These I would say are rare, maybe quite rare, but I don’t think overly sought after either. I wanted one since first seeing one years and years ago. I think there is some info out there that claims paratrooper issue, but as far as I know the only period photo evidence Shows them used by mounted troops. One like this is pictured in Vol 2 and they mention how useless it is. And yeah it’s not overly convenient, but having one on a rifle, in hand, it seems easy enough to open the cover and then rotate the mounting strap assembly , therefore putting the whole affair off to the side. It was clearly meant to remain mounted so I think this is how it must have been used. Regardless this is a neat identical twin to Bill Grist’s cover. He has both makers. A dealer has a twin to his other maker. Not sure how many more are out there. Jmb42 marked with ink stamp Mod.98 designation inside. They always kind of reminded me of the Japanese “coconut” pistol holsters.
