6-o-clock Carry, input?

[Tucker 1371]

I've just recently started carrying and because of poor concealment offered by the shoddy holster (and my normal daily attire) I had just laying around I started off carrying at the 6:00 position with the grip pointing to my right.
This because it offered the best concealment I could find because my 1911 just fit into the curve of my back back there. Ive been practicing drawing from it and I cant tell a noticeable speed difference in it and the standard 3:00 grip rearward carry.

It wasn't originally how I had intended to carry but it's starting to grow on me. So here come my questions.

1) What are some things to look out for or be concerned with this method?

2) Is it worth buying a left handed IWB holster to carry this way, even though i shoot pistols right handed?

 

[Steve in PA]

1) Get knocked on your a$$ and land on the gun/holster and you'll find out what a bad idea it is to wear it like that.

2) Your shirt could ride up over the gun and you would never know it.

3) Bending forward at the waist will either a) expose your firearm or b) have the gun "print" the fact that you are carrying.

4) Get slammed/pinned against a wall or floor and you will probably never be able to draw your gun.

 

[FoxtrotRomeo]

I take it you mean behind your back, muzzle down and grip to your right.

I actually do that with my 1911. Yes I'd go Lefty IWB. When the Lefty is behind your back the pistol grip is always to the right making it a right handed behind the back holster.

There is a few things to be aware of off the top of my head.

1 if you have an ambidextrous safety (I'm an ambidextrous shooter), always make sure your thumb safety is on. In my mind I can see bumping into something and it toggling down on me. Hasn't done it yet but better to worry and check in a bathroom stall or something where you know no one is looking than be sorry later.

2 get one with a thick metal clip to attach to your belt. Because you can undo the holster and shove it holster and all just in front of your seatbelt in case you get jumped in your car. It also makes driving comfy and normal.

I use the Tagua IWB as mine. It's cheap and it works. You may find another IWB is for you.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Bad idea.
Try 4:00 with the grip facing toward your left.

 

[TeamSinglestack]

1) What are some things to look out for or be concerned with this method?

There's pro's and cons to EVERY carry method, which is fine, as long as YOU are comfortable and capable given the limitations of the method YOU choose.

While a 6 O'c position can allow easy access to the firearm with either hand, it doesn't provide the speedy access as do other positions, and is not as comfortable when seated.

My preference is to carry on the strong side hip, between 3 and 4 o'c, as this allows me to mask the firearm with my body, is comfortable, and is relatively accessible to both hands for presentation.

Ymmv...

 

[Kreyzhorse]

3) Bending forward at the waist will either a) expose your firearm or b) have the gun "print" the fact that you are carrying.

Any gun in any holster prints badly if you bend over slightly when carrying in the 6 o'clock position. Sitting down is a bad idea too, not very comfortable at all.

 

[LordTio3]

1) Get knocked on your a$$ and land on the gun/holster and you'll find out what a bad idea it is to wear it like that.

Let's please stop with the smarmy acidic remarks and provide some actual feedback. True, as said above, if you were to be knocked over, get into a grapple, or simply stumble and fall on your backside, there is a very high likelihood of suffering a debilitating spinal injury as the gun is directly upon your coccyx (tailbone) and your lumbar vertebrae. This is the single largest reason to not carry in this position. Most all police officers are currently regulated against carrying their handcuffs in this position for this very reason.

Also, the general rule is that the farther you reach behind your own body to draw a weapon, the weaker the draw will be and the easier it will be to restrain your draw, making weapon retention a bigger problem. Also, coming from an extensive martial arts enthusiast, turning your hand to grip the weapon like this (palm rearward) puts your arm at a very large structural disadvantage.

You are also slightly more limited by your cover garments. An un-zipped jacket would do fine, but a t-shirt draped over the weapon that can't be "swept away" and must be lifted by the off hand must now be lifted much higher because of the inability to "sweep" with your draw hand, and your draw must account for this and will be slower because of it.

Weapons do tend to conceal much better the closer you get them to your center core, but to put one completely behind you introduces several disadvantages while exacerbating several others. If you choose to carry this way, then you would do well to heed the advice of TeamSingleStack:

There's pro's and cons to EVERY carry method, which is fine, as long as YOU are comfortable and capable given the limitations of the method YOU choose.

I hope this helps you,
~LT

 

[Tamara]

The big problem with being a right-hander and carrying the gun behind your back with the grip to the right is that when you draw in a hurry, it's very easy to sweep the muzzle across your own midsection on the drawstroke. Do that for real, and you might do your attacker a big favor by shooting yourself through both kidneys.

I carry fairly far around my back, roughly 4:30, with the grip to the left. It's a slower draw, but I can get the gun into play easily without pointing it at myself, plus it's far enough back that I can reach across and draw with the weak hand if absolutely necessary (which would open me up to exactly the problem I mentioned above, although this is mitigated by the angle of the holster.) Further, by not having the gun right across my lumbar spine, I'm less likely to be turned into a paraplegic by an icy patch on the sidewalk...

 

[imthegrumpyone]

All my guns have "Clipdraws" and I always carry SOB.

 

[Tamara]

All my guns have "Clipdraws" and I always carry SOB.
__________________
chambered and unlocked

How nice for you.

My neighbor's three-legged cat hobbles across the street in front of speeding cars all the time and hasn't been hit yet. You'll pardon me if I don't consider her a role model.

 

[woodguru]

Ditto the 4:00 butt to the left and the gun pointing toward my left as well, I find that is the spot my hand naturally goes to, it comes out easy, safety can be taken off as the gun comes around. With the gun angled it comes out well in the direction the holster is angled.

I'm carrying a Beretta model 86 which has a very nice hand fit for me.

Just make sure what you are doing feels comfortable, has an easy grab, and clears well. If it feels right to you that's one key.

Hopefully if you are carrying you are reasonably proficient at self defense as well, and can keep yourself from being thrown against a wall.

It's my intent to make sure if someone is going to throw me against a wall my gun is already in their face.

 

[Ledbetter]

What they said. Especially about the clip-draw. I'm surprised they still sell those. Yes, I own one.

Spine damage is nothing to laugh at and as Tamara pointed out, you can't draw without sweeping the room.

3-legged cat for sure.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

There are reasons that experienced people carry guns in certain ways. Questioning these reasons is fine. It helps to understand them. Just don't think you have come up with something innovative. It's all been done and tried.
Generally, if you see it in the movies, don't do it.

 

[Gary L. Griffiths]

Aside from the dangers from falling, which has been adequately pointed out, it's very difficult to avoid printing because when you sit, the padding in the back of your chair presses your clothing around the gun, making wrinkles which fairly scream, "GUN!" If you sit on a chair with a hard back, it gets very uncomfortable very quickly.

The bottom line is, if you can carry SOB, you can carry at 4:00 or 4:30 as Tamara suggests, or at 8:00 with butt forward. All of these give much better concealment and quicker access than SOB.

 

[pax]

Many years ago, a family friend and I were eating lunch together after a range trip. Both of us had only recently begun carrying -- me in my kydex appendix rig and he in an SOB rig. We were seated at one of those little umbrella-covered outdoor tables on the patio of a tiny little cafe, in plastic outdoor chairs.

When lunch was over, my friend stood up and the chair stood up with him. He sat back down abruptly and hissed at me, "I'm stuck!"

I said, "Wha...?"

He repeated, in a strangled whisper, "I'm stuck! My holster-- the chair! I can't get it loose!"





It took us five long minutes of half-whispered tugging and twisting to get him out of that chair. And it was very, very obvious that the reason he'd gotten stuck was that -- as soon as he sat down -- the holstered firearm had simply stuck out the back side of the chair for passersby to see and goggle at.

Moral: people with SOB holsters aren't nearly as well-concealed as they feel they are.

pax

 

[AcridSaint]

You mean people can see my gun even if I can't?

If you're looking to buy a new holster, you might as well get one that isn't SOB. I prefer strong-side hip or appendix carry. The thing about appendix carry is that your gut (not gun) can get in the way when you sit, especially if you have a hammer spur!

It should be noted that I carry OWB.

 

[crghss]

Thrown Against wall is nonsense...

If you are being thrown against the wall I don't care where your gun is, drawing it at this point is a very bad idea. The danger is way to close and using one arm to try and draw a gun would put you at a terrible disadvantage. Basically allowing the person who threw you to the wall, who already has an advantage, to gain more leverage and positioning...

 

[JayCee]

Not to mention that someone can sneak up behind you, see you're carrying a gun because, unbeknownst to you, you're clearly printing, and relieve you of your weapon before you can react.

 

[AcridSaint]

So, if you were thrown against a wall and unable to defend yourself with any other tool you'd not try to get access to your firearm? I'd be trying awfully hard to get at it.

 

[Tom Servo]

LordTio and Tamara have covered what my objections would be. Let me add one more:

I've studied Aikido, and I understand how limbs move and bend. Here's an exercise: take any object roughly the size of a handgun and stick it in the pants at 6:00. Now have someone stand facing you. As you try to "draw" the object with your hand behind your back, have them apply pressure on your elbow.

Relative strength is not the issue. Your arm is out of alignment and stretched off at a very weak angle. It takes very little force to keep you from drawing. You're essentially putting yourself in a restraining position on the draw.

Furthermore, it's a very unnatural angle and spot for reholstering, particularly under stress.

Though you may carry all your life that way and never fall on the gun, it only takes one slip for it all to go wrong. It happened twice to NYPD officers in the late 1970's. Take it from someone who's suffered a spinal injury: it's not fun, and you live with it for the rest of your life.