Cross Draw

Cross draw.

Advantages: More comfortable for longer periods of seated time or seated drawing, like in a car.

Disadvantages: Slower drawing times, flagging people as you draw and sweep the pistol, opponent facing you could draw your gun...

Most guys that live with sidearms long term try every known method of carrying (both on and off duty). Each will eventually sort out the best, most comfortable means.

Here are the advantages for crossdraw (with or without benefit of holster...). Very comfortable carry, seated or otherwise -it's also one of the few carries that's truly ambi-dextrous allowing ready access by either hand. If you're really old school there's a particular carry up under a tucked in shirt, inside the waistband without holster that actually allows you to carry and pretty much conceal a medium frame revolver or even a G.I. 45... Old timers that I knew simply added a thick rubber band wrapped around the middle of the grips for that carry....

The disadvantages are as listed already (although anyone with training on taking a weapon from an opponent's holster is easily able to remove anyone's weapon from any waist level carry whether it's crossdraw or conventional, face to face, from the side or from the rear.... -that's why it's so important to learn serious weapons retention skills if you're in a daily carry situation....).

One serious additional disadvantage with cross draw is that an opponent at close quarters can much more easily prevent you from drawing your weapon in a violent encounter - and your attempts to protect your weapon leave you very vulnerable to assault in a struggle...

Lastly, although I mentioned carrying inside the waistband without a holster I don't recommend it to anyone without a high level of skill in hand to hand confrontations... You haven't lived until you're dancing with someone that doesn't like you and have your sidearm drop to the ground.... In my case I quickly kicked it under a parked car -but it was a particularly bad moment...
Down here in the tropics daily dress is often shorts and loose fitting shirts, inviting similarly casual weapons carry - probably not a good idea ever....

That stuff works really well in the movies.

We had firearms trainers that were cross-trained as weapons retention trainers.... Several of them were skilled enough to snake a weapon from any current "weapons retention" duty holster - from any position even when the officer knew it was going to be attempted. NOTE, all of this sort of training was done with carefully un-loaded weapons of every kind, revolvers, auto pistols, etc. Holsters in play were nationally known makes heavily advertised for their security features - all were duty holsters mounted on standard uniform, load bearing gear. That's why I mentioned serious weapons retention as must have training for anyone -lawman or armed citizen...

The figure I was always quoted about officer casualties on the job was that 30% of all cops killed on the job were put down by their own sidearm.... we took it pretty seriously when I was involved in training issues on my small (hundred authorized strength) department. In my era, 1973 to 1995, we lost three cops a year every year to on the job homicides. That includes both Broward and Dade counties (Miami up to Ft. Lauderdale). I quit going to officer funerals early on and instead worked to reduce them whenever I could. We never lost one man on my outfit ... we were lucky.

I prefer using a crossdraw holster when I am wearing a heavy, zippered coat in winter and when I am traveling distances via car (a.k.a., sitting ). In both situations I feel that my quick, comfortable access to the firearm is improved.

I also have one holster that I can easily & quickly attach to the base of my setbelt on the left side of my seat which is easily accessed via a crossdraw movement.

Being left handed, cross draw works very well for me while driving. The handgun is easily accessible without getting all tangled up in the seatbelt or having it bang against the door.

I tried some training with it in the eighties. What I liked more about strong-side carry was that, if I fired a round a fraction of a second too soon or too late in a crisis, I still stood a better chance of hitting an attacker, albeit below or above center-of-mass.
With a cross-draw, the chances of a miss in such a crisis might be higher, as the round would likely pass to one side or the other of the target.

Thanks for all the information everyone; I sort-of looked down at the cross draw method, and thought it was cool movie-thing, but it seems to have some very valid uses .

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Keep in mind, just because a gun in a movie was carried butt forwards, doesn't make it a cross-draw. If you watch westerns, they used to carry butt-forwards but a lot of times they would draw the weapon with the right hand (assuming the gun was on the right side), with the palm outward, and twist the gun back around as they lifted it. I believe the Cavalry started it because it was more comfortable to carry on horseback.

It certainly is more comfortable while sitting. I carry a 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk while deer hunting, and cross-draw is much better when sitting in a tree for hours on end.

If you watch westerns, they used to carry butt-forwards but a lot of times they would draw the weapon with the right hand (assuming the gun was on the right side), with the palm outward, and twist the gun back around as they lifted it.

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Seems to me I read about using a shoulder-holster in a similar way - carry under the right arm with a right-hand draw. Haven't tried it or seen it done.

Arkansas Paul said:

I believe the Cavalry started it because it was more comfortable to carry on horseback.

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I could be wrong on this, but it is my understanding that the Cavalry did that because they wore their sabers on the left hand side, intending the sword for right hand use.

That might be a cool new thread topic.

I carry a Vertical shoulder rigged Blackhawk on my left side, under my pinned on shoulder and a Hawaiian shirt.

I walk with a cane, meaning my strong hand is usually filled, but I do practice both cross draw, and the "Prairie Twist" same side draw, and I find that my weak side draw is actually a touch faster than the full reach across (shorter trip)

As to flagging people, the cross draw does indeed leave you widely sweeping everything to your left, but the twist mostly aims down and a small loop to the side, before coming up vertically at the end.

Practice, practice, practice.

Arkansas Paul said:

I believe the Cavalry started it because it was more comfortable to carry on horseback..

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cavalries did it because at the time pistols were considered secondary to the saber and were meant to be drawn with the left hand (crossdraw) while the saber was still in the right...

my biggest issue with crossdraw would be the fact you would have to alert the attacker, where as say 4 o' clock is less noticed... but thats just my perspective...

the FBI used the cavalry method because it was more comfortable and allowed for easier draw while sitting and you still had the croassdraw capability back when they used .38 revolvers

I used a cross draw rig for a revolver because I kept my speedloaders on my strong side, because thats the hand I used to reload. When carrying an auto, I kept my spare mags on the off side for the same reason. All the other pros and cons; ambidexterous draw, comfort, slower, etc., have already been discussed.

Please excuse me if this sounds stupid, but to carry cross draw, do I just wear my left handed IWB holster on the right side? Or is a special holster needed?

Many people do this. Try it and see if you like it.

Please excuse me if this sounds stupid, but to carry cross draw, do I just wear my left handed IWB holster on the right side? Or is a special holster needed?

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Nope, excellent question for one new to the concept.

If the IWB holster has no cant, you may be able to use it but you usually want a specialized holster.

Crossdraw holsters usually offer what would normally be considered a backwards/reverse cant.

Just in case you don't understand what I mean by cant ... think of how a regular pancake holster tilts (cants) the pistol towards your front. If you attached that holster to your belt on the other side, the pistol would be tilting towards the rear and, therefore, hard to draw ... it would need a forward cant to be of use in crossdraw mode.

While it doesn't apply to Concealed Carry, in the military it was common for an BAR or M60 gunner to carry cross draw, so the pistol was clear of the strong side slung weapon.

Seems to be less common with the advent of the current 'drop leg' holsters.

Someone here mentioned practice, and this is key for all methods. Merely because I can "out-draw" quite a few shooters, me with a crossdraw and them with "strong side" holsters, I conclude is mostly a matter of practice.
With me, my "strong" foot goes back (instead of stepping foreward), and in that motion the draw does not sweep. A good portion of my drawing practice is "on the move", not standing stationary and square to a full frontal target, which seems to dominate an undue portion of most othets training time, and, I am inclined to think, more reflective of most situations I have experienced or read of.
I use dedicated crossdraws that are kind of a "reverse cant" if you will.
Go ahead and try the crossdraw, after all, what have you to lose?

A number of valid comments, and two invalid ones I'd like to take up.

"IF" you draw from a cross draw holster "properly", you will not sweep either yourself or anyone else you don't want to point the firearm at.

In addition, the whole gun grab thing is blown all out of porportion. If a person tries to grab your gun from the front, you have two hands, two feet and a head, amoung other parts of your anatomy with which to attack the grabbee. Not to mention that you are looking right at them. On the other hand, snatching a firearm from the rear, as one might a strong side carried weapon puts you at much less advantageous position to defend against the grab.

Note I said attack on the cross grab attempt and defend on the strong side from the rear grab attempt. And you sure as heck don't have eyes in the back of your head.

I think this is really just one of those preference vs skill issues... Do the cons out way the pros? As with any carry position that's for you to decide at this point... Atleast that's how I see it.

I have nothing to add to the specifics, but it seems to me that cross-draw is (or was, WWI-WWII era) the preferred European method, yes?