I am down an arm.

I hate to hear that. Best wishes and a speedy recovery...

Mr. deckard, Get well soon sir. Your solution mirrors mine, used my M9 or a CZ 75. Had an armed nephew drive me around.
Just stay home heal, and catch up on your reading and post count.
Prayers for a speedy recovery.

I'd practice manipulating the unloaded pistol with one hand. The 1911 will probably be easiest (would be for me).

Part of why I practice doing things left handed is in case of things like this. Hope you recover fast! I'm assuming that it's your strong side wrist that's broken?

sorry to hear about your wrist.

i once had a cut on my strong side (right) hand to the point that my hand was unusable. like you i couldnt tie my own shoes, which isnt so bad as i wear boots almost exclusivly. i did find however that i could not load magazines or rack the slide on my auto loaders. i also had a hard time reaching a gun on my right side. i could manage it, but it was slow and awkward.

what i ended up doing was switching to a revolver (3" sp101) carried but forward (had to use a right-handed holster) behind my left hip and practiced drawing "cavalry style." it wasnt ideal, but it got me through untill my main hand recovered.

That's why I try to land on my head when I slip on the ice.

I'd also suggest going with a wheelgun. Semis are going to prove tough to deal with if you need to rack the slide for jams or whatnot. It's a good opportunity to try one-handed drills. Have you tried out Ayoob's "punch" stance?

Been there

When I was LEO, had to carry a 'J' frame on strong side in station for a few weeks.

It was my left hand the first time.

After that it was the right and I had to carry a lefty holster and did a good deal of practice with the rig and shooting live rounds - SLOWLY ,till I got up some speed.

Best of luck.

I went with a revolver as I feared a jam from limp wristing the auto.

Also kept a BUG [ High standard derringer DAO ] in that same side pocket.

If your strong side is still good, i don't see that carrying is an issue. Reloads, maybe? But carrying? Nope. I have no data to support it, but I bet that most concealed carriers will ever draw and, of that very small minority, few will need a reload or to tie their shoes!.

Heal quickly.

oh thank goodness. From the title i thought you had lost a firearm. Im glad to learn it was just a hand... whooo close one.

Just kiddin, get well soon.

Having suffered a paralyzing gunshot wound some twenty one years ago, That left me with the use of only one arm/side of my body, I can feel your pain. What I have been carrying for the last couple years is a switch between my Ruger SR9 and my CZ 83. Normally with a spare mag in my front pocket. The holster for each weapon has been made with mouth reinforcement for one handed slide manipulation. The SR holster is a true belt holster that fits nicely on my strong side. Right. And the CZ holster is a hybrid leather holster that can be worn IWB or OWB between the belt and pants. Normal carry. And I will be carrying my S&W M&P9c in a Raven Kydex as soon as it gets here. Also chosen for wear and durability with one handed slide manipulation

I chose each of these pistols with the following in mind. Ease of one handed take down, shoot-ability and reliability, obvious, and a fairly high round count in the hopes that if "that" time comes, I won't need to worry about a reload. With you having access to the XD, that should solve that.

As far as the shoes go, I wear loggers boots that lace up and just pull 'em tight and shove the rest of the laces down inside the top. Never could learn to do that the "proper" way.

Seriously, if you have any questions, just pm me with them and I'll answer the best I can.

Ouch... My left shoulder has been worthless for about 20 years now, I've worn Harness boots for just a bit longer than that.

No laces

I prefer to carry the Blackhawk in the shoulder-rig, as there is no slide to rack, but I still back it up with the M&P in it's IWB.

Practice, practice, practice... not much else to do if you've got the equipment side handled properly, but the main advantage of 2 full sized pistols is the "New York Reload" when you simply CANNOT reload with the speed you might require to keep yourself alive.

I detest airweight pistols myself, but they do have their uses. Personally, I won't go any lighter than Ma's Chief's Special with semi-wadcutters.

Hope you heal well, Neighbor!

Why do you think you're not gonna carry though because of your injury? If your strong side is still good then go for it.

mljdeckard said:

No, weak side. And I do practice one-handed, with both hands, but right about now I'm realizing how I probably don't do enough.

Click to expand...

There are things you can do to improve one hand pistol manipulation. Check out this work on an M&P done locally by Doug at ATEi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGp5MGi_w7w

Chris Costa and the ATEi M&P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTVrLy6sOXQ

Chris Costa talks about his Custom M&P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYrSFRkue3Y

One of the advantages of the 1911 pistol is the ability to manipulate the slide by pushing the plunger against any hard object, even the edge of a shoe sole, and retracting the slide past the dustcover.

This is a non-starter, though, if you don't have the G.I. guide rod as revealed from on high to the most honorable John Moses Browning. Yes, that was intende to be a little bit of snark. Doesn't make it untrue, though!

Sorry to hear it, but being "crippled" is MORE reason to carry a gun. Now you are seriously disadvantaged to a physical confrontation, and in fact maybe even greater risk for target.

I'd switch to a revolver and a bug. And/or practice single hand semi-auto reloads and jam clearing. I've seen some excellent videos.

Knife on strong side, or cross draw knife.

Get well!

Good advice already given.. and I'd want a revolver if one handed. My bible years ago was a book titled Street Survival and I imagine it's still available. Among lots of useful stuff it does go into what to do if one hand/arm is out of the fight - but you still need to defend yourself. I lived on the street with those tactics - and although a bit dated most of it is still well worth reading...

Hope you heal up in good shape....

Go easy on the drugs... the military taught me a lot of things, and one of them is that when an ugly woman in scrubs loads you with morphine, best just lie still and wait for the dancing pink elephants...

Guns and cars are a bad idea one-handed even on cough syrup.

Rest. God speed your recovery and spare you pain.

One Arm

Been There, done that, did not like it.

1st and foremost is no guns until you are off pain killer’s period! My experience was with oxicoten (sp?). I was fine on it in the hospital, but 48 hours later at home it made me delusional. Fortunately, my wife recognized the symptoms and pulled me off the oxy. My doctor the moved me to Percocet and I was fine. Still, my wife kept all the guns locked up. It was a very wise choice.

Now onto CC with one arm. I chose a hi-cap auto (Glock 17) to reduce the need for reloads. To load or reload I dropped the current magazine and placed the pistol butt up under my left arm. Using my left arm to hold the pistol, I grabbed the spare magazine with my right hand and inserted it into the mag well. If the slide is locked back as in an empty mag, release the slide and go. If you are initially loading, use the pant leg cocking of jamming the slide/sights into your leg (aimed away from your body).

Good choice, Save the painkillers for those intolerable moments.

Stuff just makes me violently ill, and reduces my ability to withstand lesser pain. I'd rather deal with moderate pain coherently, than be foggy all of the time and have lesser hurts become larger than life when the pill fades.

Sorry about what happened...

Anyway, unless you are in a particularly dangerous environment, at a time like this I've found a .38 snubby to be golden because it's easy to carry on either side, in a coat or pants side pocket. I wouldn't worry about reloading because it isn't likely you'll get into a protacted gun fight. But if this worries you a couple of speed loaders in the car should be enough, and they can be pocket carried only when necessary.

And let someone else do the driving - and if they are armed too it's even better.

Good luck on a speedy recovery, and let the bones in your wrist fully heal before you start shooting anything with meaningful recoil.