According to what I have read the holsters were made to carry the .32 caliber model 1907's sold to France & Portugal during WWI. There is a mystery as to who manufactured them. No records exist even though some were shipped to Europe in the holsters. Books say most likely Portugal manufactured them for themselves and France. Savage military holsters are supposed to be stamped with an "A.E." acceptance stamp on the back.
Do yours have them?
Because there is documentation that other holsters supplied to Germany during the war for Luger's have the same stamp and are confirmed from Portugal then the theory is that these also came from Portugal. These also came with a Sam Brown type of belt and shoulder strap. Two types of attachments exist to connect the holster to the belt. One is a leather loop, the other has two brass hooks. There is also a very rare add on magazine holder for the belt. These are seldom seen.
The one featured in a book I have have the brass knob like yours on the left instead of the snaps like the two on the right. I do not know enough about them to know what the significance is.
I hope this helps.
The holster with the button straps does have AE stamped on the back opposite the bottom of the main flap strap; the others have no stamp on the back. The button (I say button because one is missing) is not brass but is some composition material medium brown in color. It was apparently cast or molded around a little loop of wire with crossed ends because the loop is still there on the side that is missing the button top.
Other than the fasteners, the three holsters appear identical in pattern and stitching and they all have a tube of leather stitched inside the front/slide side of the holster - perhaps for a cleaning rod or brush. If these were not 100 years old I might think the ones without the AE stamp were Chinese copies, but given the age there must be some other explanation. Perhaps the snaps are a little later design than the buttons?
I also found this neat little belt holster on ebay (much cheaper than the military holsters) that I keep the 1915 in; it is marked "LEWIS L.A.CAL." on the back at the top. Anyone have any idea how old it might be?
![[Linked Image]](http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/philwarner42/1915beltholstersmall.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/philwarner42/Savageholsterssmall.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/philwarner42/Savageholstersnapsssmall.jpg)
