Summer Carry

I pack heat all year long. I've mentioned it before on this blog, and the reasoning behind that fact, along with how it doesn't make me feel like a Big Man, how it doesn't make me think I can get away with things that I wouldn't do if I didn't have a gun on me, etc etc, I'm not going to get into here. I really don't even think about it much. It's like slipping my wallet in my pants or putting a hat on my head. It's always in the back of my mind though, like a tool in my toolbox if the truck breaks down. Even though I admire open carry enthusiasts who proudly extoll second amendment rights (use them or lose them) I prefer discreet carry for the most part because now with my grandpa looks (although I can still bench close to 300) I'd rather use my age to appear innocuous.

Oh yes I loves my high capacity pistols but for the most part they tend to be big and bulky. If one doesn't care that others know there's a gun on the hip that's just fine, but for concealment purposes it's a real problem. Here are a couple of my bigger rigs:





These I'll wear with jackets and sweatshirts in colder weather or when I go practice up in the forest and don't interact much with the hoi polloi. Where I live people don't mind much if you're strapped, however walking into a bank or getting stopped on the highway by a badged, steroid bloated thug might pose some problems, so a less conspicuous platform is in my interests.
By far the best choice for concealed carry with lighter clothing is a five shot snub nosed revolver in a small holster, perhaps with an optional extra five rounds in a speed loader on a belt. (I'm a firm advocate of belt holsters as opposed to pocket carry or sticking your piece in the back of your pants, for obvious reasons.)
And in my opinion the top shelf pick is the Ruger SP 101.
Not because I own one, which I do, actually along with a Smith and Wesson model 60, but because it's the very best snubbie on the market bar none. This is my .357 summer rig:



It's got a Hogue grip which fits a bigger hand and is much more comfortable than the small stock grip.
Ruger builds their guns like the Brooklyn Bridge - much stronger than need be and more so than any other comparable weapons on the market, at a nore affordable price. Rugged doesn't even begin to describe them.
IMO a fixed sight points fastest and is more accurate in speed drills at seven yards than any other. This is after tens of thousands of draws shooting tens of thousands of rounds standing still, moving forward, backwards and sideways. I liken it to point and fire shotgunning rather than target practice with adjustable sights.
The SP101 can be had in .22, .38+p, .327 magnum, 9mm and .357 magnum.
For the semi auto pistol snots who'll look down their noses at the anachronism of carrying technology that used to hold up stagecoaches, my little revolver won't leave spent cases all over the ground. So there.