I've had a couple of them over the years. The last one I bought was a Bianchi 215 Hawk. It's suede leather harness and holster,the back strap is a brown elastic. I have it for my Smith 36 and it carries it well and it's comfortable! The sad thing is that it was discontinued?

I packed my Army issue M10 in a issue shoulder pouch type holster. Was all I had. Aviators are issued shoulder holsters so that there is no hip holster to hang up on something if you have to vacate the AC in a hurry. Particularly important with helicopters as one has to climb out usually only in one direction. USAF bomber or transport crews wore hip holsters because they rode in large AC with big doors. Fighter/Attack AC pilots/crew with ejection seats wore shoulder holsters for obvious reasons.
I wear a Ruger nylon shoulder-more properly a chest holster in the field as it does not interfere with my long gun on my right side. Still got my Army holster which I wear in the field if I am packing a K frame. The only shoulder holster I found useful after 50 years of Military/LE is my Berns-Martin rig for a J frame. Got one for a 2 inch and a 3 inch. Just before they went out of business they made me the same rig for a 3" and 2" K frame. All of them also have belt slots which allow very effective belt carry. The Berns-Martin is the only shoulder rig I have found comfortable for daily use, and as often as not I packed a J frame in the shoulder position and a K frame on my right hip. One of the best things about those holsters was that you could access the weapon with either hand, under your off arm one reached up and used a rolling twist of the wrist, you could access the hip holster with your right hand at the same time. I still have them all, and they are still serviceable after almost 50 years. I replaced the cloth strap with leather on all of them, will wear one OWB today (3" K). Only Berns-Martin regret; I bought one for my Python for uniform wear and about 5 years ago let me be talked out of it. But the guy offered so much $ I just could not resist saying no.
I have a couple of Bianchi/Safariland copies, but they are not the same quality, and cannot be worn OWB. But that type is the only shoulder type that I find useful for CCW/duty carry. The above mentioned military/field types offer almost no concealment, but are useful in the field, primarily to keep handgun out of the way till one needs it.
This does not mean that I have not spent many $ trying all different types of shoulder rigs, just means that if I had not sold them off I would have several boxes of shoulder rigs, and probably a divorce if my wife had ever learned how much I spent on them. On the other hand she went through a 30 year LE career with 2 guns (J frame and a M66) and 3 holsters, she's still got em and uses them daily. I probably have a box with 60 holsters, and would have 4 times that many if I had not sold them off. Equally aggravating, she spent 26 of those years as a detective assigned to the SWAT team, and usually out shot all the guys with the bottom feeders and esoteric shoulder rigs-me included.

I had a "Jack ***" (Now Galco) Miami Classic for my 645 20 years ago... sold that pistol & holster together... worked out very well.... OK for a 8 hour shift actually....

Now I have some Turkish made Shoulder rig intended for a Beretta 92 that really fits my 4506 perfectly... not as good as the Jackass/Galco... but still do'able... doesn't seem to balance left-to-right as well... but I think the additional right side belt strap will help.... I also prefer Horiz Mag Pouch.. this one is vertical... (Really dumbass to be vertical in my opinion)
Important to have leather straps that are at least 1.5" wide.... narrower will start to dig in...



_4506_shoulder_rig.jpg

Thanks to all for the great comments and insights on the subject. After reading and thinking I tried an IWB with a Glock 26. I was afraid that it would not work sitting especially in a car. I think that for me right now the IWB will work well. As was maybe suggested here the "sex appeal" from watching TV and movies might have led me down the shoulder holster road.


Thanks to all for the sharing the knowledge, seen any good deals on amo? :-)

The hawk is also one of my favorites and you can find them on ebay. You can save "Bianchi hawk" and you will get an e mail when one lists. I buy them for 20-30 bucks and have several . I have bought so many damn SH's on ebay, I can open a store!!! I only wear horizontals and sometimes upside down ones but NEVER anything with a magazine or ammo pouch for three reasons.
1. the ammo pouches add weight.
2. They add bulk and may break concealed cover
3. Think about a reload. ... The automatic is a quicker reload if the mag is pulled from the weak side. The revolver reload is quicker if you pull the speedloader out of a holder on your
strong side. And The concealed carry citizen should NEVER need two magazines---unless he is taking on Atilla the Hun and his hordes!!!!.
Here is a great tip....Buy a hawk or just a hawk harness.
Then take your Galco,desantis,Alessi horizontal rig or what shoulder holster you own with mag pouch. Remove the holster component and attach it to the hawk and you have the best of both worlds.
Galco used to have what they called a "half harness"
similar to the hawk.
Quality wise,Galco, Desantis,Kramer,Alessi, are all great but like another member said, you MUST get it adjusted. I never use tie downs as I find it restrictive. I wear a concealed carry vest and the holster is always concealed. Going on close to 10 years using horizontal shoulder rigs.
I will post pics in the next few days of the rigs that I use and I swear I dont know I am wearing them and the guns I carry weigh up to 40 ounces empty. Hope my two cents is helpful

regards

Haris1

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Gun Control= Using Both Hands

Guys, I hate to admit it , but my pants dont fit the same way and I havent gained weight. As you get older, we seem to get
shifts in anatomical distribution. My pants fit slightly lower . My belt holster sometimes hurts my hip and seem to ache after a while. Then I go to my saving angel, the shoulder holster!!! For me, I can go 18 hours and not feel it at all.

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Gun Control= Using Both Hands

Gotta agree. I have an old S&W upside down rig for a j-frame I have been using more often lately but it's starting to show it's age too. I've been looking at getting a new on, this time a Ken Null SMZ.

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