[armedpolak]

Hi there!
SO I usually have my H&K in an IWB holster with a snap thing to hold the gun in place. Then I usually have it at least under one long t-shirt and another shirt on top of it. Now I noticed it takes me a good second or two to draw the gun. Which seams a bit slow. This is why I would like to get a mouse gun for faster draw in *close* combat situations, aka: give it all up punk, where BG is 3 feet away from me.

Any sugestions? What can I do to make the gun accessible faster? Change clothing and risk over printing? Get a second one for my pocket? Practice draw? It just feels clumsy to draw a gun from underneath two layers of clothing.

Please advise!

EDIT: I'm 6'4", 175 LBS, skinny.

[javacodeman]

I don't know what kind of clothes you wear (loose, tight, etc.), your frame, your shape, etc., etc., so take this advice FWIW. That being said, I have an H&K USPc .40 that I can conceal pretty well with a BlackHawk OWB, untucked button-up shirt, carrying at 4:00-4:30 postion. Does it ever print? Not a lot at all. My wife who knows that I'm packing can barely tell when she's looking for it.

Now the USPc, isn't so compact. I won't always want to have an untucked shirt, and I cannot at this point figure out how to conceal it othewise with my clothing/body type. I will be in the market for a smaller weapon at some point. Maybe that gun known as "The Undercover." (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=241627) :D

[ZeSpectre]

I'm new to CCW myself and I've been working more along the lines of a "distraction" drill. Take out the wallet or whatever and give it a gentle toss away from me...then the draw.

I've also been considering the "heart attack fake". Grip up around your left shoulder and slowly collapse to the ground, but do it in such a way that you can draw as you roll over.

I'm not saying any of these work, just ideas I've come up with while brainstorming. I have actually practiced the wallet-throw-and-draw scenario though. Surprisingly it's easier if you are seated because you are already squirming around to get the wallet out.

[sinistr]

try checking out smartcarry's website.it prints the least in a t shirt and jeans/trackpants.comfortable in all day carry.or,j frame /smallauto in a bellyband.6'4" 195

[scbair]

A lot of folks have discovered a hammerless J-frame in a jacket pocket offers the fastest extreme close-quarters response of any firearm (don't draw; point & press). If it isn't extreme close-quarters, a dive to cover while drawing is a sensible move.

[GunNut]

First thing I would do is lose the holster with a thumb snap retention and buy a quality holster molded to the gun for retention.

Not having to locate the thumb snap should save you some time.

Then I would figure out how to get to one covering garment. Try a tucked in t-shirt and then use your normal cover garment. It's much simpler to brush aside/pick up one piece of clothing than multiple.

Lastly, practice, practice, practice. For me speed comes second to weapon retention, so if you have to slow it down a bit to get a good grip on the gun fine.

You may want to also practice moving to cover while you draw your gun.

Good luck and keep us updated what works and doesn't,

Steve

[GunNut]

Also, if someone has a gun on you at 3 feet, you would probably better served to no try and grab your gun.

I'm pretty sure pulling the trigger takes much less time than drawing/aquiring the target and pulling the trigger.:neener:

Practice your situational awareness, don't walk around with your head in the sky, know where you are going and watch for signs of bad things to come.

Then avoid those areas/situations at all cost.

Steve

[03Shadowbob]

I bought a Don Hume IWB holster for the MilPro PT140. excellent holster without the thumb snap. Draw time is cut pretty good without that thumb snap.

[pax]

Practice.

Seriously. Despite the cover layers, you don't have a bad set up, and you can drastically improve your access speed with practice.

Read these instructions all the way through before trying any of it, and please, please pay special attention to the safety issues, most of which I've italicized or bolded or just repeated six or seven times. Drawing from concealment can easily be done safely, but there are several danger points to avoid and everyone should know what those are.

About the snap-thingie (thumb break) on your IWB: you may want to move to a holster that does not use a snap. Up to you. If you decide to stick with the snap top holster, you're going to have to work a lot to make undoing the snap and drawing from it one smooth, slick motion. Start without cover garments, and practice unsnap ... draw. Unsnap ... draw. You will need to practice doing this so many times that undoing the snap becomes near-automatic second nature every single time your hand touches that holster.

When you draw, (assuming you're right handed), you are going to anchor your left hand on your stomach, just about at the midline. Do not use your left hand to help the coverless draw in any way. Keep it anchored on your gut until the gun is free of the holster and the muzzle is pointed downrange. As the gun is pointed downrange, your left hand can leave your gut and join your shooting hand in a firing grip. Be very, very careful not to sweep your left hand as it comes up to join the gun.

Important! Practice everything in slow motion at first. Your goal is smooth, not fast. Fast is only a byproduct of smooth; it never ever ever shows up when you try for it by itself. Try for smooth and you'll get fast. Don't try for fast because you'll fumble, and fumbling is slow. Practice everything in a very slow, deliberately perfect but liquid motion; do not allow yourself to stop moving at any point during the draw. It has to be a continuous fluid motion, just as smooth as you can make it.

Okay. So once you've got the unsnap ... draw down, then it is time to put a cover garment on. Start your practice with your very loosest tee shirt, preferably an old one you don't mind stretching all out of shape -- because you are going to stretch it all out of shape before you're done.

Umm, if other people are around, wear another shirt tucked in underneath everything, mkay? I really hate seeing other people's hairy bellybuttons at the range. :o

Start with both your hands at the midline, near your belly button.

Left hand: Reach your left hand underneath your right hand, lifting your right elbow slightly if you need to, and grab the hem of your tee shirt at or behind your holster if you can reach that far. If you cannot reach that far, reach as far back as you can. If you cannot reach the hem itself, grab a big handful of shirt just as low towards the hem as you can reach. Grab a big handful of shirt hem and scoop upward. Jam the hem into your right armpit and hang onto it, anchoring your left hand there for the draw.

Right hand: as your left hand moves toward your armpit, smoothly move your right hand to the holster, unsnap and draw. Remember this is a single, fluid motion. As soon as the muzzle clears leather, drop your right elbow to get the muzzle pointed downrange.

Left hand: as soon as the muzzle points downrange, left hand drops the shirt and joins the right hand on the grip. Ideally, this happens while the gun is still very close to the body. Again, take exquisite care not to sweep your own left hand during this process.

At every point after the muzzle first clears leather, the muzzle should at all times remain pointed straight at the target on a level plane with it. Do not allow it to point either upwards or downwards during any part of the completion stroke; neither at the ground (swooping motion), nor at a point over the target's head (casting motion). The gun should clear leather, immediately point straight at the target, and continue to point straight at the target at every point as you complete the drawing motion.

A word about safety: if your holster has a thumb break, you are going to be mighty tempted to use your left hand to hold the mouth of your holster open either during the draw or (more likely) as you are reholstering. Don't do it!!! You absolutely do not want to get in the habit of reholstering with your left hand anywhere near the mouth of the holster, because whenever you do that, you will be pointing the muzzle of your loaded gun directly at your hand. Bad juju, certain to bite you eventually.

Learn to reholster without the help of your left hand. Do not allow the muzzle to point in toward your belly while doing this. Keep the muzzle parallel to your body, not pointed at it.

To safely reholster: bring the muzzle of your gun into the holster from the rear, nosing it in just underneath the floppy snap-strap. This will lift the strap out of the way, and clear a path for your gun into the holster. After the gun is safely in the holster, then you can reach over with both hands to resnap the thumb break.

All of the above needs to be practiced, over and over again, until you are able to do it smoothly and without fumbling every single time. As you become more practiced, you can move on to practicing with cover garments that aren't quite as loose as the one you started with, but you will probably always want to keep your most stretched-out shirts for range use because draw practice from concealment is just kinda hard on clothes.

pax

[Larryect]

Very well written directions, Thank you for that.

One thing I would say is that this can certainly be practiced at home with an empty pistol. Just be SURE it is empty - triple check, no ammo in the same room, when done - you are done, have some routine for reloading that acknowledges the gun is now again loaded and not to be dry fired - one more time - ka_boom.

[Wesker]

I'd suggest getting a different gun to be honest. USP's are simply too blocky and bulky to be an effective concealed weapon, especially for tall lanky guys like us.

I've found that Sig makes the perfect gun for me, and you might find the same. Also remember that the great Wyatt Erpp said it's better to get your gun out with control and aimed at your target than super fast without any control. If you can get a good, smooth motion to draw you'll be fine. With enough practice your draw will become silky, and a silky smooth draw beats out a rapid draw where you could lose control of your weapon.