45 cal

I have been giver my father's service .45 from WW2 and was wondering what I should use to restore the life to the holster , I have included a few photo's.

You can get comercial leather conditioner or nuetral shoe polish in the can. I wouldn't try and re-dye the holster to preserve the patina. The holster looks like it's in decent shape. Before you do anything, test whatever you're using on some other leather. You'll want something with a nuetral effect on the holster patina. In the end....a nice warm paste wax might do the trick with light hand buffing. The leather guys should know more.

Rudy

First of all you might want to reconsider if you really want to do anything to it. It might influence the collector's value. If you still want to do something I second Rudy's advice that you do nothing that changes the patina on it. That holster is full of good honest wear that makes it desirable. I would chose a neutral way, maybe something like Renaissance Wax.

Doug

If you want to give the leather new life without changing the historical value use Aussie to preserve it. On the other hand if you want to clean it up you could clean the leather with fresh lemon juice. Use some Aussie leather conditioner and weather proofing on it. Get some leather dye, cut it 1:1 with dye thinner, apply evenly. Buff it and apply some more Aussie.

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/product/aussie-leather-conditioner-15-oz-2199-00.aspx

Test everything on the backside of the holster in a small area first.

TacticallySharp said:

If you want to give the leather new life without changing the historical value use Aussie to preserve it. On the other hand if you want to clean it up you could clean the leather with fresh lemon juice. Use some Aussie leather conditioner and weather proofing on it. Get some leather dye, cut it 1:1 with dye thinner, apply evenly. Buff it and apply some more Aussie.

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/product/aussie-leather-conditioner-15-oz-2199-00.aspx

Test everything on the backside of the holster in a small area first.

Click to expand...

I find this lemon juice thing very interesting! The lemon juice cleans the leather??

How does one go about the process?

Do you need to neutralize after using it??

45 cal.
The leather on the holster appears in good condition for its age but unless you are planning on getting rid of it, you will need to preserve the leather as old leather will look great and then you start to move it and it begins to fall apart.

Mink oil is a good conditioner for leather. I would not store the 1911 in the sheath irregardless, same thing I recommend for my sheaths and knives!

Very fine piece of history and family heirloom.
Though the holster looks usable, you may want to pickup another one in better shape to keep for later as the originals will continue to go up in value.
There were several MFGers of these and some were reissued from WWI.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=WWII+US+1911+45+Holster

You want the tan color. Black didn't happen until the Vietnam era. many were dyed too.

The MFG and date will be in the middle section were the web belt hook is. I would suggest you get a web belt to complete the package and if you do buy another holster, there are many WWI -II "replicas" out there because the originals have gotten valuable.

As C. Craft mentioned. Do not store the pistol in the holster or wrap it in a rag or anything, that can draw moisture and rust the weapon.

Keep it oiled on a shelf in a gun safe preferable.

Thanks for all the help , the holster was produced in 1942 per the date on the back , the leather seems to have some suppleness left in it ,I think I will leave it alone and stored in my gun safe along side the 45. the safe is climate controlled , no global climate change!

I would call the master (Paul Long) and get his advice. He has been working with leather longer than most of us have been alive. He's also a nice guy and doesn't mind sharing what he's learned.

What brand is the 45?

Remington M 1911 A1