open carry with a shoulder holster

i was wondering if you use a shoulder holster with out wearing a coat or jacket over it. would that be open carry?
some times i dont use a belt so wonder how i could open carry then?
ron l day

It would be open carry. Many people advise against a shoulder holster for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that often when you draw you have to sweep innocent people before you reach your intended target especially if you are in a crowded area. There are other options if you don't wear a belt such as belly-band type holsters.

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-202.html#NRS202Sec350

“Concealed weapon” means a weapon described in this section that is carried upon a person in such a manner as not to be discernible by ordinary observation.

Click to expand...

ronlday said:

i was wondering if you use a shoulder holster with out wearing a coat or jacket over it. would that be open carry?
some times i dont use a belt so wonder how i could open carry then?
ron l day

Click to expand...

There is a sometime poster that goes by Las Vegan, if my memory is correct I believe he open carries with a shoulder holster. Might be a good source of info.
I do not know how to link the thread however check out Thread: OC MEETUP: Freemont Street Experience 13-14 August posted last year. I believe the second or third set of postings there is some pictures of the group of us carrying on Fremont one with a shoulder holster.

As posted above, concealed means "carried upon a person in such a manner as not to be discernible by ordinary observation." If you're OCing in a shoulder holster, and someone can look at your and see that you have a gun, then you are not concealing.

thank you

thank you. i have been wondering about this for awile. and in a way not so much as for it being legal but as in would the cops or others make a fuss about it.
ron l day

28kfps said:

There is a sometime poster that goes by Las Vegan, if my memory is correct I believe he open carries with a shoulder holster. Might be a good source of info.

Click to expand...

I don't know how good of a source of information I am, but yes, I do occasionally OC with a shoulder holster. I wear a suit to work every day and sometimes when I run errands after work I leave the jacket in the car. Nobody (so far) bothers a man in a suit and tie wearing a fedora and a shoulder holster. I have been called Elliot Ness once or twice, though.

Anyone able to suggest a good shoulder holster? they make a few types. Barrell Pointing down to ground, back towards anyone behind you, and up towards your own armpit. Thoughts? I've been thinking about picking one up for wearing a suit. A nice 100$ belt just doesn't support a gun very well. And I'm 140ish lbs. When I wear a well fitted suite...I just print no matter what type of holster I have on my belt. figured a shoulder holster could help me on dates out at casinos etc =)

I'd say it depends on your priority. In my case my main concern was being able to comfortably draw the pistol, and for that reason I chose a horizontal carry (with the muzzle of the pistol pointing behind me). Since you seem more concerned with printing you may be better off with a vertical carry, which in most cases will have the muzzle pointing downwards.

Try taking your pistol in your strong hand and holding it under your weak arm in various positions, basically imitating the place that your strong hand will have to go to access the pistol's grip in order to draw it. If you have no trouble with a vertical orientation then you are set.

I would recommend against the type of shoulder holster that uses only a strap of leather or fabric under the arm opposite your pistol and suggest that you go instead with one that is offset on the opposite side with either a pouch to hold spare magazines or at the very least a tie down with would either clip to your trousers or loop through your belt, unless you only carry a very small/light weapon.

I think you will be very happy with either the Sleeping Dog or the Master's from JBP Holsters, and at $86 and $116 respectively, the prices are hard to beat for quality leather gear.

How about chest carry?

disneyr said:

How about chest carry?

View attachment 6469

Click to expand...

I used to carry a scoped .44 in a custom leather harness for hunting and found it very uncomfortable. I think even with a smaller gun, presentation would be slow. Unfortunately a holster of any kind is a compromise between utility and comfort. I settled on a revolver in a molded leather belt holster worn between 1 and 2 o'clock. The .357 snubbie is accurate at gunfight range and powerful enough with very quick draw. Worn more upfront than to the side or back allows me to help prevent someone coming up from behind and relieving me of my firearm. As with any carry arrangement I have to be careful of snagging it on objects. I also like crossdraw and have a small .380 that I wear in that position now and then.

TBG

Whatever shoulder holster you get, I recommend it carries the gun muzzle-down.

Think hard about a horizontal holster. It is no fun at all looking at the muzzle when you're standing in line behind a shoulder holster carrier. Anybody behind you in line at the grocery store, etc., is going to see the muzzle pointed right at them.

The Big Guy said:

I used to carry a scoped .44 in a custom leather harness for hunting and found it very uncomfortable. I think even with a smaller gun, presentation would be slow. Unfortunately a holster of any kind is a compromise between utility and comfort. I settled on a revolver in a molded leather belt holster worn between 1 and 2 o'clock. The .357 snubbie is accurate at gunfight range and powerful enough with very quick draw. Worn more upfront than to the side or back allows me to help prevent someone coming up from behind and relieving me of my firearm. As with any carry arrangement I have to be careful of snagging it on objects. I also like crossdraw and have a small .380 that I wear in that position now and then.

TBG

Click to expand...

I too have carried a scoped 44 mag as a hunting firearm. I had seen the chest carry for the scoped pistols however did not want to have it bouncing against my chest for several hours walking through the trees and brush. I had a custom made cross draw hip holster. It worked well and I would carry it open in the rural northern Nevada small towns. Has nothing to do with the subject of this thread just the first time I heard of another 44 mag hunter.

Those chest rigs are popular with hunters carrying big revolvers. I think they're pretty impractical for daily carry in town.

This is a real chest rig:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i23/jeff_bennion/Guns/The_Boondock_Saints_-_Il_Duce.jpg

Citizen said:

Whatever shoulder holster you get, I recommend it carries the gun muzzle-down.

Think hard about a horizontal holster. It is no fun at all looking at the muzzle when you're standing in line behind a shoulder holster carrier. Anybody behind you in line at the grocery store, etc., is going to see the muzzle pointed right at them.

Click to expand...

I know what you're talking about. On one of the strip meet-up I was walking behind Las Vegan and it can be a little distracting having a muzzle pointed you even though it's in a holster.

Coming this Oct. I'll be a groomsman in a wedding. Knowing that I always have a gun on me, I was asked to wear a shoulder rig. The groom thought it would be "neat" for me to OC at the reception.

I'm thinking of getting Galco's Jackass rig. Looks like it would be one of the most comfortable with the larger straps. It's a horizontal rig but can be adjusted so that it's a more of a diagonal.

28kfps said:

I too have carried a scoped 44 mag as a hunting firearm. I had seen the chest carry for the scoped pistols however did not want to have it bouncing against my chest for several hours walking through the trees and brush. I had a custom made cross draw hip holster. It worked well and I would carry it open in the rural northern Nevada small towns. Has nothing to do with the subject of this thread just the first time I heard of another 44 mag hunter.

Click to expand...

Used it to hunt pigs in TX.

TBG

For those talking about using a shoulder holster to open carry with , you could try what I did.

I have a Galco jackass rig but didn't like the horizontal carry for reasons already stated. Well I bought a used Bianchi X 15 rig and mated the Bianchi holster body to the Galco harness. The Galco harness is more comfortable than the Bianchi plus gives you the 2 mag pouches on the opposite side.

By using the Holster body of the X 15 , you still have the vertical carry with a comfy harness. You might want to dye one or both pieces to make them match. I wasn't worried about the colors matching completely because I figured we would have to conceal carry in this state should we ever get to that point.

By going through ebay I only have $95.00 in my setup.

The Big Guy said:

Used it to hunt pigs in TX.

TBG

Click to expand...

Always wanted to try the pig hunting. Used mine to drop a few Mulley deer.

Citizen said:

Whatever shoulder holster you get, I recommend it carries the gun muzzle-down.

Think hard about a horizontal holster. It is no fun at all looking at the muzzle when you're standing in line behind a shoulder holster carrier. Anybody behind you in line at the grocery store, etc., is going to see the muzzle pointed right at them.

Click to expand...

I can't emphasize this enough. I think horizontal shoulder holsters are bad enough for concealed carry. You're violating Rule #1 about pointing a firearm (and a loaded one at that) at things you do not wish to destroy, even though the person behind you doesn't know there is a gun pointed at them. It's infinitely more disrespectful (even if we put aside Rule #1 for holstered weapons) to have people whom you don't even know looking down the muzzle of your firearm.

I carry strong-side behind the hip or appendix (where only me, myself, and I get pointed at by my firearm when in a seated position). Before we were 21 (I'm 37 now), my brother and I open-carried as you had to be 21 to apply for a CCW permit. I carried a S&W Model 19 in an FBI-cant. He carried a Daewoo (remember those?) in a horizontal shoulder holster. This is long before I became a licensed firearms instructor but I can remember being embarrassed because of it on several occasions.

Open-carry of firearms never embarrassed me, but that shoulder holster of his sure did.

PS - I just joined tonight, I can't believe I never checked out this website before! I think I'll stick around!

MAC702 said:

I can't emphasize this enough. I think horizontal shoulder holsters are bad enough for concealed carry. You're violating Rule #1 about pointing a firearm (and a loaded one at that) at things you do not wish to destroy, even though the person behind you doesn't know there is a gun pointed at them. It's infinitely more disrespectful (even if we put aside Rule #1 for holstered weapons) to have people whom you don't even know looking down the muzzle of your firearm.

I carry strong-side behind the hip or appendix (where only me, myself, and I get pointed at by my firearm when in a seated position). Before we were 21 (I'm 37 now), my brother and I open-carried as you had to be 21 to apply for a CCW permit. I carried a S&W Model 19 in an FBI-cant. He carried a Daewoo (remember those?) in a horizontal shoulder holster. This is long before I became a licensed firearms instructor but I can remember being embarrassed because of it on several occasions.

Open-carry of firearms never embarrassed me, but that shoulder holster of his sure did.

PS - I just joined tonight, I can't believe I never checked out this website before! I think I'll stick around!

Click to expand...

Welcome to OC. Looking forward to your input.