Dark Star Gear (http://darkstargear.com/) clip on holster, and JM Custom Kydex AIWB Single Pistol Magazine Pouch (http://www.jmcustomkydex.com/p/AIWB-SPMP.html).  Now you have to read the article to see what I’m going to say…

One of the common uses for a J-frame revolver is just, “throwing it in a pocket,” or clipping it to the shorts for a quick walk to mailbox, or a hop and a skip to the corner store for some milk and a Twix bar.  We, as humans, are largely creatures of habit.  If just throwing a gun on to run errands is your habit, why not pick a more practical gun?  The S&W Shield is well known, and not new on the market.  It is 9mm, holds a respectable number of rounds (either 7+1 or 8+1, depending on the magazine used) and is accurate, easy to shoot and reliable.  The variant shown here is the non-safety version.

As a worthwhile thought/practical experiment, it seemed to me that in this day and age, a higher-efficiency, quickly attached, self-defense weapon system was attainable.  This same rig works great if you are loafing around the house, and want to keep the pistol handy (or heading to the gym in elastic waisted shorts).  And yes, Mark Luell…it’ll even hold onto the band of your favorite skivvie shorts!

Here is another Dark Star Gear clip-on holster, for a Smith and Wesson Model 6906 (although this is a 3913, which it also works for).  The ride height with appendix carry holsters and short barreled guns, is tricky.  If the ride height is too high, the gun does not conceal, the butt sticks out, and the gun tends to, “flop,” out over the belt.  None of that is ideal.  If you put the holster TOO low, then it is not comfortable, and it is difficult to get an immediate master grip (Or, “full firing grip,” in the words of the late Paul Gomez).  Tom at Dark Star Gear has set the ride height perfectly, on his line of clip on holsters.

The DSG clip on holster, and JM kydex magazine carrier, on an Andy’s Leather (http://www.andysleather.com) belt.  I often wear my black lab coat or a flannel shirt over my this shirt, and either of those cover garments hide these two pieces perfectly.  In fact, if I untuck this plaid shirt, it too will cover and conceal this rig, even though it is fitted and light material.  Highly recommended carry system, if you use appendix carry.  DSG also makes the clip on for small revolvers.  (Stay tuned for another write up specific to that and the Ruger LCR)

I’ve spent the last few nights reading the excellent works, “Tactical Reality,” and, “More Tactical Reality,” and, “Hit or Myth,” by the late Louis Awerbuck.  He was fond of using unusual target systems that were not as easily seen, as a conventional paper or cardboard target.  One way he accomplished this was placing the targets in an partially concealed way, by simply setting them off of the stand, or stapling them with a curve to them.  You know…like how a real living, breathing, attacking marauder would be!  So, I stapled up a range target during one of my practice sessions, and did a 5x5x10x5 ( 5 rounds, in five seconds, at ten yards, five times) at a variety of small, 2″ pasters.  Operating on the, “aim small, miss small,” mindset, I quickly saw what Mr. Awerbuck referred to as knowing the target depth, and making shots that were neither too deep, or too shallow.  For example, rounds that are fired obliquely into a target, might prove ineffectual, even though they are what we might call, “solid,” hits, in areas of the body that contain significant anatomy.  Thus, if you make a ocular window headshot, but the round goes, “shallow,” it might only wound, whereas if the round was positioned, “deeper,” it would have a drastically different effect.  When you read it, it doesn’t necessarily make instant sense, but running this experiment yourself, shows you quickly what it means.  It also presents a smaller (narrower) target, and thus you have to really use your sights, and work the trigger efficiently, even though the distance is only ten yards.

The proof is in the pudding.  If you are presented with a target that is partially obscured on the left side, then rounds that are not precisely placed, MINDFUL OF DEPTH, go shallow, and might only prove to be ineffectual hits.  THIS IS ALSO a worthwhile illustration of why/how an attacker can be hit several times, in a self-defense scenario, and not be immediately incapacitated (as many lay people will have you believe…that an attacker will be stopped with one shot, regardless of placement).  The take-home message, for me, is that not ONLY do we need to be cognizant of the x, y placement of the shot (horizontal and vertical alignment) but ALSO the DEPTH (z) of the shot.  Something to consider…stay sharp and get your practice in.