Another Revolver Advantage - Concealability

Forgive me if I've said this already somewhere else.

The dog days are here, and they've come with a vengeance in Tennessee. Hot, humid and sticky.

It's during these times that I am reminded of the concealability advantage of a revolver. Where the squared off grip bottom of a Glock 19, or even a 1911, leaves a slight tell-tale straight line visible through a t-shirt, the nice round shape of a Ruger compact grip or a Pachmayr Compac make printing through a t-shirt almost impossible.

I can't lean, twist or contort my body in a way to make a GP100 or a k-frame with these grips print in even the slightest manner under a t-shirt.

This is, of course, all contingent on a good strong belt and a snug IWB holster, and your shirt being untucked.

So there we have it. My answer to the best concealable handgun in a hot sticky environment is not a small pocket handgun, it's a large service frame magnum revolver with appropriate grips in an IWB holster.

Meh I go for the .32 Tomcat in the pocket...or if I feel necessary I can easily hide my Beretta 92 under a tshirt~~but I might be a bigger guy than you....but I rarely tuck the S&W 60 in an IWB...big Beretta is more comfortable than that cylinder & hammer on the Smith...YMMV we're all shaped differently

I don't know Jim, I'm a pretty large mammal.

Interesting about the 92. It doesn't print against your shirt? Heck, I might be doing something wrong, a Glock 19 prints sometimes for me with a t shirt.

Tennessee Jed wrote:I don't know Jim, I'm a pretty large mammal.

Interesting about the 92.  It doesn't print against your shirt?  Heck, I might be doing something wrong, a Glock 19 prints sometimes for me with a t shirt.

When I carry it like that I always wear a black tshirt but I have enough "drape" from chest to hip that it's virtually undetectable...again, not my first choice but sometimes I just feel a little better with more gun.

Also, here in PA printing isn't a "bad" thing like it used to be...and I don't really care too much if there is some print...and 99.5% of the sheep population are so self-absorbed they don't notice stuff like that...and if they they do half of the .5% thinks it's a cell phone and the other half are carrying themselves anyhow

Overall though I've carried my S&W 60 (OWB/Galco Silhouette) more than all my other guns combined over the past 20 years...

I don't personally believe a wheel gun will print less than something like a Shield. I think the issue you note may be double stack vs single stack. I have noted 19's printing elsewhere, whereas the Shield just doesn't seem to. My friend carries a KelTec and it doesn't print either.

I carry my Shield in a slide or pocket. I carry the 229 in a Mitch Rosen snap OWB holster. It prints a touch, depending on the shirt.

I would think that it would be more of a gun to gun basis rather than revolvers vs autos. I usually have large grips on my revolvers because it makes them more comfy to shoot--I think my gp100 would tend to print more than my Shield which carries a little more ammo. Here in Utah, printing isn't a huge issue. I also agree with Jim, I don't think people notice those kind of things as much these days--I mean, how do you tell the difference between a cell phone bulge and a gun bulge?

Those are good points. I guess I should've added that the grips on the revolver are very important. I use Ruger compact grips on my GP100, which don't print at all. However, if I used the standard GP100 full size grips, or the big Hogue monogrips, then the printing would be about the same as with a large frame Glock.

For the most part, printing isn't much of a concern here. But I sometimes have to go places where carrying concealed, while legal, is heavily frowned upon by people who are important to my remaining gainfully employed.

For example, it might be surprising, but the music business here in Nashville (especially those really in charge) is very liberal and mostly anti-gun. Yeah, sure, the artists sing about drinking beer on the back of tractors while shooting guns at the moon and quoting scripture, but in reality a very large contingent of the business has more in common with President Dog-Eater Hussein than they do the people who buy their albums. Yes, I am a closet redneck living in a yuppie world.

It's in those instances where I'm very tough about printing. I think anyone who saw something would think it's a cell phone, but I'm not willing to take that chance.

I use to be quite concerned with printing, as it wasn't legal for me to carry in IL. But now that I have a CCW, it is of less concern. Part of that is that the law is written so that it isn't an issue, since it says, concealed or mostly concealed. This allows for the inadvertent bottom of the holster or print.

I am still unimpressed with a wheelie being narrower than a slab-sided single stack. I grant that much of what you see today is double stack, but there are still single stacks about and they hide well I believe. 9's particularly. The bigger calibre guns might be a little harder to hide, yet still a 1911 hides remarkably well, even though .45. But I would agree an IWB for a 1911 would be much better.