PPK Party Leader Holster

[Larry Lipps]

Guys,
I asked a question on the PPK forum on received somewhat of mixed response, so I'd like to ask the same thing here. I know that firearms guys are as sensitive to "monkeyed with" items as any other area of militaria collecting. Hence, I don't want to do something to damage the value of my item.
Years ago the flap strap broke on my Party Leader holster. I have the piece that broke off, and considered having it professionally repaired. Although it looks bad, I didn't want to alter the originality or hurt the value. The pros and cons that I received was that the damage is so visible that a good professional repair might actually enhance the value. The flip side was that once its been repaired, the originality is gone forever. I've enclosed a photo to show the problem. So what's the opinion here? Thanks!

[JoeW]

Have you tried to stabilize the condition of the rest of the leather of your holster with some quality leather conditioner? It appears the magazine bottom has damaged the flap. What about the rest of it? If the condition is overall as dry as the broken strap, I wouldn't have it repaired as the overall condition has lowered the price even before the strap breaking.

If the holster is in good quality condition, I would have it replaced by a quality craftsman, as the value to a collector IMO is equally lessened regardless of whether it is broken or replaced.

[Larry Lipps]

Joe, that opens up another can of worms. The holster is somewhat dry, but completely flexible. I know that in the uniforms and visors field, even thinking about using a leather conditioner cuts the value in half. Most leather conditioners darken the leather which seems to be a turn off. If the holster was in a state where conditioner was the only solution to disaster, I wouldn't hesitate. Since the photos make things look worse than they are, would you put conditioner on it just as a precaution?

[Johnny Peppers]

I know that some don't like it, and I am not recommending anyone use it, but I have found that Pecards does a good job of stabilizing leather deterioration. When applied in extremely thin coats the darkening of the leather is virtually unnoticeable. On the areas where the harder shell is gone, it will darken those areas as they are now almost suede like.
A friend has an extremely rare holster for the Model 1900 seven inch pistol. The outer shell of the leather had flaked off many years ago, and the softer leather that was left was rubbing off in the cloth he stored it in. In desperation he applied Pecards, and while it darkened the soft leather, it stopped the leather from rubbing off.
This is a Model 1916 Holster for the Model 1911 pistol. It was made in 1918, and receives regular treatments of Pecards. The holster is unusual in that the body of the holster is lighter color that the other leather parts. Upon initial application the leather is slightly darker, but as the Pecards works in, the leather returns to the original color.

[JoeW]

Larry, like Johnny, I used to use Pecard's, but the darkening was a sometime problem as he stated. As recommended by the redoubtable Huggy Bear, I purchased Jaguar Hide Food from the nearest Jaguar dealer.

Larry, if yours is extremely dry, I would think the value is severely lessened. I am not being a prig about it, but the fact is there are nice condition holsters out there available and collectors will look for those. So I would only worry about your own feeling for the holster and not worry what will be the effect of the value.