"WARNING: Most of you know that Clint and I are not that WILD about appendix type holsters. IF you use one and use it correctly then thats your gig....continue to do that. Many choose to use this holster and the FACT is that when you are seated the muzzle IS pointed at YOUR privates. You MUST make sure that your finger is OFF the trigger when you get the gun out and keep it out of the trigger guard until you get the gun up into the threat area. I personally do not like them because I do not want anyone trapping my hand in that area when I go for the gun...but thats Clint and I. We mention this because one of our students who is a Doc just treated a guy this morning that shot himself by mistake in the nuts drawing from his appendix carry holster. He was lucky....he only shot his privates and not his femoral artery...so...just a helping tip for the day...do NOT shoot yourself in the crotch;) Heidi"

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

I have come to prefer short barrels and crossdraws for general purpose work as it isn't in the way on the tractor, etc.

Longest used favorite has been a Sparks V-max II for concealment.

I quit using that carry when one day I looked down while seated at my desk. While not directly aimed, it was to close for me.

my appendix is too big...

Also, last time I checked, guns still weren't capable of firing themselves.

That means the 'problem' is a training issue.

Isn't that what they supposedly do at Thunder Ranch? (A strictly rhetorical question, to be sure...)

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(SPG Edit)

Not so much for 'safety' reasons, but more because I can't think of any semi-auto that would work for appendix carry that I would *want* to carry.

The only gun that makes sense to me for appendix carry is an Airweight or AirLite J-frame, preferably in .38 Special. Some may prefer the .357, and for those who can handle it, more power to them.

Literally.

I personally don't trust small auto pistols, and I think the current crop of 'sub-pocket' .380s represent a ballistic pipe dream. I certainly wouldn't want to get shot with one, but they're barely equivalent to the old Winchester Silvertip out of the longer barrels of PPKs and larger pistols from that era.

They used to say such a setup was the 'bare minimum' acceptable for self-defense, but I never bought into it, and to this day I'd rather use a .38 Special J-frame than any .380 ever made.

Now there are a few really tiny 9s on the market, some with 'good' reputations such as the Rohrbaugh, but I have trouble seeing the point. Basically, I still don't trust them, and I think a small revolver is a better, more reliable choice.

During my Glock period, my favorite was the 9-mm sub-compact G26, but it never entered my mind to appendix-carry that gun. Even if it had, I don't think it would be any easier to carry in that mode than a much larger gun.

I see where they are building holsters nowadays that supposedly facilitate carrying guns as big as a full-size Goverment Model in the appendix position, but I can only speculate that it must be some pretty tall people buying them. I'm not exactly short, but I could never do it, no matter how good the holster might be.

It might still be 'fast' and all that other warm-and-fuzzy stuff they say about appendix carry − like it's probably the most discreet but still practical carry position out there − but I'm sure it would only 'backfire' on me.

No pun intended.

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(SPG Edit)

If'n yer not careful.

Not sure how many times I've read in the newspaper where some poor civil servant allowed his attention to lapse and 'accidentally' shot himself with his service pistol, usually when getting into his car or some such, and almost always the resulting self-inflicted wound was reportedly smack dab in his 'buttock'.

That'd be quite a stretch for just about anyone to 'pull off' from the appendix position.

Maybe those Quantico guys got the 'last laugh'...

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of the result of a negligent discharge in the appendix carry. If one have to even ponder that, by all means do the later it will help the gene pool!

As for training; that is exactly what they are doing, training people to not carry in a follish manor.

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

I've read reports of people shooting themselves in various body parts, ostensibly because they drew from a holster with a button release actuated by their trigger finger (for example, the Blackhawk CQC).

Do we 'blame' the holster or the shooter?

Sometime back, a video of some guy shooting himself as he drew his roscoe during 'self-training' went viral and was probably posted on every gun forum on the internet.

Did anyone blame his holster or carry position, or do you think the shooter took the 'heat'?

Then, there's the truly infamous example of the 'professional' Fed capping himself with his Glock in front of a classroom of grade-schoolers.

How much was that due to the way our 'Pro' carried and drew down on those kiddos?

All of these examples, plus the one cited by 'Heidi', have the exact same thing in common, and it isn't the position from which the shooter drew his weapon and shot himself.

'Case closed.'

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I have used the appendix carry with a Browning High Power and several other fullsized autos, BUT I always carry them in Condition 3 and use the Israeli draw technique. I have no problem with appendix carry in that mode, but I sure wouldn't carry anything that way with a round chambered.

I don't know much about the ins and outs of concealed carry, but as far as training goes I was trained from an early age to never point a gun at something I didn't want to destroy.

That region of my anatomy ranks pretty high on my list of things I'd rather not destroy. To each his own, I suppose...

-AaronB

1911's, 92FS, 4"686, 629 &GP100's as well as a Glock 21 (but ONLY with a MIC Clip!). I'm only 5'9". I just don't see the difficulty and its more comfortable. Carrying strong side or behind the hip I feel like my gun/holster/belt is a come-a-long pulling my hips out of alignment or like I have some giant appendage hanging off my side.