How practical is a cross draw with a 6 inch barrel?
If the user wants to be able to sit, while wearing the holster, with a 6” revolver, cross-draw may be necessary. This will depend upon the user’s body shape, and whether wearing high-waistline trousers, or not. Sitting may be desirable for some hunting applications, and for driving a vehicle. Cross-draw may, however, depending upon the angle, and the user’s overall body size, make concealment difficult. At six feet tall, with a ~34” waist, concealing a 6” revolver, in a cross-draw rig, such as the Galco DAO, in its cross-draw mode, is hopeless, for me, unless I am using a very full-cut outer garment, larger than is typical for street clothing.
It is easier, for me, to conceal a big revolver with a straight-drop holster, but it requires wearing a rather long concealing garment, which is why I rarely carry revolvers with barrels longer than 4”. (I live in humid SE Texas, where is is often quite warm, or hot.)
Drawing the weapon, from a cross-draw rig, requires the shooter to be more careful about safe direction of the muzzle, while drawing, and while re-holstering. For example, a right-handed shooter will need to be careful not to “sweep” the muzzle across a hunting companion that is walking or standing to one’s left. While seated inside a vehicle, there is the immediate problem of a passenger that is seated to the right of a lefty driver, and a driver that is seated next to a right-handed shooter that is a front seat passenger. In Cowboy Action Shooting matches, there is a “dance” that a shooter must do, if using a cross-draw holster, to avoid breaking the 180-degree rule, with muzzle direction. The “Four Rules” of firearms safety might not call for a full 180-degree margin of safety, but CAS matches do have a 180-degree rule.
Of course, a cross-draw holster need not be made to carry at an angle that points the weapon so far to the side of the shooter, but most are.
