Do you or have you ever used a full sized handgun for CCW?

About 30 years ago I carried a Colt 1911 for about 18 months after death threats against me and my father by a man my dad, a reserve police officer, had arrested for dealing drugs. The guy had been in high school with me, but other than that I never knew why he included me in the death threats.

I was living in eastern Massachusetts at the time, so it was warm and humid in the summer and pretty darn cold in the winter. I'm a fairly big guy -- 6 feet, 5 inches and around 220 pounds back in those days. I carried it in an inside-the-belt holster on my left hip for a cross-draw, as I am right-handed. I didn't love the size and weight, but it was OK. Fairly wide belts were the fashion at the time, so that helped keep the Colt in place and my britches didn't fall down. I didn't carry it 24/7 as I was working in a secure building where I didn't have to worry about being attacked by this nitwit. I carried it mostly at night at on weekends if I was out. A sport jacket or a light shell jacket were enough to keep it out of sight, although I hated wearing the jacket when it was hot and humid. In the cooler weather that was no problem. I would wear a heavier jacket, but kept it unzipped when I was moving from the house to the car or whatever.

If I had to carry today, I would go for something smaller and lighter, but the Colt was all I had back in the day. I never had to use it. The guy who made the threats was found shot to death, probably in a drug deal gone bad, so that's when I quit carrying.

I have been carrying a full size gun ever since I have had my first carry permit, more than 20 years now. I carried a 1911 Government Model first and around 1996 I switched to a 1911 Combat Commander.

Most of this time I was living in Arizona, but have also lived in West Virginia and Utah. With the right holster and belt, I find it easy to conceal a 1911 in the Arizona heat with just shorts and a t shirt.

I've carried an H&K USP .45ACP pistol concealed.

The weather was cold.

I wore heavy/bulky clothing which draped low enough to cover the seat of my pants.

I used a BlackHawk serpa holster attached to a thick belt.

The H&K USP, fully loaded and with a loaded spare magazine also on my belt, was a heavy burden and kept trying to drag my pants down. I had to wear suspenders to keep my pants up and distribute some of the weight burden to my shoulders.

I felt that I was well-armed and could draw quickly. But the carrying method wasn't quick or convenient to utilize. But because I was carrying outside-the-waistband, the gun might have become exposed to view if my coat & heavy shirt had lifted up.

Full-sized handguns aren't convenient to carry, in my opinion. Compact semi-autos, J-Frame sized revolvers and "pocket-sized" semi-autos are more convenient to carry and easier to conceal (especially during warm weather when wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of shorts during a day at the beach).

Way back I have carried a Taurus PT99, 1911 and a S&W 686 (4"). But back then about you only option in something small was something like a .380 or 5 shot snubbie. Today there is a great selection of compact and subcompact pistols in 9mm. 40, 45 and 38.

These days I carry an XD 9mm subcompact. Its my favorite out of everthing I have carried.

I live in FL and manage to carry my Sarsilmaz K2-45. I work as security and as such am used to weight and objects on my belt so the guns size and weight do not bother me. I wear pretty much the same clothing year round and can conceal the K2-45 just fine with just a small amount of planning on my part, but not a big deal really.

Yes, I have carried a Colt Series 70 Government model in the winter. This required a top of the line gun belt and a excellent leather IWB holster. Carrying 40 + ounces of steel is not for everyone.

i carried a 5" govt. model 1911 year round for almost 3 years here in indiana. finally switched to a compact HK USP this year. the 1911 had some sentimental value and CC can be hard on handguns, so when funds allowed i bought something that i wouldn't mind if it got scratched and beat up.

I have in the past carried a full size 9mm, and unless you plan on dressing like a police detective all the time, it sucks. It pulls your pants down, it digs your ribs in the car, and worst of all, you'll start leaving it at home cause you don't want to deal with it. A gun at home does a whole lot of good in a gun fight at Walmart. Get a compact, sub compact, pocket gun, mouse gun, whatever. Just make sure you'll never leave home without it. My carry guns right now are a Kel Tec PF9, a Kel Tec P3-AT, and a Diamonback DB320. One of them always goes with me, and only the PF9 gets tiresome occasionally. Hell, the Kel Tecs both have belt clips, I can carry in basketball shorts and a T shirt if I need to in the summer.

I sometimes CCW with a super Blackhawk or super red hawk. Both have long barrels and are carried in a shoulder holster. Yes they ‘print’ under a jacket. But it really doesn’t matter because most Alaskan tourists have no clue what that bulge under my arm is. And that the only time I CCW is around tourists. Just don’t need them freaking out. And there has been times when they did when I open carry. I have noted the good people from Japan become very interested is the side arms Alaskans carry but they don’t freak out. It’s the tourists from Great Britain, Germany and other EURO countries that find a civilian packing a side arm disturbing. So I either put in my day pack or CCW in shoulder holster. My wife does the same with her 44 magnum revolvers. And we have to tell the tourists over and over that they are for bear protection.

This brings up a question I have; is it legal for an American citizen to let a tourist from another country handle their side arm or even shoot it? One guy from the south pacific offered to pay me $100 American to let him hold the Ruger Super Redhawk 44 mag, I declined because I’m not sure it that’s legal. Sometimes I carry two CCW 44 mag revolvers in two shoulder hostlers and one has a scope and the other has a custom 5 ½ in barrel both are loaded with heavy hard cast 320gr lead flat points @ max charges. I only wear those two when I am at a boat dock where there are lots of people and brown bears. We have some fools who feed the bears food and fish, on the dock. I want to be ready if one of those bears gos crazy on the people there. And I have to delay launching my boat to chew out their @sses about NOT feeding the bears. And to get my point across I open my jacket and display my handcannons and tell them I really don’t want to shoot a bear they ruined by feeding it but if one go’s for me or a child I will kill it. That usually makes them mad but they do stop feeding them at that point. And as soon as they see a Alaskan State Trooper they give him an ear full about the big guy with two big revolvers under his jacket as if Im more of a threat than the bears 20 feet way. So I end up showing the Trooper my hog legs and he’s fine with it. No he wasn’t there for me and my guns, he was there to cite tourists for feeding bears.

When its raining heavy or snowing heavy I CCW to keep them clean and dry. I often CCW while in my boat to protect it from sand and salt water spray. But in fair weather I have my handgun in a western style cross draw gun holster/ belt for hiking through remote areas so I can draw it quickly if needed. If its winter I always CWW I don’t want it covered in ice and snow frozen to the holster. My wife made a built in holster in the side of my parka. Its easy to get to, stays dry and warm and is out of the way on a snow machine.

When I first got a CCW permit about 25 years ago, I started by carrying a full sized S&W model 39. Wore it on a belt holster. It tended to want to pull my pants down to around my knees.

Ditched the Smith 39 in favor of a Colt Lawman MKIII with 2.5 inch barrel. Same issue. That medium-framed snubby was too heavy.

Then went to a Walther PPK/S in 380. Now I it was getting more comfortable.

I finally settled on a Beretta 950 Jetfire in 25 ACP. It was both small and lightweight. Perfect.

Unless you plan on working for the DEA and busting down doors to make arrests, a small pocket gun is all you really need. Everything else will weigh you down.