OK, here's the deal - the other day, just for kicks, I carried my Springfield longslide 6" bbl .45 as my CCW, in a Milt Sparks yaqui belt slide, all day. To my pleasant surprise, it was extremely easy to conceal (with a jacket, which I wear Monday through Friday all year). The jacket extended a good 2 inches below the end of the barrel, and this is NOT even a high ride holster! Also, the thin-ness of the gun made it perfectly comfortable to wear while driving (at 4:30).
HOWEVER, the only problem, yet large problem, with this gun for CCW (besides the minor issue of sharp edges on the adjustable sight - hard on clothing) is the fact that the very long barrel requires a very deliberate UP motion for a relative long time to clear the holster (even with a speed cut holster), before beginning to change drawing motion to a thrust forward for presentation, which could make the difference between life and death. Also, the related issue is that the longer barrel also increase the chance of the front sight snagging in the holster on the draw as one nears the end of this upward motion and begins the forward presentation thrust (i.e. to prevent snagging, even more time and care must be taken to pull upwards to clear the holster, and more time=bad).
SO, 6" is clearly too long for CCW. But, when is shorter short enough? 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3"??? Given that longer barrels= better, in general, at what point does the drawing thing become a non-issue. At what point does the barrel easily clear a speed-cut CCW holster in one smooth fluid motion without particularly concentrating on the draw? Where does the front sight snagging become a complete non-issue? I'm thinking 4" might be perfect compromise, but is 3" even better for clearing leather/kydex in an emergency? Or no appreciable gain there? Or is 5" plenty short to clear? If so, why go shorter? Still in a quandry here...Looking for people with decades of experience carrying, or LEOs, esp. if you've had to draw under pressure (I'm NOT looking for IPSC holster-type experience - not relevent to real world). It would be nice to use a 5" gun for CCW, but don't want to snag up in an actual emergency. If necessary, I'll use a baby glock, Kahr, or 3" Kimber, but would rather not sacrifice bbl length if no need. Thanks. Also, if you're confident that X" barrel length is ideal, then with what specific holster are you using (and also what gun and from what position do you draw)?
HOWEVER, the only problem, yet large problem, with this gun for CCW (besides the minor issue of sharp edges on the adjustable sight - hard on clothing) is the fact that the very long barrel requires a very deliberate UP motion for a relative long time to clear the holster (even with a speed cut holster), before beginning to change drawing motion to a thrust forward for presentation, which could make the difference between life and death. Also, the related issue is that the longer barrel also increase the chance of the front sight snagging in the holster on the draw as one nears the end of this upward motion and begins the forward presentation thrust (i.e. to prevent snagging, even more time and care must be taken to pull upwards to clear the holster, and more time=bad).
SO, 6" is clearly too long for CCW. But, when is shorter short enough? 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3"??? Given that longer barrels= better, in general, at what point does the drawing thing become a non-issue. At what point does the barrel easily clear a speed-cut CCW holster in one smooth fluid motion without particularly concentrating on the draw? Where does the front sight snagging become a complete non-issue? I'm thinking 4" might be perfect compromise, but is 3" even better for clearing leather/kydex in an emergency? Or no appreciable gain there? Or is 5" plenty short to clear? If so, why go shorter? Still in a quandry here...Looking for people with decades of experience carrying, or LEOs, esp. if you've had to draw under pressure (I'm NOT looking for IPSC holster-type experience - not relevent to real world). It would be nice to use a 5" gun for CCW, but don't want to snag up in an actual emergency. If necessary, I'll use a baby glock, Kahr, or 3" Kimber, but would rather not sacrifice bbl length if no need. Thanks. Also, if you're confident that X" barrel length is ideal, then with what specific holster are you using (and also what gun and from what position do you draw)?
