Period Correct Colt Police Positive Holster

[fireman 9731]

I'm looking for a period correct police style holster for a Christmas gift for someone. My Uncle in-law inherited a Colt Police Positive chambered for 38 special. It was his grandfather's who was the local Chief of Police during the 1950's-70's.

I'm a Smith & Wesson man so I have no idea where to start. What size holster do I need to be looking for? Does anyone have any examples of what it should be? And lastly, if anyone has one they want to sell, I would be a buyer!

 

[dfariswheel]

Your Uncle's Colt is a Police Positive Special, not a Police Positive.
This is confusing because of how Colt marked the barrels back then.

The Police Positive has a shorter frame and cylinder made for use with obsolete short cartridges like the .32 and .38 S&W.
The Police Positive Special has a longer frame and cylinder for use with longer cartridges like the .38 Special and .32-20.
The same frame was used for all later Colt small "D" frames like the Detective Special, Police Positive Special, Cobra, Diamondback, etc.

A holster made for any Colt "D" frame like the Detective Special or Diamondback will fit correctly, assuming it's made to fit the barrel length of your Colt PPS.

What holster to buy would depend on whether you want a uniformed holster or one that would have been carried out of uniform as many chiefs did back then.
For period type LE holsters there's not much still made today, but El Paso Saddlery makes at least a couple that were used in the 1930's and up into the 1950's that would be similar......

https://epsaddlery.com/

Look at the #5 "Patton", which is very similar to the old "Border Patrol" type holster used up into the 1970's by cops.

For a plainclothes holster for that period, a lot of cops wore originals that look like the "1920 Tom Threepersons".

Since these types of older LE holsters fell out of use, almost no one today still makes them. Several of the last makers went out of business in the last few years, so period LE leather is almost impossible to get.
You might find originals on eBay, but most all of those will be made for medium frame guns that won't fit a small frame like the PPS.

 

[fireman 9731]

So is a Colt D frame similar to S&W K frame or is it smaller? Like between a J and a K? I guess my question is, would the Police Positive Special work in a K-frame holster or would the holster be too big? Keep in mind, this will probably never be carried, its purely for nostalgic purposes.

 

[Jim Watson]

A D Colt is substantially smaller than a K Smith.
Once upon a time, a dealer told me to get a Brauer spring holster for a J Smith to carry my Police Positive Special.
Now that was one specific holster, I would not expect a Colt to fit a generic Chief's Special holster.

 

[herrwalther]

My wife has an actual Colt Police Positive with a non factory snub barrel, in 38 S&W. I got her a holster for the Colt Cobra. The fit is a little sloppy around the cylinder but that is expected because the Cobra is 38 Special. Otherwise it is a perfect fit. Most major holster companies make something to fit the Colt Cobra so there should be no issue finding one.