Does Carrying a Semi-Auto AIWB Give Anybody Else the Willies?

[Daekar]

I have been carrying my J-frame in an AIWB holster from JM Custom Kydex for a while now, and have always been very comfortable with it. I recently got a Kel-Tec P17 to mess around with (highly recommend) and eventually suppress, and as part of that purchase I got another AIWB holster from Muddy River Tactical. It's a great piece of kit, the holster works great, feels good, conceals the gun well, it's a totally viable carry setup (yeah, 22LR isn't 9mm, whatever...). But there's something in my head that's throwing things off. Any time I sit down while wearing that gun, I am KEENLY aware that the barrel is pointing straight into my lower abdomen. Yes, there is an external safety on the gun which I always use, and yes the trigger is covered completely... but man, it gives me the heebie-jeebies. I cannot imagine taking a Glock or another modern striker-fired gun without an external safety and carrying it that way, I would be a nervous wreck all day.

The D/A trigger and uncocked hammer on the revolvers leaves me feeling that the guns are always in a safe condition... the potential energy to ignite the primer simply isn't present in the system at all, in contrast to a cocked and locked semi-auto where the energy is present and restrained.

Does anybody else feel this way?

[freakonaleash]

Yes.

[Scrounge]

I have been carrying my J-frame in an AIWB holster from JM Custom Kydex for a while now, and have always been very comfortable with it. I recently got a Kel-Tec P17 to mess around with (highly recommend) and eventually suppress, and as part of that purchase I got another AIWB holster from Muddy River Tactical. It's a great piece of kit, the holster works great, feels good, conceals the gun well, it's a totally viable carry setup (yeah, 22LR isn't 9mm, whatever...). But there's something in my head that's throwing things off. Any time I sit down while wearing that gun, I am KEENLY aware that the barrel is pointing straight into my lower abdomen. Yes, there is an external safety on the gun which I always use, and yes the trigger is covered completely... but man, it gives me the heebie-jeebies. I cannot imagine taking a Glock or another modern striker-fired gun without an external safety and carrying it that way, I would be a nervous wreck all day.

The D/A trigger and uncocked hammer on the revolvers leaves me feeling that the guns are always in a safe condition... the potential energy to ignite the primer simply isn't present in the system at all, in contrast to a cocked and locked semi-auto where the energy is present and restrained.

Does anybody else feel this way?

It doesn't have to be rational to be real. If it feels uncomfortable to you, heed your feelings! As the old lady said: Oh, honey, I've done it thousands and thousands of times and ain't nothing bad happened! But it only takes ONCE! Or as they say in the investment ads, "Prior performance does not guarantee future performance."

Bill

[Davy Sprocket]

Striker fired pistols still won't fire unless you press the trigger. You need to look intently as you put it in the holster so as to make sure nothing like clothing goes into the holster too. That really goes for any handgun. If you bump into something, the gun won't magically fire. Even if you smack it with a 2x4. It may help if you wear your pants, and by extension thereof, your holster higher up. It won't dig into your hips when bending forward. I've had a glock 19 with an aftermarket trigger pointed at my femoral artery for so long my gut has formed around it. After a few days you get used to it.

Sent from my SM-T867V using Tapatalk

[beemer]

AIWB is my prefered way to carry, easy to draw even when sitting. I recently went to a S&W 638 for that very reason, perfect for my style and needs. I would be fine with a DAO auto but I think the 638 gives more ammo options, I like to load one snake shot with a SWC up front. I feel a revolver is as safe, reliable and simple as it gets. For reloads I carry a speed strip with five SWC rounds and one shot round.

[snowwolfe]

Try the best of both worlds. A SA semi auto. Carry it with hammer down. My personal all time favorite pistol design.

[Bigslug]

Several thoughts on this:

1. It's a GUN! It's SUPPOSED to be dangerous! With all recent (last 30 years) emphasis on modifying firearm mechanisms to make them "safe", I've kinda wanted to film a duel between two samurai in which, at the conclusion of the lengthy period of staring steely-eyed at each other with dramatic music playing, they start dialing combinations to get their swords out of their scabbards, remove rubber balls from the points, and peel heavy layers of duct tape off the sharpened edges. My point being, there's two schools of thought on this - the professional warrior school, in which inherent risks are accepted and mitigated by training for the sake of being able to "get down to business" quickly; and the "citizen soldier" school which places helping the less prepared avoid accidents on a higher pedestal above fighting effectively. Neither is right or wrong, but it is wise to remove ego from the equation and objectively decide to what degree YOU are the safety; or to what degree you need mechanical "speed bumps" placed on the path between you and a fired round.

2. Learn the mechanism of your weapon. Not just the how to shoot it, but the what actually goes on in the gun when you shoot it. Assuming "modern arms in good repair" they pretty much don't go off unless we make them go off. If you don't trust it, carry something else. In my case, that process has me practically down to two autoloading platforms:

* Glock: the striker spring isn't even fully compressed until you start to take up the trigger; the trigger can't move until you get on the middle of it; the firing pin is blocked from forward movement until you pull the trigger back about a quarter inch; the firing pin is held back by the trigger bar until the trigger is hauled all the way to the rear; and the only "safety" a rookie or "citizen soldier" has to remember to engage or disengage is the booger hook / bang switch interface. Cover the triggerguard properly during carry, and there really isn't much to be paranoid about besides poor finger discipline.

*1911 (not some primped and preened match pistol, but a proper GI-internals 1911): Even if I do forget to engage the thumb safety, I've got a grip safety keeping the trigger from moving, a half cock notch to act as an arrestor, and a spring pushing the firing pin backward until it gets smacked really hard. The downside to it - or any other gun with a manual safety - is that the rookie/citizen soldier has to remember to take it off. . .which comes down to how and how much you practice.

3. You're absolutely right on revolvers - they can be a serious fighting tool, and the modern hammer-rebounding or blocking ones require an extra deep level of foolishness to achieve a negligent discharge. The question then becomes "do you feel comfortable with 5-8 shots, or reloading one in a hurry?" If you're practiced enough to answer "yes", then you're probably getting enough range time to make yourself equally comfortable with handling the more "dangerous" mechanisms.

4. As to appendix carry - I personally find it physically uncomfortable and wouldn't carry an inert block of cheese that way, BUT, if you want to be technical about it, it DOES violate the second cardinal rule of firearm safety, which is to NEVER allow your muzzle to cover ANYTHING you are unwilling to destroy. Unless you have no use for your genitals, femoral arteries, and lower digestive apparatus, appendix carry and Rule #2 will forever be in conflict, whatever the gun may be.

[rintinglen]

Bigslug stole my thunder, but it bears repeating: NEVER allow your muzzle to cover ANYTHING you are unwilling to destroy.
I do not use nor recommend appendix carry.

[Electrod47]

I used to carry my j-frame in a very compact shoulder rig that had the butt upside down and the muzzle essentially pointed at my face some of the time. Still have it and use it now and then. You could "fill your hand" in a nano second.

[Kosh75287]

I don't know of a single-action automatic with a thumb safety that I would NOT carry cocked and locked in an IWB holster. Indeed, my SA 1911A1 and my Ruger Alloy framed Commander-sized 1911 are routinely carried in a Milt Sparks Summer Special for 25+ years without concern. Some will accuse me of trusting in an "iffy" safety, but I never managed to ventilate myself when carrying so.
Conversely, I do not know of a striker-fired pistol that I would feel safe in carrying in the same way. The silly Glock-style triggers that seem inescapable on them make me nervous, and the lack of a thumb safety makes me positively paranoid.

[armoredman]

I cannot imagine carrying a pistol pointed at my most prized possessions, regardless of action/safety type. Not for me.

[murf205]

I cannot imagine carrying a pistol pointed at my most prized possessions, regardless of action/safety type. Not for me.

No kidding! After I saw a video of, what looks like a plain clothes police officer putting a 9mm in a belly band of some kind and shooting his self in the weenie, I am a religious cross draw carry guy.

[Johnch]

I carry a Kel-Tec P11 a lot of the time
No safety
Just the long trigger pull
Depending on the weather I either either carry it in a holster over my right kidney
Or in my right front pants pocket , as it has a clip designed for carrying

I have never had a problem or fear

John

[Mk42gunner]

I don't carry any gun in the appendix position, for a few reasons:

1. I do not like having the muzzle pointing at any part of my body.

2. It is uncomfortable to me, I have a bit of a belly and anything placed inside my waistband at the front digs in.

3. I spent too much time in the Navy, an untucked shirt just doesn't happen for me any more.

Robert

[35remington]

Wherever you carry your gun, at some point in its carry or deployment you will be covering some part of your or someone else’s body with the muzzle when you sit or move. Yes, including on your hip at three o’clock. AIWB is not the only carry position to do so. When seated around a table some carry positions muzzle other people.

I make my peace with it by adopting two parts of Bigslug’s criterion. Striker fired plus ambi manual safety. Others might consider that a drawback, but I cut my teeth on 1911s so this seems rational to me. So, M and P 3.6s with ambi manual safety plus all the trigger/hammerblock safety thingies.

As far as safety goes do not handle the gun in any holster removal/replacement unless brain is fully engaged. This applies to any carry location. It isn’t where the gun is pointed when in the holster that has real significance. It is where is is pointed when coming in and going out that is important. Motion makes the gun accidentally go bang in all instances I know of. I have not yet heard of a gun that went off in a holster without human contact or action causing it.

Once I absorbed this obvious truth AIWB location concerns were naturally subordinated to its insignificance in relation to gun handling as the procedure that should actually give you the willies.

I also cannot carry comfortably at three o clock as my pants are tightest there and the rigs irritates my hip. I find AIWB conceals easiest and allows a fast draw with less accessibility to a grab should someone decide the wart on your hip is a gun worth having. With my build this was an obvious location to carry concealed.

As always, you do you.

To maximize safety when putting the holster on AIWB when seated, put the gun in the holster after engaging any manual safeties and then clip it to your waistband and belt. Remove the gun/holster combo as a unit. Only separate gun and holster when absolutely needed.

[poppy42]

Nope doesn’t bother me a bit. But that would be because for me that form of Carrie is the most on comfortable position possible! I can’t carry AIWB for five minutes without being in agony little on all day long. But to each his own!

[ioon44]

Colonel Jeff Cooper's Four Basic Rules of Firearm Safety:
1 All guns are always loaded.
2 Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3 Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4 Identify your target, and what is behind it.

[Brassmonkey]

It doesn't give me the willies, but yes I am aware of the potential danger.

[murf205]

I might be in the minority here but a lot of my concerns are with striker fired guns, especially the ones without a safety The triggers are just too easy to set off and although I am a big fan of guns with grip safeties, I would rather have a reasonable DA trigger for the first shot. My Walther P99 is that way and it would be my hands down favorite if it wasn't for the size and the mag release lever. I drug my feet and Rugers LC9 was discontinued so I bought an EC9 to replace a KelTec Pf9.

[charlie b]

First, I don't appendix carry simply because I find it uncomfortable. Strong side hip or shoulder holster.

Muzzle direction. When carrying, at some point the muzzle will be pointed where it will damage a body part if it goes off. May just be a groove down the leg but it will hurt.

I carried an older 1911 locked and cocked for a long time. Never had a malfunction. The wife's commander is one of the newer ones with a separate firing pin block.

Safeties. I don't trust thumb safeties that much. The 1911 safety blocks the SEAR, not the hammer. If fitted correctly the hammer won't fall unless the sear is damaged. Hard to do but not impossible, which is why Colt added the firing pin block.

Striker pistols have a safety that is more secure than just the sear blocking type. The firing pin block is not moved out of the way until the trigger is pulled. Much like the transfer bar system on revolvers. I feel 'safer' carrying my HK than the old 1911.

And, no, I don't like the SA with hammer down mode. If not carrying locked and cocked I'd rather carry with an empty chamber. Much faster to rack the slide on the draw than to thumb the hammer back.