Appendix Carry

[haywood]

No problems with appendix carry. Started carrying that way in 2004. Carrying my Tracker in the appendix area today and the little 37 is in my pocket.

 

[oink]

I've been carrying AIWB for 40 years without issue. J frames, 669, G23, G19, G43, officers 1911s, P3AT, PF9, 3" 629, 2.75" 69, Shield 9, 45 XDs, Hellcat, probably others. Generally with a holster, sometimes with just a clip, occasionally Mexican style.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

Over fifty years carrying on the job, off duty and retired. I was the department and academy FA instructor for 20 years. When we would get a new group of recruits I would ask them, " what's the most dangerous location in this city for a cop?"

I'd get more than a dozen extremely dangerous high crime areas and write them down on the blackboard. I'd then tell them we would take a tour of the most dangerous place.

We would then walk down the hallway to the locker room and walk up and down the numerous aisles pointing out the various bullet holes, divots and gouges in the lockers, floors and walls.

I did this routine a few dozen times in my career. I always found new, unreported discharges in the locker room. In fact I only know of three that were reported. One went through the wall, across the hall and into and through the Detective bureau. The D's were not amused.

Still I only know of one who shot himself in the foot and another who shot his partner in the arm while in a patrol car. One other hit by debris in the leg.

Long retired I work as a RSO on one range and qualify LEOSA on another. Neither allow shoulder or cross draw rigs on the range. OWB strong side only. Personally I'm OWB 99% of the time and very rarely a G42 in a pocket holster, only in a cargo pocket. The gun stays in the holster going on and off. Only during yearly qualification does it come out.

Yeah, I'm paranoid. As such my DAO J frame is the only gun I'm really comfortable with. Everything else is a range toy. YMMV. I'm a product of my environment.

 

[Buzzzer]

I, personally, don't like appendix carry. I tried it years ago for a while and just didn't like it. I wasn't too worried about it pointing "down". It got thrown into the box of un-used holsters...

 

[Old cop]

I used IWB/appendix w/my off-duty J Frame for years, but doing this w/a modern auto loader is too risky for me. One mistake could change your life forever.

 

[Grayfox]

Not an option for use pot bellied old men.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

There are some steeply angled leather OWB cross draw holsters I'd consider for around 10 o'clock position. But that would be for my 442. Perfect for cross country road trips.

 

[Execpro]

I totally agree with sigp220.45.
Put the gun in the holster, then put on your belt. Remove holster with gun when taking off belt. The ONLY time the gun should be removed from the holster while on your body is to defend yourself when in fear for your life.
I have carried AIWB (when I carry) for some 10 years. Pistols and revolvers.
I carry at the 1:30 position which is the most comfortable for me.
If you get the right holster (adjustable height and cant) it makes a big difference in comfort.
I carry a S&W 9mm EZ in a Fobus kydex holster and a spare mag.
Safety off with one in the chamber. 124gr HST ammo.

 

[Donn]

Not for me. Prefer 3 o'clock strong side or cross draw. Even a J frame feels like my Harry Callahan Model 29 carrying appendix.

 

[Onomea]

Not an option for us pot bellied old men.

I believed this, too, but:

I just finished a two-day handgun course for CCW carriers focusing on improving speed of draw, accuracy, etc. I was shooting my P365X, a micro 9, from an OWB holster. On the second day, the instructors encouraged me to try a larger gun, an H&K VP9.

To my surprise, they set me up with an IWB appendix holster.

I say surprise because I have that pot belly. They set me up with an inexpensive plastic/kydex, IWB holster, and taped what they called a "wedge" to the bottom of it, between the holster and my lower andomen, so that the gun straightened up, rather than pointing towards my body, because the base of the holster was considerably larger than the top.

(They also taught appendix carriers, which comprised at least half of the 20 students, to thrust their bellies forward and arch their backs rearwards, limbo style, when reholstering, to keep the muzzle away from the body.)

Not sure what the "wedge" material was... Something with a consistency between styrofoam and foam, it felt like. Anyway, it worked quite well.

I had never come across the "wedge" concept before, but found it surprisingly effective for comfort and safety.

 

[ladder13]

Never heard of “wedge” either until I started looking at Kydex a month ago. I don’t have much of an overhang yet, so may skip the wedge part when I go plastic for my Bodyguard 2.0.

 

[Oscar Zulu]

I have carried Colt D frame and S&W J Frame guns appendix style, had to move to a Model 49 for comfort reasons. Those or double action semi autos are the only thing I would consider carrying in that manner. I'm a bit short to carry any semi auto larger than a PPK there anyhow. No way I would feel comfortable with a striker fired or cocked and looked pistol pointed "there."
Easy to reach and easy to conceal..... but just won't do it.

OZ

 

[rednichols]

Regarding appendix carry, when it is really abdomen carry if it's one side of the belt buckle or the other, I have a blog post running on my blog, titled "Take off all the warning labels and let God sort it out". Because wearing there is strictly a 21st century concept and completely disregards the physics of bullet velocity and the wearers' anatomy. And after decades of trying to help gunmen understand their peril, I usually ignore posts like these on forums and rely on my blog. To read the post you'll have to locate my blog with a search, I'm not allowed to link to my blog on this forum. There you'll see tales like these of which I have many more in my files:

 

[681ismyfavorite]

Regarding appendix carry, when it is really abdomen carry if it's one side of the belt buckle or the other, I have a blog post running on my blog, titled "Take off all the warning labels and let God sort it out". Because wearing there is strictly a 21st century concept and completely disregards the physics of bullet velocity and the wearers' anatomy. And after decades of trying to help gunmen understand their peril, I usually ignore posts like these on forums and rely on my blog. To read the post you'll have to locate my blog with a search, I'm not allowed to link to my blog on this forum. There you'll see tales like these of which I have many more in my files:

View attachment 695130

Strictly 21st century

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Totally understand the concern, but it demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about how firearms function . . .

Edit: As an example, those who wear a horizontal shoulder holster are totally unconcerned about pointing their pistol at everyone behind them . . .

That's just funny to me!!!

 

[rednichols]

Strictly 21st century

In those days the pistol was always moved around to the front for the photographer. In this one, a Texas Ranger has not only moved his left hand holster to the right so that his rifle won't obscure his pistol, but he has turned his pistol around in the now reversed holster (identified as an 'early' Brill) so that it 'looks right'. I've a giant image from the Texas Rangers museum that is so clear it shows why this Ranger was known as 'the ugliest man in Texas": cysts all over his face, neck, and hands.

Look before you leap when using antique photos, I've a mess of 'em myself and learned the truth about these images long ago. Ranger Jones killed himself with that rifle, shortly after it was taken; 1928 (usually incorrectly dated on the 'net).

 

[BB57]

Strictly 21st century

Aside from posing and repositioning for the photo, those are all single action revolvers that must be manually cocked before they can be fired - as opposed to a striker fired pistol with all the safeties tied to the trigger.


It really blows me away when some idiot appendix carries a striker fired pistol with something like this:

Farm animal stupid.

 

[BB57]

…Long retired I work as a RSO on one range and qualify LEOSA on another. Neither allow shoulder or cross draw rigs on the range. OWB strong side only. Personally I'm OWB 99% of the time and very rarely a G42 in a pocket holster, only in a cargo pocket. The gun stays in the holster going on and off. Only during yearly qualification does it come out….

That seems to be the norm at most ranges. Some ranges won’t allow shooters to draw at all. When I lived and worked in DC and shot at the NRA range it depended on the RSO and who else was there. When it was just me or me and other rifle shooters and the RSO knew me drawing was fine.

However with other handgun shooting yahoos present it generally was not.

In short they dumbed it down to the least common denominator.

 

[rednichols]

located another clip I have:

 

[WardenRoss]

located another clip I have:

Red..here's the actual article. Thanks for posting.


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