How did vintage plain clothes detectives carry their sidearms?

[eastbank]

my older md 10 S&W held its own against a victory md S&W with the same shells, i use a iwb with the model 10 and the victor model in a GI surpluse shoulder holster.

 

[sgt127]

I am most familiar with Dallas PD in the late 70’s. The vast majority of Officers carried a 5 shot 36 off duty. A model 60 if you were lucky and got to the Police supply first when a shipment came in.

Usually carried in a suede inside the waistband holster at about 4:00. Sometimes, clipped into a cowboy boot (Dallas was big on the whole cowboy and rodeo thing back then)

Another common method was just to stick the gun inside your waistband at about 11:00. Under the shirt and leave the snap of the western shirt undone at your navel so you could reach in to draw.

Same gun for detectives. Usually the suede holster at 4:00. A smattering of shoulder holsters. A few Bianchi thumb break outside the waistband.

Early 80’s at my agency in DFW, little flat autos were popular. Colt Government Model .380’s when they came out. Some Walthers. But many still carried the 5 shot Chief. Usually just stuck in the waistband around 4:00.

 

[jmorris]

View attachment 1189981
Shoulder holsters?

But it took him decades to be so cool he needed two pairs of shades..

Airplane! (1980) - Rex Kramer Double Sunglasses Scene

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/

www.youtube.com

 

[lightman]

The few that I knew carried their 5 shot 38's in a belt holster like those pictured above. The ones that carried 6 shot revolvers like the "K" frame Smiths mostly used shoulder holsters.

 

[Speedo66]

Another item that destroyed jacket linings, besides hammers, was the spring steel retaining clip that went over your belt on inside waistband holsters.

As a lefty, I wore mine at the 8 o’clock position, which, if I took my jacket off, also chewed up auto upholstery over time.

Eventually, I changed to one that had your belt go through a leather loop with snaps.

 

[kevincallahan]

1982-1985, carried a 19 2.5 k frame in a pancake holster or my model 36. Went to a Colt government model in 1985. In Texas it was pretty much belt holsters strong side. Knew only one guy used crossdraw and virtually no one used a shoulder holster

 

[JERRY]

The plain clothes and detectives I knew as a kid in the 70s and 80s from Cleveland PD carried a model 36, some opted for a 2" model 64. I was a kid so I really didn't care about the holsters but most of them wore it on the belt.

 

[Jim Watson]