Spreewerk Rig help please, mainly holster

**Rescue190** · 08-01-2019, 02:38 AM

I acquired a fair condition rig with two correct mags. Produce in December of 1943, according to production charts. The finish looks a little better in hand than photos but is definitely a poor military finish which is a bit early even for Spreewerk production. My question relates to the holster. This is the 2nd jwa 4 marked holster I have acquired with some controversy. Many of these have appeared in the past 10 years without any original documentation that I can locate. The holster appears good to me and passes the smell test for what that is worth. The gun was stored in this holster for a long time and shows wear marks. This could be a good fake with some effort put into wear markings but I still think is good. These have drawn some controversy and would like to hear additional thoughts and opinions. No offense taken to any reply and opinions are appreciated. Thank you for looking.
John

Spreewerk Rig help please, mainly holster

**AZPhil** · 08-01-2019, 05:08 AM

I can't help with the holster, But would it have been made in November of 43? maybe the list I have is in error.
Also I have a "e" series in my safe whose finish is a lot rougher than that one. It's in very good shape/bluing but the machine marks are very distinct. It also has brown grips. Quality control must have improved. Yours slide looks smooth.

Semper Fi
Phil

**Anderson** · 08-01-2019, 11:01 AM

Nice set. The holster question is interesting as clearly it hasn't had much, if any wartime use. Which suggests it can either be a 1945 warehouse capture by probably the Russians, or a reproduction. But I would tend to lean to a warehouse capture piece. I have one of the Hans Romer (0/0833/0007) marked P38 holsters which is in similar condition and I believe are generally accepted as from a batch the Russians captured then sold off in 1990's.
This jwa 4 holster shares the characteristics of long term storage. I'd have one question about it and it relates to the positioning of the maker mark under the "P38". In other "jwa 4" holsters with war souvenir provenance the maker mark is positioned between the belt loops and there is a WaA706 mark as well. But later in 1944 they may have changed the position for stamped marks. I would be comfortable with the authenticity of your holster.

**Rescue190** · 08-01-2019, 03:09 PM

Thank you for the replies. The stitching is a bit sloppy on mine which also concerns me a bit.
John

**AZPhil** · 08-01-2019, 10:49 PM

Last night looking at this ,I did do an advanced search and found this match. I even counted the thread count on the stitching on the belt loops. But it was not a definitive answer and thought it wouldn't help. But here it is for todays viewing.

Holster P38

Since the mention of marking placement came up. I figured I might as well post the link.
It is marked like yours is John.

Semper Fi
Phil

**Anderson** · 08-02-2019, 02:32 AM

Just another small point; the maker is said to be Moritz Strecher Lederwerk of Freiberg. The city was heavily bombed by the Allies on 27 November 1944 which destroyed much of the city, railway links and numerous industries in the city. That may have ended the holster production of the company.

**Rescue190** · 08-02-2019, 02:50 AM

Thank you for the additional research, effort and information. I am attaching additional pics for documentation good or bad.
John

**Toecutter** · 08-18-2019, 03:38 PM

The holster is original IMO,late 44 production.Many were never issued and factory captures like Anderson said.I have 2 of them and dont doubt they are original.The position of the jwa4 was changed late war probably faster and easier to stamp ,also waffenamp was dropped,(just a guess.)I know the repo holsters I have seen are pretty easy to spot and usually have fake deeply stamped waffenamps.