CROSS draw HOLSTER
- Thread starter remington jim
- Start date
RJ
The Doc Holiday you posted in reply #2 is not eligible for cowboy action shooting. The holsters have to go on the regular belt that goes around the hips like the rigs seen in so many cowboy movies. The ones that are useable are like the holster shown in ruffbird's post #11 but without the security strap. The retention safety that is acceptable is a hammer spur loop.
A variation on the slip on style in ruffbird's post is the buscadero style where the holsters fit to the belt in a low drop slot in the belt. This buscadero style is highly popular because it means that the arm doesn't need to bend unduly to clear the leather.
To use a cross draw the rules call for the shooter to pivot on their feet or at least pivot their hips so that the gun's muzzle is generally to the sides and forward before the hand touches the grips for the draw. At no time is it acceptable to have a hand on the gun while the muzzle is pointed back of a 170° safe line.
And that's the issue with many cross draw and shoulder holsters. With many of them it is simply impossible to draw without sweeping half the line. And with a lot of the higher mount shoulder holsters it's pretty much impossible to avoid sweeping at least the arm on the side of the holster.
But in the end there's no doubt that in a lot of cases a regular waist holster is really in the way for a lot of things. I know a fellow that uses a handgun for wilderness ATC. He spends a lot of time hunkered down on his ankles in water as he has a small gold claim that he likes running for fun and to get away from the city now and then. A regular waist holster would see the muzzle sitting in water as often as not. For his use a nice out of the way shoulder holster simply is the only way to carry his gun without it being constantly in water or in the way.
