2nd gun positioned for non-dominant hand

[CDW4ME]

I've carried a 2nd pistol in pocket for a couple years, dominant (right) hand pocket.
I don't regard it as a "back-up" rather a 2nd option, the option to put my hand on it without revealing I'm carrying.
This option is comforting (for example) in parking lots / gas pumps if approached by "shady" guy(s) asking for money.

Not very creative, difficulty thinking "out of the box", I never considered the advantage of carrying it in my left hand pocket.
Carrying a 2nd option gun in non-dominant hand pocket makes sense, in case dominant hand is shot, stabbed, has pit bull attached ect...
Since I envision the 2nd option only being used at very close range, I thought I might shoot well enough left handed to give it a try.

I started with a Glock 43 and Kel-Tec P3AT (380) - target about 10 feet away.
The Glock with Truglo TFO sights was easy to shoot well one handed, left hand.
Kel-Tec 380 recoiled all out of proportion to its modest power and the sights were / are lacking.
I was satisfied that the Glock would work as 2nd option in non-dominant hand pocket.

Session two, one handed left hand:
Kahr PM9 is more concealable / pocket friendly than the Glock 43, gotta try it.
Moved back to 5 yards from target and had good results
Magazine of Corbon 115+P and three magazines HST 124+P - no problem.
Kahr PM9 is a go for left pocket.

What about my Kahr PM40?
I was like...

With apprehension, a mag of Federal 155 Tactical Bonded and advance apologies to left hand...
The PM40 has more recoil than PM9, not intolerable, easier to shoot than Kel-Tec 380
Two more magazines 165 Golden Saber and another of the 155 Bonded without a problem,
(except complaints from my left hand / wrist).

Carry 2nd gun positioned for non-dominant hand, good idea!
Took me long enough to think of it... better late than never.

 

[Jesse H]

If you don't carry a spare mag, I'd rather do that. If you do carry a spare mag, practice drawing your primary pistol with your non-dominant hand.

Right now, I can more quickly draw my IWB strong side weapon with my off-hand, than I can fumble around in my pockets for a pocket sized pistol that I'm not as proficient with.

 

[entropy]

I carry my wallet in my left back pocket-learned it from my Dad He and many other cops carried their snub in the back right. I am more likely to carry my spare mag for the PT145 in the Right back pocket. The grips stick out in most my pants when I try to carry my snub there. Right now, it's riding in the front right, which has plenty of room.

 

[MedWheeler]

I've been carrying my P32 in my strong-side pocket, forward of and below my primary, which is on my belt. Like you, though, I have been considering of late moving it to the weak side, and possibly up onto the belt as well (IWB holster worn between pants and belt.) I will need some practice with weak-hand shooting of it, though..

 

[CDW4ME]

If you don't carry a spare mag, I'd rather do that. If you do carry a spare mag, practice drawing your primary pistol with your non-dominant hand.

Right now, I can more quickly draw my IWB strong side weapon with my off-hand, than I can fumble around in my pockets for a pocket sized pistol that I'm not as proficient with.

I carry a spare magazine for the Glock I'm wearing IWB, currently either a 20SF or 31.
The spare magazine is equally as much for if the primary pistol jams as it it for extra bullets.
2nd option is about being able to put hand on it without revealing I'm carrying, not a substitute for a spare mag.

 

[Jesse H]

2nd option is about being able to put hand on it without revealing I'm carrying, not a substitute for a spare mag.

I get that; I just don't believe it's useful to have a pistol you can touch stuffed in the pocket of your off-hand, when a pistol you can draw and more proficiently shoot from is already available.

If you're in a situation where you find yourself needing to put your hand on a pistol, you're already alert and should be able to draw with good shot placement from 7-10 yards within 1.5 seconds. One of the last classes I took was a concealed carry/off-duty class and that was the average time to get a round off in the A-zone from concealment.

If you think you can draw and fire with your off-hand with from a pocket holster faster, then I guess that has it's advantages. I prefer to stick with a gun and holster I'm very proficient and comfortable with, with my primary or both hands.

 

[SteadyD]

Proficiency with the weak hand is something that's easy to neglect. I shoot a handgun right handed and a rifle left handed, so I've got a bit of a leg up, but my left handed hand gun technique is still a ways behind my right.

I've had some tendonitis in my right arm, so I've been doing some additional training left handed. You never know what might happen to necessitate a switch to your non-dominate hand. Even something as boring as tendonitis, carpal tunnel, a broken arm, etc, let alone an injury during a violent encounter.

 

[Varminterror]

I've considered carrying "a pistol for each hand" over the years, since I'm ambidextrous, but at the end of the day, I can't get there logically as a back up.

When you draw and use up your first pistol, if either hand takes defensive damage, it is most likely to be your off hand - so then the scenario you describe as having the pistol accessible to the non-injured hand becomes moot. That off hand is the one more likely to be disabled.

I could get on board with the philosophy, at least PART WAY, of having options to draw whichever seems fitting, but personally, I think it adds too much ambiguity in the stressful moment. You don't want to have your first reaction to a threat stimulus to be a decision - it should be an active step to save your life and stop the threat. So you'll be programming an inherent delay into your response time - while it might seem like you're giving yourself options, you're really giving yourself a mental boat anchor to carry around. Even though I'm ambidextrous and I practice to draw and fire from either hand, I try to limit my actual daily carry to the same position - I can't imagine anything worse than reaching for a pistol on my right appendix, not find it, and immediately recall I'm carrying in my left pocket that day.

I'm sure a lot of guys would disagree, and I'm sure a lot of folks could bring up different hypothetical circumstances in which ambidextrous carry is an advantage, but the EVERY DAY boat anchor of a mental decision which one to grab is more than enough reason for me to abandon the idea.

 

[Jim NE]

This option is comforting (for example) in parking lots / gas pumps if approached by "shady" guy(s) asking for money.

Not very creative, difficulty thinking "out of the box"

Sounds creative to me. I might just try to shoot left handed once or twice at the range. See what happens.

 

[JohnBiltz]

I've started carrying in a left cargo pocket as well as strong side waist. If I need a reload I'll reload. Its my "I've been knocked down and I can't get up gun."

 

[CDW4ME]

I get that; I just don't believe it's useful to have a pistol you can touch stuffed in the pocket of your off-hand, when a pistol you can draw and more proficiently shoot from is already available.

If you're in a situation where you find yourself needing to put your hand on a pistol, you're already alert and should be able to draw with good shot placement from 7-10 yards within 1.5 seconds. One of the last classes I took was a concealed carry/off-duty class and that was the average time to get a round off in the A-zone from concealment.

If you think you can draw and fire with your off-hand with from a pocket holster faster, then I guess that has it's advantages. I prefer to stick with a gun and holster I'm very proficient and comfortable with, with my primary or both hands.

Let me try to be specific:
You are loading groceries into your vehicle. You see someone walking toward you, they are not visibly armed, look like they are going to ask you something, could be how do I get to ___, or do you have any money I can have. You don't know.
Once I started shaking my head "no" and he still walked closer to try and talk, which resulted in a loud verbal "no".... "no"
Very similar can happen quickly at gas pumps (they park waiting for someone to pull up), doesn't merit drawing or exposing a gun.
I've had this happen at least four times, every time it was asking for money.
Being able to already have my hand on pistol seems advantageous in case asking should turn into demanding / threatening.

This thread is not asking a question, its is sharing / informative; if one doesn't think my logic valid, ignore it.

 

[CDW4ME]

I've considered carrying "a pistol for each hand" over the years, since I'm ambidextrous, but at the end of the day, I can't get there logically as a back up.

I've already been carrying a 2nd pistol for awhile, just recently considered the potential advantage of putting it in non-dominant pocket.
The Glock 20SF / 31 I'm wearing 12:30 appendix IWB is much preferred to any pocket pistol, but .... options.

 

[Varminterror]

I often do carry a second, and logically for me, a strong side primary and a near centerline back up make sense.

 

[bassjam]

If one wants to carry a BUG, I think putting it in position for the non-dominant hand makes the most sense.

I'm content with one gun on my right side, but I do have a pocket knife with a 3.5" blade clipped to my left pocket that could be used if I absolutely had to. Luckily I'm left handed but am right eye dominant, so I shoot right handed and the knife is most familiar in my left hand.

 

[JohnBiltz]

For me its most important the second gun is somewhere the non dominant hand to get to. If your grappling and your primary is Appendix or 4:30 your probably never going to reach it if you are on your back and he is on top of you. The same thing on your waist most anywhere. But if you are on your back or in your car a cargo pocket is very easy to reach. The same if you have been pushed up against a car or wall and your right arm is trapped between you and the wall.

Just because you can put your hand on something does not mean you can drag it out of a pant's pocket faster than you can draw from the waist.

 

[RPZ]

A pistol or revolver carried behind the weak hand hip - about 7 o'clock for a righthander - can be readily accessed with either hand. I first saw that in an article by IIRC Bob Arganbright in a Guns Digest annual back in the 1970s.

For a righthand(er) draw the back of the hand slides down the back to grip and draw.

 

[Jesse H]

Let me try to be specific:
You are loading groceries into your vehicle. You see someone walking toward you, they are not visibly armed, look like they are going to ask you something, could be how do I get to ___, or do you have any money I can have. You don't know.
Once I started shaking my head "no" and he still walked closer to try and talk, which resulted in a loud verbal "no".... "no"
Very similar can happen quickly at gas pumps (they park waiting for someone to pull up), doesn't merit drawing or exposing a gun.
I've had this happen at least four times, every time it was asking for money.
Being able to already have my hand on pistol seems advantageous in case asking should turn into demanding / threatening.

This thread is not asking a question, its is sharing / informative; if one doesn't think my logic valid, ignore it.

And my response is informative as well and I refuse to ignore information that isn't tested. I've given a measurable standard of drawing from concealment and hitting a target at 7-10 yards at 1.5 seconds. It's not a blink of an eye, but it's pretty quick. Quicker than I can reasonably do the same with a pocket pistol, with my left hand, within the pocket.

And I agree, not every situation merits drawing a gun. That's why we need to be responsible in our training and not solely rely on the gun but our physical abilities as well.

 

[JohnBiltz]

A pistol or revolver carried behind the weak hand hip - about 7 o'clock for a righthander - can be readily accessed with either hand. I first saw that in an article by IIRC Bob Arganbright in a Guns Digest annual back in the 1970s.

For a righthand(er) draw the back of the hand slides down the back to grip and draw.

Why would a firearm positioned at 7 be any easier for the other hand to draw than a firearm at 5?

 

[ATLDave]

A pistol carried butt-forward on the hip can be drawn by either hand. The cavalry used to holster their pistols in this manner so that either hand could access the revolver while the other hand held the reigns (or, sometimes, wielded a saber). I suppose one could carry a backup piece on the weakside hip in this fashion... it would work as a cross-draw for the strong hand, and still be accessible via a "cavalry draw" by the weak.

 

[RPZ]

Why would a firearm positioned at 7 be any easier for the other hand to draw than a firearm at 5?

Long time ago I had the digest copy, but Arganbright may have reasoned that a natural draw should favor the weak hand. Hence a right-handed person would carry at 7, where the strong hand might be less likely to fumble a palm out grasp and draw.

 

[ATLDave]

Now that I think about it, most of the cops around here carry their tasers weak-side, butt-forward.

 

[Danoobie]

I've considered carrying "a pistol for each hand" over the years, since I'm ambidextrous, but at the end of the day, I can't get there logically as a back up.

THIS. Not to mention, too much focus on the guns, and not enough on situational awareness, and using all other tools at your
disposal, to avoid or deflect the confrontation. I prefer to have one hand free to grab my Tac-lite, or even use the butt of my
multi-tool as an impact weapon, to AVOID going full-on confrontation.
How about that cell phone? Pick it up and say loudly "OH, you're coming around the corner, RIGHT NOW? SEE you in a couple
seconds!"