Need info from those who shoulder-holster CCW.

J

Jim March

New member
IF you use a shoulder holster at least part of the time doing everyday CCW, I'd like to hear your thoughts on anchoring the bottom of the holster to your belt, versus letting it "swing".

I've just finished a pretty nice shoulder rig for my New Vaquero 357. Pics tomorrow, I promise. The one part I haven't built yet is the connection to the belt for the bottom of the holster.

Wearing it with a loose and fairly light leather jacket, it conceals well and since both gun and holster are dark, it doesn't seem too noticable if I bend over (forward) and it swings out (with the unzipped jacket) a bit.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Do I need that lower connection?
 
I'd say get the lower connection.

I tried carrying a full-sized M92FS a couple years ago in one of Galco's vertical shoulder rigs under an unbuttoned shirt and leather jacket. Galco's VHS (I think that is what it was called--I sold it) didn't even have connection points for belt/waistband clips.

Anyway, I had breakfast at a Bob Evans. I stood up to leave, then leaned over to put my tip on the table. Jacket, shirt, and holster swung wide open in full view of a black lady sitting in the next booth over.

Her eyes went WIDE, so I quickly reverted to "friendly public-servent mode" (I'm a National Guard lieutenant), smiled at her broadly and said, "Good morning, ma' am."

I have on occassion been mistaken for a police officer. I can hardly be blamed if she made that assumption, but it did seem to calm her down.

I wouldn't wear a vertical rig like that again without tie-downs. Not worth the hassle.
 
I use a snap on belt tie down on the off side of a Galco Miami Classic, but I only carry small framed guns in a shoulder holster. If I carried a large framed gun, I am sure I'd use a tie down on the holster too. It makes the rig much more secure.
 
I have a horizontal carry rig for my full size, all steel 1911. Two mags on the off side.

It does not tie on either side, . . . would not have a tie down on it.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I have a Galco Jackass for my Glock 27. Different from most it anchors the back strap to the underside of the barrel part of the holster. Between that and the cross-over design on the back pivot it doesn't swing out at all.
The Jackass is designed for downward slanted horizontal carry. It looks like even a fairly long-barreled pistol would work there because the slant gets most of it under your arm. It doesn't even have an anchor for a down strap although there is one for the mag carrier on the other side and they offer one as an accessory.
My other shoulder rig doesn't have the cross-over design and the piece will swing forward whether I'm using a horizontal or a vertical holster. On that one the horizontal holster has both connections on the top, like every other one I've seen.
I have seen one however that has a strap across from the holster to the mag carrier way down on the back. If you're building one you may want to consider that. I've found that the belt straps impede my movement a bit and tend to make the gun print more sometimes.
Just my $0.02.
 
OK, I really appreciate all input.

The gun is of course my New Vaquero 357, 4.68" barrel, basically the same size as a Colt SAA. I have the core holster done, I'm working on the straps.

The core holster was originally an experimental front-of-right-thigh rig that didn't pan out like I'd hoped :). Just one of those things, you know? The good news is that while the mounting position was wrong, the core holster came out great and is basically equivelent to:

http://www.epsaddlery.com/pc-40-10-tombstone-speed-rig-shoulder-rig.aspx

...except the spring steel clip is heavy grade kydex :) and the straps are all nylon with quick-release snaps so the whole thing can be detached as one piece without even taking my jacket off to throw the whole thing in a lockbox at a courthouse or the like.

Anyways. What I'm getting from y'all is that if the gun is horizontal and not too tall, unsupported can work. In a longer vertical rig like what I'm doing, lower strap support becomes more necessary.

Sounds about right?
 
You might want to check out the Monarch Rig by Andrews Leather. http://www.andrewsleather.com I don't have any experience with it personally, but I am really impressed by the design and craftsmanship. Out of my price range, but something I would seriously considered for my S&W 5906.
 
THAT's where I saw the lower back strap idea. Should work for your six-gun Jim.

I just don't like a tie-down to the belt. Seems to bind everything up for me.

I also like Andrews adding the knife under the mag carrier. I'll have to look into that for my rig.
cb
 
I have three Galco Jackass rigs:

Glock m20
Colt 1911
S&W 610 (3 inch)

None are tethered at the waist and the fit
and function are excellent. Hope that helps.:D
 
When I carried a shoulder holster rig, I had it tethered at the waist. Much more comfortable, stayed where it was suppose to, and it didn't hang out in the open if I bent over.
 
OK, what I have so far is a single loop over the left shoulder in 1.5" wide nylon strap, and then a long 1" nylon strap coming off of that sideways behind the neck, forward of the right shoulder, down, back, up through the belt (just looped around) around dead center small of back, and then back up to the bottom of the gun on the left side. Designed BEFORE I saw the "Monarch" rig.

In other words, I seem to have a bit of a hybrid between a Monarch and a belt retention system.

Pics tomorrow. Without field-testing it, I'm very pleased so far.
 
The Galco Tuxedo is a bit like that.

Having all that weight on one side doesn't work for me.
In fact I put a 15 rd mag on my weak side along with the std mag just for balance against my Glock 27.
YMMV
 
I do not secure the holster side of the rig...

...but I do secure the non-holster side. That helps counter the weight of the firearms and keeps it from sagging, slipping, or swinging. It also distributes the weight better and tires my neck out less.

I just used a strap of leather, a hook from a craft store, and a rivet to make the fastener.

SHtiedown.jpg
 
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