WWII Pistols w/Home Made Holsters.....

[sonofeugene]

I'm finally getting around to posting these pix that some of you might enjoy. In the past year I've been getting to know and shoot all my father's old pistols. The first, many years ago was his Beretta. Then, more recently his Luger. (Some of you may recall seeing pix of it with its multi-colored custom grips.) And finally, I did a little gunsmith work on his old Izarra of WWI vintage. (He obtained it in France during WWII.) That's old news, but what I've done more recently is to freshen up the two holsters he made for the Beretta and the Izarra and take some pix of the holsters with the pistols.

The first three here are of the Beretta which he likely picked up in Italy just before he and the 36th invaded the south of France. I'm pretty certain he had this on his hip during the invasion.

Beretta_1.jpg

Beretta_2.jpg

Beretta_3.jpg

[sonofeugene]

These next three are of the WWI Spanish Izarra which he likely picked up after arriving in France. I also have the original paper from the US Army stating that both are war trophies.

Izarra_1.jpg

Izarra_2.jpg

Izarra_3.jpg

[Saigon1965]

Beautiful rigs - I especially enjoy the "Sweetheart" grip panels -

[I Swan]

Neat, you never hear about the invasion of southern France, operation Dragoon? Normandy gets all the attention. Is that pic your mom?

[Enfield47]

Very nice. The holsters add an interest to his guns since he made them.

[sonofeugene]

Thanks all! The photo is of my aunt, my dad's kid sister who died this past year. During the time my father was in the service he had no wife/girlfriend/sweetheart so he used that photo of his sister. I'm also sure that those sweetheart grips inspired the grips he made for his Luger.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=310888&d=1394927712

Yes, I've heard of Operation Dragoon. My father was in the first wave to land on Green Beach. He spent 2.5 months in door to door combat before he was wounded. A few years back one of my younger brothers spent a summer bicyling around France, retracing my father's unit's route. He stayed with a number of French families and was warmly received.

[I Swan]

I've heard French people outside of Paris are actually quite nice. Judging all French by Parisian attitudes is like judging all Americans by New Yorkers. No offense is meant by this but big city attitudes are different. I actually had no problems or attitudes in Paris at airport as opposed to London.

I had a bringback Beretta like that but was rough and no papers. Neat how that Ruby has the little nub on it that prevents safety from rubbing off in holster. I think th Italians anf French bought piles of those in WW1 out of desperation.

The Beretta feeds those hollow points ok?

[sonofeugene]

Yep. Never had a FTF. The Izarra, though, will FTF every once in a while with HP's so I don't use them anymore.

Yea, that nub almost certainly makes the Izarra a WWI French contract gun. It also has the two French acceptance marks on the butt. What really makes the pistol unusual is that it's a long barrel version.