MIlls colt 1914 holster

[polihelmet]

Hi all, I am a collector from Argetina and I been offered this holster, as far as I know is quite rare.

Any idea of its value ? I am a helmet collector and dont know much about firearms related material.

Thanks in advance.

[Charlie Flick]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

That is a nice Mills holster you have there. It is a version of the Mills Model 305 and was designed to carry the Colt M1911 automatic pistol. It is shown in the Mills Catalog, a page of which is seen below.

 

 

If you look at the underside of the flap you should see the inked Mills logo marking and date. Many of these holsters seen by collectors today were purchased for Canadian armed forces during WW1. Those holsters have the Broad Arrow within the C marking as shown below, which denotes Canadian property. Among US collectors, those Mills 305 holsters which do not have the Canadian property marking are given a higher value.

 

The Mills 305 was tested but not formally adopted by the Army. It was a popular private purchase item particularly with militia and National Guard members.

 

 

Since you are in Argentina, I suppose that it is possible that your holster was purchased to carry an Argentine Colt .45 pistol.

 

On value, if the holster does not have Canadian or other foreign property markings, I would estimate that in the USA your holster would probably be valued in the $500-700 range. What its value might be in Argentina is impossible for me to speculate on.

 

I hope this is helpful to you. Thanks for your post.

 

Regards,

Charlie