Favorite handgun

[BirdsJustWin]

Favorite gun I own: Kimber Tactical Ultra II. Light weight, has fairly decent recoil but at blast to shoot and fairly accurate for a short barrel .45.

 

On the other hand, the very first gun I ever bought is still in the arsenal and has been as rock solid as any weapon I have had. For a whopping 245 dollars I purchased a Bersa Thunder 380 about 18 years ago. That thing has never misfired, jammed, stove piped, you name it. For the money I can honestly say it was by far the best purchase I have made.

[spindoc]

Favorite gun I own: Kimber Tactical Ultra II. Light weight, has fairly decent recoil but at blast to shoot and fairly accurate for a short barrel .45.

 

On the other hand, the very first gun I ever bought is still in the arsenal and has been as rock solid as any weapon I have had. For a whopping 245 dollars I purchased a Bersa Thunder 380 about 18 years ago. That thing has never misfired, jammed, stove piped, you name it. For the money I can honestly say it was by far the best purchase I have made.

Got one for my wife. The recoil is outstanding. Has to be the size of that spring. Great weapon.

[jvdfc]

Anybody have or shot a Rock Island .45 cal. 1911? I'm thinking about picking one up soon. Thanks for any input.

[TheDeuce]

For those of you who carry, where (on your body) do you carry? I just bought an inside-the-belt holster, I'm right handed. Plan on wearing it on my hip, but that may change depending on how comfortable it is.

 

Also, any recommendation on holsters?

Edited April 19, 2014 by TheDeuce

[Bert]

For those of you who carry, where (on your body) do you carry? I just bought an inside-the-belt holster, I'm right handed. Plan on wearing it on my hip, but that may change depending on how comfortable it is.

 

Also, any recommendation on holsters?

 

If you look at your torso like a clock, where your navel is 12:00 and your butt crack is 6:00, I wear mine around 3:30 to 4:00, I am right handed, if I were left handed, I would wear it about 8:00 to 8:30. By wearing my Glock slightly behind my hip and using an inside the waist band (IWB) holster with an FBI cant, the Glock does not print, even if I tuck my pants in. Printing is what it is called when some part of the hand gun (usually the grip) pokes through clothing and could tip people off that your are carrying.

 

Cant is when the pistol instead of pointing straight to the ground (0 cant), the barrel now points slightly behind you. I believe FBI cant is approximately 15 degrees. This will make a concealed gun where the grip is poking out of your shirt on your hip with no cant, disappear and not be noticeable due to it being slightly positioned behind your hip and with a little cant. I can always tell when I have it just right because when I go for my wallet, I can feel the tip of the barrel.

 

Start saving your money, a good holster will cost some money. For my Glock 23, I start off with a Galco King Tuck. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=galco%20kingtuk%20iwb%20holster&sprefix=galco+king%2Caps%2C201

 

The positives

- Galco makes very good quality holsters.

- The King Tucks are comfortable

- It does a very good job concealing a decent sized gun, especially if you do not tuck your shirt it.

- They come standard with a combat cut which is where enough of the leather is cut away so when you go to draw the fire arm, you can get a solid grip on the gun before you even pull it from the holster. With a non combat cut, you probably cannot get your thumb on the fire arm immediately and you may not be able to get all of your fingers either.

 

The negatives

- While the combat cut has its positives, the negatives are that if you are like me and don't wear undershirts and the grip of the gun will rub your skin, that combat cut will allow the stippling (rough texture for better grip) to rub your skin. Not the worst thing in the world but, at the end of the day, my side will have a light red mark due to Glock Gen 4's have such aggressive stippling. If your XD does not have such aggressive stippling, probably not a concern.

- If you tuck your shirt in, the black clips which attach to your belt will be exposed. When I was a holster newb like you, guys on glocktalk.com and other sites mentioned numerous times that average, everyday people will not notice them, they are just to caught up in their everyday lives. And if they do notice them, they either a) won't know what they are and that they are holding a gun to you, or b) will know what they are because they are probably concealed carrying also and you don't have to worry about fellow concealers. If you want to make them less noticeable, wear a black belt and dark pants that the black clips will blend into.

 

Now, after wearing my Galco King Tuck, to the best of my knowledge, not a single person noticed my concealing when my shirt was not tucked in, even people I see almost every day. When I tucked my shirt in, to the best of my knowledge, no one out in public noticed I was concealing but one friend noticed the black clips around my black belt on navy pants and asked what they were and I think one person at work was looking at them wondering what they were. So if you do not tuck your shirt in, the King Tuck will be fine. If you do tuck your shirt in, you are probably fine depending on where you carry.

 

Because I didn't want to be noticed anywhere, I went to the Crossbreed Supertuck with Velcro clips and a gun belt with a Velcro lining. This is getting long to I will continue on another post.

[Bert]

As I mentioned in the previous post, I went with the Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe so I could hide the clips while carrying with a shirt tucked in. http://www.crossbreedholsters.com. Just like the Galco King Tuck, it has the FBI cant to make concealing easier.

 

For comfort with my Gen 4 Glock, I DID NOT get the combat cut option. By having that extra leather against the grip, I have not more rubbing on my skin. Again, if your XD does not have aggressive stippling, the rubbing on your side may not bother you.

 

I decided to pay $15 and get the horsehide option. Galco's King Tucks are made with steerhide. A standard Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe is steerhide also but the horsehide seems even more comfortable against my skin and supposedly is great in hot and humid weather, I guess I will find out when Louisville gets hot and humid.

 

The biggest upgrade I got was the Velcro clips for $10. How these work, unlike traditional clips which fit over your belt and "grab onto" the belt, these have Velcro on them and affix to the Velcro lined on the inside of my Crossbreed belt so that way, the clips actually fit right behind my belt. When I do so, I can tuck in my shirt and NO ONE knows I am carrying. People who know I am carrying have stated they cannot find the gun on my waist.

 

Positives

- Great quality, just like Galco.

- No combat cut so the rough texture of the grip does not rub my skin.

- Horsehide backing is VERY comfortable

- Velcro clips which hide the gun completely.

 

Negatives

- Price. Crossbreed is about $10 more expensive than the King Tuck and I added $25 is upgrades ($15 for horsehide and $10 for Velcro Clips)

- Combat Cut, the other side of non combat cut is that the comfort does sacrifice some of the ease of drawing when a holster does have combat cut.

 

I now where my Crossbreed anytime I have a shirt tucked. On both holsters, you can set how deep you want the gun to ride in your pants. The on the Crossbreed I have it as deep as possible to make concealment so good. On my Galco, I have the gun ride as high as possible when I am not tucking my shirt in. Riding the gun high make drawing a little easier.

 

If you or anyone else has questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Bert

[Bert]

One more thing, I mentioned when I bought the Crossbreed that I also bought a belt from them. Numerous people had been telling me to get a dedicated gun belt due to its stiffness if I want to carry. I thought about it but did not feel like paying $80 to $95 for a belt and just decided to get a Dickie from Walmart. The Dickie was was thicker and stiffer than normal casual belt but no where near as thick and stiff as a dedicated gun belt. When I decided to go with the Crossbreed with Velcro clips, I know HAD to buy a gun belt from Crossbreed so it would have the Velcro lining to attach the Velcro clips to. After wearing the Crossbreed belt, I do not regret paying what I did for it at all now.

 

Dedicated gun belts are double the thickness causing them to be very stiff and that keeps the gun much more secure on you which leads to the gun being even more concealable and much, much more comfortable. So comfortable that carrying the gun for 16 or more hours in one day is not a problem at all. I could not have done that with the Dickie belt. You don't realize how nice a gun belt is when you first put it on with your holster, you realize it at the end of the day when you are still carrying just as comfortable as you were in the beginning of the day.

 

I now also wear a dual magazine carrier and the weight of the carrier and the two loaded magazines is not a problem at all with the belt. All of this did cost a bit but now that it is out of the way, I am good for years to come.

 

If money is a concern but you think you will want a holster and belt, you may want to break up the purchases. Like, first get the holster. If you go the Galco route, consider Amazon. I have to think since shipping is free, it would be cheaper than getting it at a local gun store such as Shooters Supply. After wearing the Holster for a while, I bet the belt starts sounding like a good idea so start looking around for gun belts.

[Bert]

Also, I forgot to mentioned, here in Louisville, in Bluegrass Industrial Park, there is a company called Everyday Holsters. They are probably your cheapest option. https://www.facebook.com/EveryDayHolsters

[TheDeuce]

Wow, awesome info Bert! That's a lot to take in, but I will definitely take it all into consideration. My shirt is/will be un-tucked 90% of the time, so I'll also factor that into my decision. I've purchased a cheap "universal" holster for now, until I decide on a more permanent solution.

[TheDeuce]

Also, I forgot to mentioned, here in Louisville, in Bluegrass Industrial Park, there is a company called Everyday Holsters. They are probably your cheapest option. https://www.facebook.com/EveryDayHolsters

 

I'm in J-town, so I probably go check them out.

[Jumper_Dad]

Using the clock method I carry at 4:30-5:00...or front right pocket depending on the pants and gun

[TheDeuce]

I'm thinking I will be carrying mine just behind the hip as well...

[Bert]

Wow, awesome info Bert! That's a lot to take in, but I will definitely take it all into consideration. My shirt is/will be un-tucked 90% of the time, so I'll also factor that into my decision. I've purchased a cheap "universal" holster for now, until I decide on a more permanent solution.

 

I bought a cheap holster too and I haven't wore it again in atleast 6 months, my Galco King Tuck and Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe work so much better than my cheapie. Much more comfortable, more secure, more concealed, etc..

 

If you are untucked 90%, you should be fine with traditional clips which clasp over the belt. As much as I love the horsehide feel of my Crossbreed, I am leaning towards recommending the Galco King Tuck or the Everyday Holster due to cost savings. If you want to take a look at my King Tuck and my Supertuck Deluxe, just let me know. I work in Jtown and don't mind stopping by to show them to you. That and I wouldn't mind seeing your XD . I would assume your XD would not fit in either holster but you will get the idea of what they are like.

[Bert]

Using the clock method I carry at 4:30-5:00...or front right pocket depending on the pants and gun

 

When you have the gun at the 4:30-5:00 position, do you feel like you could draw it quickly if the need arose?

 

I also generally don't go past 3:30-4:00 because I have noticed if I do, the gun is leaving a wear mark on my car seat but so long as I don't go that far back, no problem. That and when I go that far back, sitting in a chair is uncomfortable.

 

The popular thing now is appendix carry which is carrying the gun at around 1:00-1:30 for right handers or 10:30-11:00 for wrong handers. A gun of any decent size it would seem the barrel would dig into your thigh. For those of you who carry appendix with a single action only gun with a round chamber such as a 1911, please be careful. Supposedly General Patton had his gun in a similar fashion and despite decades of drawing his Colt 1911 flawlessly, after WWII, the story goes he drew his 1911 and his thumb must have bumped the safety and his trigger finger must have tapped the trigger and the fired round almost hit some serious packaging of his. I have never confirmed if this is a true story but have heard it from several sources.

 

You really don't have to worry about this with striker fired or double action since they have more trigger pull but with single only action, I would keep it on my hip or behind my hip, you may shoot the ground or possibly a foot but no junk so to speak.

[TheDeuce]

I bought a cheap holster too and I haven't wore it again in atleast 6 months, my Galco King Tuck and Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe work so much better than my cheapie. Much more comfortable, more secure, more concealed, etc..

 

If you are untucked 90%, you should be fine with traditional clips which clasp over the belt. As much as I love the horsehide feel of my Crossbreed, I am leaning towards recommending the Galco King Tuck or the Everyday Holster due to cost savings. If you want to take a look at my King Tuck and my Supertuck Deluxe, just let me know. I work in Jtown and don't mind stopping by to show them to you. That and I wouldn't mind seeing your XD . I would assume your XD would not fit in either holster but you will get the idea of what they are like.

 

I'm looking at Everyday Holsters right now, and that is a very reasonable price for a holster, IMO. I will probably pick one of those up pretty soon. We can definitely meet up sometime and you can see the XD. I like it a lot, even though I've only been able to shoot it twice so far.