Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Thoughts on carrying a Ruger Single Action for personal defense......
I've been carrying a Ruger Blackhawk, either .44 Special or .45 Colt for over ten years now. Here's my experience and observations. Thank God, I've never been called into use. But here are my ideas about the carrying of such.
First off, I dress around my carry style. I wear western clothing down to boots and hat. Tennessee, my home state, is open carry, but I find it more prudent to conceal, at least to some extent. I normally wear a sport coat or jacket, and in summer a western cut leather vest. So what if the tip of my holster may show at times, its only leather and could be a phone or computer. I carry on my pants belt, strong side. My advice is to avoid inside waistband carry especially if covered by a Polo shirt of any garment that requires the offhand to grab and pull it up to expose the gun butt.
When I make my draw, my elbow pushes back the covering garment and my hand falls naturally on the gun butt, thumb automatically goes to the hammer, trigger finger does find the trigger. I lift the gun clear and swing it in an upward arc, cocking the hammer as I do so. When the gun is level and directed to my assailant I press the trigger. I make no wasted "steps" as presenting the gun nor trying to cock with the off hand.
I carry my gun in a leather holster with no thongs or straps. The mouth of the holster is about mid way or my belt. And my holster has a slight forward cant. Too much cant and my thumb has trouble finding the hammer spur.
And as to color, while many of my holsters are light tan, I have found brown, oxblood, or cordovan to be less noticeable, while tan and black do seem to draw attention.
Here one of my favorite rigs, Doc Barranti's No.1 Schuck:
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fhosting.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi230%2FBobWright%2FBob%2520Armed%2F.highres%2F100_0495_zpsrtej8bua.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960%26height%3D720%26fit%3Dbounds&hash=8f240b7d6380ab34805778a14e426362)
These my thoughts and practices.
Bob Wright
I've been carrying a Ruger Blackhawk, either .44 Special or .45 Colt for over ten years now. Here's my experience and observations. Thank God, I've never been called into use. But here are my ideas about the carrying of such.
First off, I dress around my carry style. I wear western clothing down to boots and hat. Tennessee, my home state, is open carry, but I find it more prudent to conceal, at least to some extent. I normally wear a sport coat or jacket, and in summer a western cut leather vest. So what if the tip of my holster may show at times, its only leather and could be a phone or computer. I carry on my pants belt, strong side. My advice is to avoid inside waistband carry especially if covered by a Polo shirt of any garment that requires the offhand to grab and pull it up to expose the gun butt.
When I make my draw, my elbow pushes back the covering garment and my hand falls naturally on the gun butt, thumb automatically goes to the hammer, trigger finger does find the trigger. I lift the gun clear and swing it in an upward arc, cocking the hammer as I do so. When the gun is level and directed to my assailant I press the trigger. I make no wasted "steps" as presenting the gun nor trying to cock with the off hand.
I carry my gun in a leather holster with no thongs or straps. The mouth of the holster is about mid way or my belt. And my holster has a slight forward cant. Too much cant and my thumb has trouble finding the hammer spur.
And as to color, while many of my holsters are light tan, I have found brown, oxblood, or cordovan to be less noticeable, while tan and black do seem to draw attention.
Here one of my favorite rigs, Doc Barranti's No.1 Schuck:
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fhosting.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi230%2FBobWright%2FBob%2520Armed%2F.highres%2F100_0495_zpsrtej8bua.jpg%3Fwidth%3D960%26height%3D720%26fit%3Dbounds&hash=8f240b7d6380ab34805778a14e426362)
These my thoughts and practices.
Bob Wright