mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-A while back I picked up a nice Type 26 revolver and of course had to find the correct holster for it. This started an unexpected trip down the rabbit hole as I discovered that the Japanese closely copied their design from the French 1873 and 1895 holsters. All too often when you see a listing for a Japanese T26 holster it's really a French 1895 and vice versa as sellers don't know how to ID them.
-Fast forward to today. I already have a both French 1873 and Japanese T26 holsters but just managed to acquire a French 1895. Upon arrival I pulled all three out and snapped some photos to show unique features to act as a guide when you run across one.
-The big difference between all three is found in the ammo pouch. The French 1873 has 6 loops for rounds while the Japanese T26 has 8 and the French 1895 has 3. The 1895 had ammo packed in 6 round bundles which explains the 3 large ammo loops.
-Otherwise it's really hard to tell the 1895 and T26 apart. The only other distinct tell will be ink stamps in the shell liner. And all too often time has removed them, esp. on the T26 which had a tiny stamp.
-Fast forward to today. I already have a both French 1873 and Japanese T26 holsters but just managed to acquire a French 1895. Upon arrival I pulled all three out and snapped some photos to show unique features to act as a guide when you run across one.
-The big difference between all three is found in the ammo pouch. The French 1873 has 6 loops for rounds while the Japanese T26 has 8 and the French 1895 has 3. The 1895 had ammo packed in 6 round bundles which explains the 3 large ammo loops.
-Otherwise it's really hard to tell the 1895 and T26 apart. The only other distinct tell will be ink stamps in the shell liner. And all too often time has removed them, esp. on the T26 which had a tiny stamp.