TexasCHLforum.com

ShootDontTalk wrote:It is a tool for your belt. Why restrict the tools available to save your life?

I can give you one very solid tactical reason I carry a 1911 at times. IF I am ever confronted with a rifle or even shotgun wielding threat, I need to be able to direct precision fire at ranges well beyond 25 yards.

I shot 1911's in NRA competition routinely at 50 yards. I could place 5 rounds in a group that measured less than 2 inches - offhand. I know of no other handgun that can deliver that level of accuracy without major modifications that disqualify it for daily carry. In fact, I practiced for matches by offhand shooting at 100 yards. I could maintain 5-6 inch groups at that range. That is AK47 level accuracy. The secret is the 1911 is a single action weapon. The trigger is markedly superior to the vast majority of handguns available for defense.

Do I only carry a 1911? Of course not. Is the 1911 the best handgun for every task? Of course not. But given that EVERY weapon is a compromise, the 1911 does some things better than any other weapon. For that reason alone, it should be considered.

Two things I have learned in 6 decades of shooting: choose a good round loading an adequate bullet, and place your shots properly. The 1911 achieves both of these critical objectives.

SDT beat me to it. I own a couple of Glocks. In fact I chose my new G17 as my primary carry gun on my trip to Arizona I'm on right now. But I also own a full sized steel framed Springfield 1911 with a custom trigger. If you had ever shot such a gun, you'd know why some like to carry them. A gun is a tool. Your Glock is the equivalent of a mass-produced AR15. The 1911 is the equivalent of an accurate .308 bolt rifle. The AR15 is a great weapon, but there are some things that it won't do, that an accurate .308 bolt rifle will do easily.....and visa versa.

At the restaurant in Santa Rosa New Mexico where I ate dinner last night, there was a NM state trooper eating dinner there, armed with a very nice cocked and locked 1911. Now this is a guy who spends his days driving over large areas solo, and has a higher probability of having to actually draw his weapon than either of us........and he didn't see to worry about being under-armed.

Jumping Frog wrote:

ShootDontTalk wrote:http://www.desantisholster.com/SPEED-SCABBARD

(Sorry, I can't seem to get the image to copy. )

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I have three of those...... for a M&P45 Full Sized, a H&K USPc .40, and a Glock 19. It's a good holster. My ONLY complaint is that I would have preferred a reinforced mouth. The holster carries very well and is comfortable. But it requires some care reholstering because of the tendency of the mouth to flatten out a little bit without the gun in it. Otherwise, it really is a good holster.

I am not tall (5'10"), and I have been "horizontally challenged" for years. Contrary to popular myth, being overweight can make it harder to conceal a large-framed pistol because - and I know no delicate way to describe this - fat will push the gun outward away from your body, which makes a larger bulge under your shirt. Nonetheless, I have easily concealed my 5" 1911 any number of times, in an OWB holster. You can too; but to make it work, you have to make some concessions/adjustments to how you do things that you might not already be making. The degree to which you are not willing to do all these things is the degree to which you will have difficulty carrying your 5" 1911. Here they are, in no particular order of importance because they are equally important:

• RULE #1: Buy a GOOD holster. Under the dictum that you get what you pay for, be willing to spend in the $100 range if necessary (yes, it turns out to be necessary most of the time). I carry my 5" 1911 in a Galco Concealable Belt Holster: http://www.galcogunleather.com/conceala ... _1064.html. This particular model costs $119.95, but it is a top quality holster and will last you a lifetime.....like your gun will. Here is what it looks like:
  
  There are other manufacturers who make similar holsters, some are a little more or a little less expensive, but they will all look similar to this one. Also, consider a good pancake holster, which will carry the gun the same way as this one, but spread the weight out over a wider area of your belt. But the main thing is you want a HIGH QUALITY holster that gives your gun FULL LENGTH COVERAGE to protect the muzzle and front sight.
  
  Make sure that holster has a forward cant, like the one in the above picture. This will make it conceal better. Wear it at about 4:30 if you're right handed, 7:30 if you're a lefty. This will cause the grip to lay up against your body without protruding as much, and with the forward cant, the gun will be at the right angle for a draw with the holster positioned behind your hip like that. This picture is a forum member here, but not me, showing such a holster, at that approximate position:
  
• RULE #2: Get a REAL gunbelt. Don't cheap out and try to buy just any old heavy leather belt. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. This picture (again, not me) will illustrate what I mean:
  
  THAT is what a true gunbelt will do. Now, granted, that is a small lightweight single stack 9mm in that holster, but this belt would be good for your 1911 too. Belts that were not manufactured with carrying the weight of a gun in mind will lose their shape and sag outwards under the weight of your gun. A typical steel-framed 5" 1911 weighs in the vicinity of 40 ozs unloaded without a magazine. Add 8 rounds of 230 grain .45 ACP plus possibly a backup magazine, and your regular belt simply isn't up to the task. Your gun will sag downward, making the muzzle visible, and the grip will sag outward making a more obvious bulge under your shirt. People who are new to CHL or who don't carry very often frequently ignore this guideline, and they end up with an unsatisfactory carry experience. But in terms of equipment, a true gunbelt is one of the most important things you can do.
• RULE #3: Dress around the gun, stop trying to make the gun fit your wardrobe. If your gun is sticking out below your shirt, it isn't the gun's fault.....especially if you are wearing a properly canted holster.....It's the shirt's fault (and yours, for picking a shirt that won't cover the gun adequately). Buy and wear longer shirts. Wear shirts that are just a size too big.....just like you would have to do with your pants if you were going to carry IWB. And collateral to this, buy shirts that have a pattern of some kind, and buy shirts that are darker in color. It's almost a cliché joke that if you see a guy wearing an untucked Hawaiian shirt in Texas, he's probably packing. But the fact is that patterned prints and darker colors help to breakup the outline of a gun under the shirt to the casual observer's eye.
  
  As a matter of personal comfort, like others, I always wear a t-shirt under my overshirt, to keep the grip away from my skin. I can't carry IWB any longer because I have back issues and it causes me pain, so I've been carrying OWB for years now, with no problem. But whether IWB or OWB, I always keep a t-shirt between me and the gun......and it has the added benefit of helping to keep sweat off the gun too.

Now, all of these "rules" apply whether you are wearing a holstered 5" steel-framed 1911 OWB, or a Glock 43 IWB. Good holster. True gunbelt. Dress around the gun.

You also have some alternatives.....

• I realize that you might have an emotional attachment to that particular 1911, but if not, then consider trading that steel 5" model in for an alloy-framed 4" or 3" model. Unless you're a bullseye shooter, a 4" or 3" 1911 will give you as much combat accuracy as you'll ever need. If the sight radius on a 3" barreled pistol is too short for you to use in a real fight, then you need an AR15 or a shotgun, not a pistol. But a lighter-weight, shorter-barreled 1911 can be a true joy to carry, and it will conceal MUCH more easily than your 5" steel gun can ever hope to match.
• If it is the ergonomics of the 1911 that you like, but you don't want to get rid of your 5" pistol, consider purchasing a polymer framed compact model that straddles the size range between your 1911 and your G43 and that mimics the grip angle of the 1911. The entire M&P line and the entire XD/XD(M)/XDS line have the same grip angle as the 1911. The alternatives abound. I love shooting my 1911, but I rarely ever carry it anymore, having substituted a XD(M)-45 Compact 3.8" and a XDS-45 3.3" as my primary carry guns. Even the larger of those two pistols weighs less than my 5" 1911, and holds more rounds. With either of those two guns, I have as much firepower as I had with my 1911, with less weight, and better concealability. I have a full-sized M&P45, and it weighs less than my 1911, but overall it is about the same size and no easier to conceal - but the compact version of the same gun is a great concealed carry pistol, as is the 9mm version of the same. If you are partial to your Glock, consider supplementing your collection with a G30 or G36. I also own a G17 and a G19, both of which are lighter than my 1911 and are easily concealed following the three rules in the first list.
• As of 1/1/16, you will be able to open carry with your CHL, and concealment becomes moot unless you really WANT to stay with concealed carry. But even if you decide to OC, a good holster and a true gunbelt are pretty much requirements to make it work.

On a final note, the more you work at getting this right, the more likely you are to end up with a drawer full of unused holsters because you tried to go about it on your own without accepting the wisdom of the CC community. That will cost you a lot of money over time. The GOOD news is, you won't be alone. I've got holsters that I paid good money for and haven't touched in years. Most of us do. But if you observe the dictums that you get what you pay for, and to dress around the gun instead of trying to force the gun to fit your sartorial choices, you can have a satisfactory carry experience.