebay Here is the one I'd buy if I were you, I am sure it will fit nicely and that hammer strap is sure , if hammer not bobbed, protective from snags and fast . Holter design is compact and that vintage Bucheimer leather is very nicely made

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bucheimer-...068777?hash=item421751a769:g:zDEAAOSw8nFepLH2

Here is an old Bianchi of same

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIANCHI-CO...332084?hash=item23d5f31174:g:-2QAAOSw-m1eqcFM

Nice old shooter like that deserves a nice holster.

Take a look around El Paso Saddlery. They have some nice stuff.

https://epsaddlery.com/product/2-thumbreak-2-to-5-12-barrels/

AK103K said:

Nice old shooter like that deserves a nice holster.

Take a look around El Paso Saddlery. They have some nice stuff.

https://epsaddlery.com/product/2-thumbreak-2-to-5-12-barrels/

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The El Paso model is quite classy, especially those with pigskin lining and some basketweave tooling. I own three of these and use them for field carry. One potential downside is the exposed trigger. I don't mind it, but others might. You might check out their Threepersons style if you like the classic look.

A disadvantage with some of the older designs (such as those by Hunter, Heiser, Lawrence, Bucheimer, Brauer, Eubanks and others) is that the butt sticks out a little too far from the body and inhibits concealment. Some are worse than others, depending on the specific model and the frame size of the gun. Many of these also ride very low, and require a rather long outer garment for effective concealment. Back in that day, this downside was not a problem for civilian field use or use by police. And as the classic designs continued to evolve, some of them got better in this regard.

In that time, concealed carry for the ordinary citizen was rare. Today's citizen carriers usually demand better concealment attributes.

I find the El Paso does a better job in this regard as do some of the older Bianchi's.

Howdy Again

El Paso makes very high quality holsters. I had a couple made for some antique single action revolvers. I wanted them a little bit fancy, so they have border stamping on them. Also, they are lined. The lining is soft calf skin, so it will not wear the finish as much as an unlined holster will. This is what is called a Slim Jim.









One of the nice things about El Paso is your holster is customized to your requirements. Go through the options. You chose Barrel length, Left or Right, Color, whether the holster hangs straight (neutral), cross draw, or has forward cant or backwards cant, several options of carving or stamping if you want, and belt width. This last is great, because my CASS gunbelt is very wide, and I was able to make sure the holsters would fit over the belt.

Also, I notice they list both Police Positive AND Detective Special under some of the styles they can make for Colts. It would be worth a call or an email to find out if they mean Police Positive or Police Positive Special. They have been making holsters for quite a while, and if they don't have a dummy gun to use to make a holster, I would not be a bit surprised if they had some old real revolvers they could use as molds.

Again, I highly recommend El Paso Saddlery.