Tatiana Whitlock, instructor.
Nighhawk T4 in 9mm: 3.8″ barrel, 5″ height, 1.32″ width. Compact, with light recoil and good accuracy. Great for concealed carry. But it’s not being concealed here, which brings me to a practical question: “Why not a longer pistol?” Much of the emphasis on thin slides and shortness stems from IWB carry requirements.
8% taller, wider by a hair or two, about 17% heavier than the T4, but you get extra 2.2″ of sight radius and 10mm Auto ballistics over 9mm Luger. The main issue is length and it comes into play with appendix carry, not so much with hip carry. This longslide is riding on the belt of a 5’2″ female and fits just fine.
So the question is, why not the longslide? I can think of only one reason, and that’s the slight slow-down of the draw stroke with conventional holsters.
Since women tend to have less of their height in their torso then men they may find it more awkward to draw a firearm with a longer slide. It is hard to draw a firearm into your armpit. I am a lot taller than my wife but my inseam is only an inch longer than hers.
A longer slide also makes the problems related to drawing with an hourglass figure worse. A longer slide may cause more problems with breast interference during the draw. I have seen students have all of these problems during classes.
At 6’2″ and 220 lbs, I still carry a LW Commander in an OWB holster. Why, because it weights a half pound less and it makes a difference over a long day.
I carried a Colt Light weight Commander for over 20 years. It spent half that time in 38 Super. Mostly in a Bianchi avenger and sometimes in a Miami classic. I now carry a government model I can shoot it better. When I get a chance I’m going to build a new longslide. I will sacrifice a little portability for sight radius and speed.
A lot of folks spend a couple of hours a day in a car. The longer the barrel, the higher the gun has to ride in a holster to clear the seat. Otherwise the gun , holster and belt are pushed up on the torso uncomfortably. Same reason a sheath knife can be a pia when seated in a car.
So what your all saying is that a larger gun may have to be carried somewhat differently than a shorter gun. Not a great or deep insight there.
Carry what ever you want, just don’t say that a larger gun cannot, or should not, be carried by someone else.
I know a guy who carries a 500 S&W with a ten inch barrel. While he’s hunting. Hey it’s both smaller and lighter than a typical big game rifle, so he’s compromising by carrying a smaller gun. So you think it’s huge because you’re comparing it to a P3AT. He thinks it’s small and handy because he’s comparing it to a scoped 30-06 rifle. He carries it for days at a time.
When I hunt I carry a rifle, but also an 8″ bbl revolver. I climb trees with that 8″ revolver and it’s not a problem. I just have to carry it differently than my large frame Glock is all, which in turn must be carried differently than a Beretta TomCat. So let’s hear your solutions.
My solution with the 8″ Army revolver is to carry it, not really quite cross-draw, but with the butt more or less in front and the barrel hanging off to my weak side. That way I can bend over, or raise my leg as high as I can to get up to the next branch or peg on the tree, sit in the car or whatever. It totally works and the longish draw does not require any gymnastics. Concealment would be rather more difficult, but certainly not impossible. I don’t care so much about concealment. So it’s all about your priorities.