Preferred? It's varied over the years, including the 30+ years I carried an active badge. I started in days of the service revolver, and back then my 'minimum' carry was either a Colt Commander or a 4" .357MAG. It didn't take long for .38SPL to find its way into my needs, as the 2"-3" snubs were a bit easier to tote concealed. I had to work harder to shoot them as well, of course, but that's to be expected with many smaller and lighter guns, especially when it comes to how recoil may affect you.
I went through the transition to double stack 9's replacing wheelguns, and then the increasing availability of compact and subcompact pistols. I carried issued 9's, .40's & .45's the years. As retirement time approached, I found myself buying and carrying my 5-shot snubs again. They were simply more handy when concealment was a priority, but they did require more range/trigger time to make sure the skills were up to the task. Hell, I even picked up a couple LCP's, for those times when even a snub wouldn't fit in some tight and short jeans pockets (holstered, of course).
Nowadays? For my retirement needs one or another of my assorted S&W J's serve the role, although sometimes one of the LCP's gets the duty. I don't often want to belt on one of my many 9's, .40's or .45's quite so much anymore. Sure, they still get range (and qual) time, along with my J's and LCP's. There are some occasional exceptions, of course. Like today ...
I'm getting ready to wander over the hill to one (may both
) of my cigar clubs in a little while. I decided to put the J-frame I've been carrying back in the safe, and got out my CS9 (subcompact 3rd gen S&W, w/3" barrel and 7rd mags), along with my oldest leather plainclothes holster which fits the CS9.
I've had that CS9 for more than 20 years, and it's seen a lot of range use when I was working as an instructor. It was more fun to shoot than my 3913 (and issued 6906's), if only for the neat, short but hand-filling Hogue grips that came standard on them, and the way the short slide briskly (and controllably) runs through its cycling and snaps the front sight back onto the target so quickly, especially with the +P and +P+ loads we used back then. Then again, I'm also a satisfied user of Traditional Double Action (DA/SA) working guns, having carried them since '90.
The Hume H726 leather holster is their older spring loaded, partially open front model. It's canted for a natural draw, and the draw stroke only requires raising the weapon a short distance before being able to execute the draw. In other words, a shorter "elbow up" draw before the "elbow down" presentation occurs. The partially open front slot cut lets the muzzle clear much sooner, hence much faster, than the typical front edges of the holster pockets commonly seen. As soon as the muzzle clears the front cut, the muzzle can be rotated toward the threat. Kinder on aging and 'well-worn' shoulders and elbows.
It does have a thumb break, which is metal reinforced, and the thick leather has double stitched sew lines. I just wish I'd discovered that holster back when Hume still made them for revolvers.
Did I mention faster, too? It's surprised a few people with its speed back in my plainclothes days. One of the guys in our bureau told me once, after an incident, that it was the fastest holster he'd ever used. He became a fan.
The model has changed a bit over the years. The most obvious change is going from closed tunnel belt loops to open slots. Another change was when they stopped using the adhesive felt 'dots' to cover the bottom of the outboard snap, and went to using thick plastic covers that snapped into the hole in the snap base. The plastic was thick enough that edge would sometimes catch on the rear of the slides, and cause a little hitch in the giddy-up of the draw. I fixed that by removing the new plastic plugs and replacing them with adhesive dots.
The plastic plugs may last longer than felt dots, but felt dots are easily found and very inexpensive parts for holster maintenance.
This pic shows my issued 4513TSW alongside my 3913. You can see how the different length slides have different height slot cuts, and how short the muzzle has to be raised to clear the front of the holster.
My CS9 in the oldest brown leather H726. It made for the original 3rd gen 69XX guns, with their square trigger guard, but the round trigger guard models fit fine in it (but not vice-versa, obviously).
This is a few of the ones I picked up over the years.
I almost didn't order a CS9, thinking it wasn't really going to be that much more appealing than my 3913. That lasted until another instructor let me borrow his CS9 and put it through its paces on our training range. Everything I prized in my 3913, but half an inch shorter in length & height, and the curved Hogues made specifically for S&W's
Chief Special 3rd gens made it fine and pleasant little pistol to run hard.
My CS9 is presently stoked with Winchester RA9TA 127gr +P+.
