CajunBass - that early post-war .38/44 is just... beautiful!
Those old Safety-Speed clamshell holsters were borderline hazardous in the view of a lot of officers. Initially they seemed like a good idea. But they required you to put your finger inside the trigger guard to release the gun (gee, what could possibly go wrong with that idea?). Worse yet, lots of guys with them who ended up in a wrestling match on the ground often found their gun laying several feet away because pressure & movement on the outer panel could pop the latch mechanism.
We were initially issued .38 special lead round nose but switched to .38 + p jacketed soft points after an ineffective shooting....of a loose bull from a local slaughter house! I'm pretty sure neither round would have been effective in this case but at least the + p round was a huge step up! .357 was not allowed!