Every year around this time our weather drops out of the 90s and 100s and it gets cool enough to wear a shirt over my t-shirt. That means the shoulder holsters get pulled out and put to use and as usual, I find them to be the most comfortable of all the various holstered carry options I have. The first one this season was carrying one of my Colt 1903s in a small size Bianchi X15 holster. It's perfect size for the Colt 1903 or my Beretta 81 but still too big for the next smaller size like my Sig P230 or Walther PP or PPKs or my Bernardellis. For the smaller mid-size handguns I have an old Brauer Brothers and I've been using that with my East German Makarov. The Brauer Brothers is a spring loaded split front design like the Bianchis, vertical carry holster. Even though it got to be at least 30 or 40 years old now the spring still holds the guns securely. The only issue is that the cross shoulder strap is just canvass and not elastic and so I need to adjust it again most every year. It must shrink when not used cause it seems every year I need to let it out a bit. For my larger handguns I have a medium Bianchi X15 but sometimes I want to carry my snub nose revolvers or my even smaller micro sized semi-automatics and then a horizontal carry holster works well. Then I switch to my old Bianchi 215 rig which is a suede thumb break horizontal.
So for the next few months I'll try to pull each of the oldies out of storage and let them get out and about. I imagine it will take me the normal day or two to get used to a horizontal rig as it seems to every year. Even though I only use it with my snub nose wheelies that have a fairly heavy double action trigger or the small micro semis that also have a heavy initial trigger (I do not carry my LCP or other light trigger no extra safety handguns in a horizontal rig). I realize that is likely pretty silly since I have no issue carrying any of my smaller guns holstered in a pants pocket but there is just something about knowing that the muzzle is pointed at everyone behind me all the time and that when I draw I have to sweep about a quarter of the room that takes a conscious effort and some time to overcome.
So for the next few months I'll try to pull each of the oldies out of storage and let them get out and about. I imagine it will take me the normal day or two to get used to a horizontal rig as it seems to every year. Even though I only use it with my snub nose wheelies that have a fairly heavy double action trigger or the small micro semis that also have a heavy initial trigger (I do not carry my LCP or other light trigger no extra safety handguns in a horizontal rig). I realize that is likely pretty silly since I have no issue carrying any of my smaller guns holstered in a pants pocket but there is just something about knowing that the muzzle is pointed at everyone behind me all the time and that when I draw I have to sweep about a quarter of the room that takes a conscious effort and some time to overcome.
