Rogue Elite

When an individual decides that they are going to be carrying a firearm, they must first understand that even though they are permitted to carry a firearm, there are some places that they cannot carry.   Most areas that you can not carry are obvious, like government buildings, court rooms ect, but each State has some areas you may not.    Even though it may be legal to carry a concealed firearm into a bank in your State, a bank that has had a previous history of robberies may have a metal detector that you will have to walk through, and since it’s guaranteed that you’ll set it off, it may be a good idea to leave your firearm in the car.

There are many gray areas for CCWing.   When selecting a gun holster, it may be wise to think about the what ifs, and how much of a headache it’s going to be to have to take your holster off during the day.   I have personally seen a few clip on holsters fail during CCW where the student comically points the gun with the holster on it at the target.   Even though this has occured numerous times, I still have to state that the belts that were being used were not ideal.   It is extremely important to select a good gun belt that securely holds your clip on holster.

The best CCW methods are hinderance in other situations.    Something like an ankle holster would be a good backup method or white collar environement where someone in an office environement or seated postion may find it practical.    Driving in a car while dressed up and heading to a wedding may make you look like a nice juicy target for a theif who spots your wifes diamon earings and may target you for a car jacking ect.    Ankle carry can be good in these types of situations.   Pocket carry is probable the most pratical and easiest to access, but you are most likely shooting one of the smallest capacity or caliber firearms.   Ankle gun holsters are completley impractical if you are going to be doing a lot of street walking and trying to pull a firearm from your ankle in the middle of a hostile situation is something I don’t even want to think about.

I highly suggest that when people are carrying  a firearm, even if they are not carying  a backup firearm, should at the very least have atleast one other item on them that they could consider using in a defensive application.   Some may sound funny, but if you were a bad guy, getting a set of car keys jammed in their face or having a belt buckle being used as a pair of brass knuckles or a whip is not something they would want to be hit with.   If you are carrying a pocket gun, and don’t have the ability to comfortable carry mace or another less lethal weapon, try using a belt that has a slightly heavier than normal belt buckle and remember that you can always use it as a whip if need be.

Sometimes smaller guns can work very well in pocket carry, but there are some situations where carrying in the pocket can be cumbersome in certain physical situations.   If you are going to an environment where you don’t want to have to carry another gun,  sometimes it’s a good idea to carry IWB or OWB with a paddle holster.  Galco gun holsters has a paddle holster that can work very well for even a small 2 inch j-frame.   I use one as a secondary holster option if I don’t want to pocket carry.   We can always practice to improve our performances in drawing our guns, but there are certain methods of carrying that are defanitely easier and most likely faster.

If I am carrying a j-frame in a paddle holster, I’m usually carrying a speed loader and about 3 reloads.    J-frames work very well for deep cover and my primary mindset it to shoot and move and not expect to put up a fight for very long when I’m starting out with 5 rounds.   I can increase my firepower and comfort by carrying the same gun, but with an OWB holster that can easily be reloaded.   I strongly recommend that everyone considers having a paddle holster for every handgun they own.   They also come in handly when going to an outdoor range where you don’t have to worry about putting the gun down on the table after every cease fire.

I was trying to think about how to describe the situations that many in the 20-40 age range tend to deal with in the summer months that they don’t normally deal with when carrying.    I’ve found it very difficult to carry a fiream to weddings because there is usually so much human contact from dancing to pats on the back and hugging.    Many reading this might think it is not a concern at all, but you have to realize that not every social environment is going to be gun friendly and considering that there is usually heavy drinking, it is something to think about not bothering to carry.

The biggest issue that I always dealt with when going to weddings was not being there and what gun to carry, but driving through urban environments where it’s a good idea to be carrying.   I think I can name more robberies that occurred to friends when they were dressed up and going out to dinner.   That’s when women are wearing jewelry and when guys are carrying more cash than normal.   The problem is that carrying IWB or OWB is virtually impossible.   Pocket carry is probable the most practical but there is another option.   Ankle holsters are very good for driving situations, but not very good for walking around too much.   Some of the gun holsters that I have tried all varied.   The best I’ve found was the Uncle Mike’s ankle holster.   You really have to make sure you are carrying a lightweight firearm though.  You will feel uncomfortable if the firearm has much weight because it may feel like it’s sliding down  your leg even though it’s not.

There is another consideration in choosing a holster that you may not be that concerned about at first.   Many in the CCW world may frown on having any kind of thumb break or locking system, but there are good reasons for thinking about this.   I would have to say that many of the thumbreak holsters that I have used in the past were nylon and although they worked very well for their intended purposes, I would never recommend them for CCW.   I am also going to state that I am not going to tell you which holster you should use because that is a personal choice and you should put some thought and research into selecting for yourself.   I have trained with 1911 pistols and although they are my favorite 45acp pistol, I have missed the thumb safety too many times during self defense training that I do not consider it for CCW.   I’m also aware that putting a thumbreak on the holster may compound the problem for such a firearm.

Glocks vs. 1911s is an argument I try not to argue about anymore because people are going to carry what they feel comfortable even if it has its drawbacks.   The one thing I still don’t understand though is the argument against 1911s and the slide safety and then people that lock their Glocks up in a Serpa holster.   IMHO each puts one step in front of pulling the trigger and if you don’t feel that you can comfortable pull a CCW firearm from under cover without missing the release, then do not carry with any gun holsters that have a locking system.    If you are carry on a leg holster or OWB and not under cover, then I think the situation can change.

There have been many changes in the materials being used in modern sidearms.   Many of the polymer firearms have a huge advantage over their previous counterparts primarily due to their corrosion resistance.    Along with corrosion resistance, many of these firearms also depend on lubrication far less.  Gun holsters have progessed as far as being made in materials that can handle sweat and dirt resistance.   I’ve heard plenty of stories about people ruining the finish on various blued firearms just from one or two harsh weather environments and people not getting around to cleaning them in time.   I’ve personally seen a few revolvers end up being horrible pitted after an operator sweat up a storm and never bothered to clean the sidearm.

Many of the revolvers that I saw end up with this corrosion would have survived if used in a non-leather holster.   People have to realize that even though the gun may be off their body, some holster materials will actually absorb sweat and transfer that through the  holster and on the sidearm.   There are plenty of gun holsters out there being made for your Smith & Wesson, Taurus or Ruger revolvers, so don’t think that just because you mostly see Glocks and M&Ps in kydex type holsters doesn’t mean you  get get one for your six shooter.  I have a nice Fobus holster for an SP101 and it holds up very well whenever I am expecting to sweat a lot.

Today was a rare day that I was able to get away from the family life and get out for a day at the range.   My Sig 220 was pretty dirty and it hasn’t been cleaned in months.   There was lint building up in the firing pin area between the hammer and the firing pin.    My initial thougts were to clean it first, but then I thought about the TO HELL AND BACK reliability claims and thought I’d just start blasting.  The gun was pretty dry, but this was a test of my standard CCW guns durability.   I was normally carrying my Sig 220 45acp in an IWB holster.  These Galco Holsters are easy to remove from my belt although I know that clip on holsters have a higher rate of coming off than loop through or other types of holsters.

My Sig 220 blasted its way through the first 8rds without a hickup.   I did notice a mini cloud of lint around the gun, and maybe I should rethink some of the shirts I wear to try and prevent or reduce this, but I thought that lint can’t be any worse than dirt and these are combat pistols.    I continued to put another 300rds of 45acp 230gr FMJ ammo and had a stopage.   I had a friend tell me that the Sig Factory rep he dealt with says that the guns should run wet and that they are dependent on using more lubrication than something like a Glock.   Although I’ve never gotten the bug to own a Glock, I guess I’ll have to acknowledge that Glock does have an edge over Sigs in this area.    One thing I have considered doing is putting a  little grease on all of my pistols, that way it won’t drain off as easily as CLP or similiar types of lubrication.   That is something to think about for pistols.

Along with some of the other things stated in the previous blog entry is that anything not held down, will come loose.    We are aware of that when we mount our optics and tighten things down so they won’t come loose and we also use things like loctite to bond it even more.    This is something will really make a difference at the range, the folks that don’t use loctite and put 1000rds through a gun in a weekend may find out the hard way.   We’ve talked a little about firearm retention, but the next common thing to think about is magazine retention.

Chest rights and tactical vests are great ways to carry spare mags.  Practice using them so you know how to release and close the pockets or flaps.   I see guys using their CCW gear on ranges and that is not always the best option.   We hope that the gear we use for daily carry is good enough, but when we have to think about running and jumping under cover, our bodies are doing movement and so is our gear.   I could probable open up a small gun shop for the amount of gear I’ve seen dumped on live fire training sessions and it would probable be  a lot of pistol mags being sold.  Blackhawk holsters makes a cqc magazine holder that gives you a level of retention without using a flap or lockdown holder.   I hightly recommend these.

When I was at this range and watching students,  I saw the gun industry very well represented, everything from Blackhawk, Safariland, Uncle Mikes,  military surplus, East German  gear, holsters, chest rigs, speed loaders on the students.   The military surplus stuff all work and was simple to use, but it wasn’t as fast to use and much of it wasn’t too pretty and very much for the weekend warriors.   For serious gear, do some research before you buy and try and find a gun shop or gun show where you can actually feel and wear it before you buy.   Many firearms owners have a pile of holsters in their closet for all the ones that really weren’t that comfortable, and blowing a bunch of money on chest rigs and mag holsters, tactical vest ect. that really don’t feel right is going to cost more than many holsters.

I’m biased, I  have to admit it, Blackhawk holsters are my favorite tactical holster.   If i land on my side or bang into something, I’m more concerned about bruising myself rather than “did I break my holster”.    There are some useful $20 holsters out there, but they’ll break if you start rolling around in the dirt with them.    Another observation I had on all of the students, was that the majority of them seemed very awkward in transitioning from Carbine to Pistol.  Many of these students had CCW permits, but they were using paddle holsters and tactical vests that they weren’t use to.    It’s a really good idea for you to think about where you would like to carry a sidearm before you spend money on a tactical vest.   Some tactical vests will have a pistol holster and some will not.

I was at yet another Carbine training course last week and while I was originally invited to watch the intstructor teach the class and give him feedback on his tactics and speaking skils, I was always keeping a eye open for how well his students were performing.   Like many of the previous classes I sat in on, students showed up with various qualities of keep and shooting skills.   To this day it kinda cracks me up to see some guy with an iron sight AK show up and shoot with guys shooting Match grade ARs, but sometimes I’m impressed with their abilities.

Like many things in this world, it’s not about the gear, it’s about the person, but there are situations where durability and design are going to give you that extra 10% in efficeincy that will give you an edge.    There seems to be a shift away from thumbbreak holsters ever since the Blackhawk Holsters came out.   I’ll admit first and formost, there is very little difference between using your thumb to  open a holster up and using your index finger to realease a handgun, but one way may work better for you over the other.   I’d recommend against using any kind of retention holster for conceal carry, but for duty holsters or training, get a holster that will hold your gun in place while you’re hanging upside down.