The evolution of german fieldgear 1933-1945
Examples for learning - Misleading ads
Many items offered are fakes the seller tries to rip you off with. Others are dishonest people who, by accident ofcourse, forgot to mention some details about the item. Some sellers are honest people or dealers in other antiques that doesnt know better. Either way, it is a sad feeling when the item arrives and the item differs from the item made up in your mind.
Study the text and pictures. The text might not be related to all items offered in the package, Looking at pictures are not the same as holding the item in hand for inspection.
This is a P08 holster offered as original in nice condition together with a p08 Luger. In the ad it says the Luger has been in one owners posession since the war as the house was occupied by the germans. Study the pictures not the ad. This holster has been modified to us-belt and used by the army postwar. It has been remodified to belt loops later on. Has the army borrowed the holster, modified it and returned it to the owner remodified after use? Probably not. The seller states the gun has been in one owner, but not anywhere it is mentioned the holster has had the same story. ANother fact that is useful is that the P08 holsters werent marked "P08" on the leather until the Walther P38 was accepted. If you have a nice 1936 holster marked p08 in the leather it is certainly a fake one.
Another example of "original, hard to upgrade" german holster from ww2 for the vz38. It has no markings and the belt loops are clearly of a different kind of leather than the holster. Some of these were worn down, but not in this way. It might be argued of late war maniufacture with "occupied material"- The german material might have declined at the end, but the craftmanship never did. As its not marked and has oddities its a no go when priced as a marked unmodified one.
Another example of modified object to raise the value of the item and misleading ad. This is a "original, excellent condition, hard to upgrade" P38 holster. Look at the marks between the belt loops and the colour of the loops. The seller do not post a picture of the inside of the holster. Many holster were used after the war. Before use they were converted to US belthooks (see picture below). Many of these are beeing "reconverted" to fetch a higher price. A us holster for the P38 is around 50 euro, a non modified is around 300 euro. On this holster the old holes has clearly been filled trying to conceal the damage from conversion to Us hooks.. Always ask for a picture of the inside of the Holster. It is harder to conceal the marks from the US-belthooks there. Be aware, though the rivets are big, the pin trough the leather is very tiny. It is very hard to spot the holes from the us-conversion. Found a P08 holster for sale (honest seller saying it was remodified). The leather straps was the same color and condition as the holster. The only giveaway was tiny spots inside the holster so be aware when considering a holster.
Left is a holster for the Walther P38 converted for us Belthooks after the war. All the conversions are similar, but might be placed different pending on the type of holster. These are beeing "reconverted". Sometimes to use them on the display, other times to sell them as unmodified to fetch a higher price. An interesting fact about p38 holster are that they can be seen with closing flap the other way with closing on the flap. This is a police model of the holster.