[huggiebear]

Displayed is a favorite of mine which I have concluded that the holster is much more rare than the pistol, but that is offen the case. I thought that perhaps the members would appreciate viewing a complete rig of this pistol. Even though I have numerous different holsters for the Model 8 , I find this particular holster to be very uncommon.

Download Attachment: holster front.JPG
165.73KB

Download Attachment: holster rear.JPG
168.75KB

Download Attachment: holster inside flap.JPG
150.76KB The marking inside are just as difficult to read in person as in the picture but what it says is, "WALTHER VIII".

Download Attachment: holster markings.JPG
161.59KB

Download Attachment: pistol left side 2.JPG
140.82KB

Download Attachment: pistol right side.JPG
146.85KB

 

[Fritz]

Huggiebear,

what a wonderfull rig. Thank you very much for sharing it.
I never saw a Walther 8 holster like this.
We all are still learning.

Fritz

 

[Joop van de Kant]

John James,

Very nice rig you got there... My other pistol passion is Walther, and I am still missing the model 8. The holster is a beauty, and indeed very difficult to find in this almost mint state.
I am wondering about the characters 'D.R.G.M.' above the AKAH logo. Do you have an idea about their meaning?
Regards,

 

[huggiebear]

There are many interpretations abound of what this is suspose to stand for but I have been told that the reason we Americans have difficulty with it is that we have no equal type category to compare it with but essentially it's suspose to translate to " Deutches Reich Patent Applied For ". Meaning that a monetary sum is in consideration for usage even though the Patent has not been finally approved. I have had long and tiresome conversations with learned experts about this topic because it is only found on AKaH holsters and no others which signify to me that some kick back was going on between AKaH and the Nazi Party officals, much like when Hitler's picture was placed upon a postage stamp, as he got royalities from each stamp produced. No documentation has been discovered to suggest such an arrangement was formulated but we are still arguing. DRGM was not in use at the end of WW1 and ceased to be used at the end of WW2 so you tell me the significations of that select passage of time. From sometime after 1918 to 1945 we have the appearance of this particular category of Patents and then it disappears. Sorry , just ranting about.

 

[luger08]

Hi huggiebear,

well explaning german things sometimes is difficult...

First, "D.R.G.M." is an abbreviation and stands for "Deutsches Reichs-Gebrauchs-Muster". Explaning is much more problematic. Deutsches Reich should be clear, meaning that the Gebrauchs-Muster was valid and protected within the German Empire. A Gebrauchs-Muster is something like a small patent. You could go to the Patent-Office and get protection for a certain thing that has been styled, designed or created by you, so that others were not allowed to use the same style or design. The difference to a patent is, that a patent protects the idea or invention behind it, while the Gebrauchs-Muster protects more the way it looks or is being produced.

Unfortunately my explanation is not a 100 % perfect, because it is even in german sometimes not easy to follow the words of bureaucracy.

Coming back to the holsters. No one could go to the patent office and get a patent on pistol holsters, because basically they were all the same, the idea/invention behind the holster is to carry and protect the gun. So no company could get a patent on holsters. But all companies could get Gebrauchs-Muster protection for their own design and style of their individual holsters. Hope this makes it a little bit more clear.

Well I have no idea when they started to give Gebrauchs-Muster protection, maybe before WW1, but maybe after, but of course Deutsches Reichs-Gebrauchs-Muster protection ended after WW2, because the German Empire has been finished, that´s why there is no D.R.G.M after 1945 showing up, or it is a fake.

best regards, Andy

 

[Joop van de Kant]

John James, Andy,

Thank you for explaining. As a Dutchman I perfectly understand now the meaning of this item. It is a sort of 'Patent Pending' status, whereas the producer knows that he could not obtain a real Patent on his version of an existing concept, he tries to disencourage competators to 100% copy it. It also enhances the appearance; the buyer should notice it, and believe that it is sort of an original design.
Regards,