Free For All Friday 8-22-2014: Shoulder holsters, unloading guns and poking a hornet’s nest
Did you know that, according to various studies, more people would rather give a speech in front of thousands of people than undergo a major change in their life even if that change is for the better? Something interesting to think about.
Hi there! I’ve been wondering lately if shoulder holstered weapons are actually useful for concealed carry, or if that’s just plain Hollywoodism. Would they make a bulge too big, make it too difficult to draw the weapon or just be inferior compared to waist ones? Thanks in advance! -Henry J.
For the longest time, shoulder holstered guns were pretty much the defacto way for police officers to carry concealed. Even to this day, shoulder holsters are widely used. It’s a very effective way to carry due to the way our bodies are shaped as well as the way clothes hang off our bodies. It does, however, one or two serious drawbacks. As I type this article, it’s 97 degrees Fahrenheit with super high humidity and a heat index of 111. Shoulder holsters require multiple layers to work effectively (shirt + holster + jacket/over shirt). That may be fine for a lot of places but, here in Florida, there’s maybe one or two weeks where we could use that comfortably. The last thing I want to do right now is put on another layer. Your mileage may vary, depending on where you live. Keep in mind that, even if it’s cold outside, you’re going to step inside where it’s heated at some point and wearing a jacket might still be uncomfortable then as well.
Beyond that, there’s only a few easily avoidable situations where you could potentially flash your gun. The same can be said for IWB carry as well, though. The only major complaint about shoulder holsters that I have, beyond climate, is the draw. Under most situations, it’s difficult to draw quickly without lasering everyone in a 90 degree arc between your gun side and the target.
I was wondering what the best way to load and unload the weapon properly as to not wear out the round that is ejected every time and re-loaded the next morning before I carry again? -Corey M.
There’s lot of reasons why we would un-chamber the round from our pistols on a regular basis. It could be for dry fire practice, trading out mags so that you’re not shooting your expensive daily carry ammo at the range or the regular cleaning that a CCW pistol desperately requires. Ultimately, this is going to cause some wear on the round itself if you do it enough. The bright side is, the wear is going to be mostly cosmetic. If you’re really worried, just pull all the rounds out of the magazine and rotate them out so that each bullet gets to spend time being the one in the chamber.
The big thing to worry about, however, is the extractor itself. Many people, myself included, prefer to carry in the X+1 configuration meaning the magazine is completely full and you have an extra round in the chamber itself. One extra round is one extra round, after all. The worst possible way to load that extra round is to just drop it directly into the chamber, let the slide forward then load the mag. That puts wear on the extractor (the little hook that pulls the spent casing out of the chamber) in a way it wasn’t designed for. The better way is to insert the mag and rack the slide like normal, then take out the mag and put another bullet in then put it back into the gun. There’s some extra steps, for sure, but it will make sure the components last longer. The extractor is a very important component to the operation of a semi-auto and is a strangely neglected component on the gun.
Can you cite a single case where a non-LEO who is open carrying has been shot or had their gun snatched by a criminal? -Bob H.
While this one skirts dangerously close to my no politics rule, it did spark my curiosity. I spent a good long while with Google on this one and I have come to a single conclusion: the internet is a horrible place to do research when it comes to politically charged subjects. Seriously. Open carry is a pretty controversial subject even among the pro gun community and the internet is filled with lots of bad information concerning it. I was able to find some “my cousin’s uncle’s hairdresser knows a guy who works with a guy who…” type of anecdotes but after a few pages in on Google’s search results with various combinations of search terms, I gave up. I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, I just didn’t find anything reliable. I should warn you about using this kind of information in an argument, however. Saying it never happens or it hasn’t happened will only be somewhat effective until it actually happens. Then the other side will use that one occurrence to invalidate everything you try to say from that point forward. Debating 101: Stick with the solid facts that are difficult to invalidate.
Thanks for the questions!
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