Deep Concealment

There were Ankle Holsters, then so-called ‘Tuckables,’ but Nothing Beats a Pistol in your Pocket!

I began thinking about a deep concealment rig when I watched “The French Connection” for about the fifteenth time, just to watch Gene Hackman dive behind a tree to duck rounds fired by a rooftop sniper while reaching down to draw a snubbie .38 Special revolver from that holster on his ankle.

Later on, I carried an old Chief’s Special in an ankle rig that fit very well inside of my cowboy boot while working as an editor at a small weekly newspaper. I occasionally carried a flatter .32-caliber Beretta semiauto the same way, and the notion of having a pistol that nobody could detect in a place they wouldn’t be looking was both intriguing and very practical.

Such pistols are handy, within reach at all times, and unnoticeable because most people don’t walk around staring at someone’s ankles…and the holster allows you have your gun in an emergency. I knew a female attorney who carried a revolver in an ankle holster, and with the proper slacks, one could not tell. Ditto a female cop.

CONCEALMENT FOR WOMEN

There are a couple of companies that build handbags and purses with special compartments for handguns. Such bags are worth the money when balanced against one’s safety. And, as noted earlier, most people don’t look for a hidden handgun—the average scumbag is surprised when an intended victim turns out to be armed and willing to shoot.

Some time back I chatted with a lady in real estate who tipped me to the fact that several of her female colleagues carried pistols on the job. There have been cases of real estate agents being robbed or murdered, and female realtors are often concerned about sexual assault, too.

Over the years, there have been some interesting products for women, including bra holsters and thigh holsters for very small pistols.

THE “TUCKABLE” HOLSTER

Years ago, a guy asked me to build a holster over which he could tuck a shirt. I diddled around with the project and it eventually turned into something copied by several other people; somewhere along the way it was dubbed the “tuckable.”

This was, and remains, a rig built for small handguns. The original prototypes were for a J-frame and a Walther PPK. I’ve had guys ask me to make them for Government Models and I turned them down. The biggest gun I’d ever suggest for such a rig is maybe an Officer’s Model or similar Kimber or Springfield compact.


Integral Holsters

One of the more intriguing options for pocket carry includes the integral pocket holster, like the Pocket Shot made by DeSantis. These holsters fit to your pistol semi-permanently, meaning that you can remove them when you want, but they’re intended to allow proper firing, cycling, and reloading, with the holster affixed to the gun. They don’t provide auxiliary protection for your trigger—like most traditional holsters—and won’t keep out the lint and grit, but they serve a larger purpose: to provide a low-drag, integral method of concealing the shape of your handgun for pocket carry! --Editor

For more information: www.desantisholster.com

Wallet-Printing
 Most pocket holsters are designed in a rectangular size and shape that fits your pocket—and their purpose—quite well.

When you sit down, the contents of your pants pockets “print” through the fabric, clearly showing their outline—keys, a phone, a pocket knife… If you intend to sit down in public, your gun will “print” its unmistakable outline unless you have it in a holster.

Pocket holsters are designed to approximate the size and shape of a wallet, so that even the most intent observer will think you’ve merely placed your wallet in a front pocket. --Editor

Workman’s deep cover rig has generically been called a “tuckable” because you wear it with a shirt tucked over the hidden sidearm. This is Mitch Rosen’s superb rendition.

A POUND OR SO OF PREVENTION

Console Vault’s Vehicle Vault Keeps Handguns and Valuables Safe and Secure

While searching the Web for a discreet gun safe for my Ford F-250, I came across a company named Console Vault, which offers not only vehicle safes, but covert wall safes and security briefcases, as well. Turns out, the company has been making specialized vehicle vaults for law enforcement and government officials around the world for eight years. By the time I’d finished reading its homepage, I’d made up my mind.

The Vehicle Vault uses Console Vault’s five-point locking system and a high-security barrel lock. A keyless combination lock is an option, and that’s the route I went. I can set the combo off by one digit when I’m in the vehicle in the event I need access to my handgun in a hurry. The major components are made of 12-gauge cold-rolled plate steel and refined with welded tabs and notch seams.

What I appreciated most is that the Vehicle Vault requires no vehicle modifications whatsoever. There are only four parts to install on late-model F-250s and three on earlier models; the kit also includes all the mounting hardware.

Installation is pretty straightforward, as long as you can read instructions. First, you set your personal combination. Next, you remove the factory nuts at the bottom of the console. Then, you attach the front, then the rear, support brackets to the bottom of the console. And finally, you mount the lid assembly to the top of the support brackets. Done deal.

When the installation is complete, the Vehicle Vault is anchored discreetly inside the console. Virtually no storage space is lost, because the console lid closes flush up against the Vehicle Vault’s lid assembly. When the console lid is closed, no one would ever know it’s there.

I’ve now used my Vehicle Vault to stow my wallet, watch, keys (my truck has keyless entry), mobile phone and anything else I had in my pockets on several occasions when the truck was parked, whether I was fishing at a bass lake near my house or going for a jog at the beach. While it’s true that my truck has never been broken into (perhaps it’s the NRA, California Rifle & Pistol Association, American flag and assortment of gun decals that are displayed on the rear window of my cab), I get some real peace of mind knowing that if it ever were broken into, the thief would have to be equipped with some serious cutting tools to get to any valuables I’d left in the console.

CONTACT:

CONSOLE VAULT
5000 West Oakey Boulevard
Suite E2
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(800) 878-1369
www.consolevault.com

GW-1212-FIELD TEST

When the installation is complete, the Vehicle Vault is anchored discreetly inside the console. Virtually no storage space is lost, because the console lid closes flush up against the Vehicle Vault’s lid assembly.

Baker's Dozen 13 Quality Handguns for Less than $500

By Dr. Martin D. Topper

The economy is about as lackluster as it gets. Unless, that is, you’re talking about the manufacture and sale of handguns, which is one of the few growth sectors.

A recent article by Martha C. White referred to a Gallup Poll that indicated household ownership of firearms had risen from 41% to 47%. White further reported that the fastest selling items were small, inexpensive handguns.  However it's not just men who are buying guns; the number of women purchasing guns rose 9% in the last year.

If gun buying patterns in my neck of the woods are like the rest of the country, many of those guns purchased by women and men were handguns for personal defense.

Given the current interest in inexpensive handguns, I searched the web for new handguns that could be purchased for less than $500 and went to the Florida Gun Exchange to look at a number of reasonably-priced used guns.  The search turned up many new and used guns priced less than $500, and it was easy to find a representative sample of these pistols and revolvers for this article.

Each gun was inspected for defects in workmanship or signs of excessive wear. All of the handguns described below were well-fitted and functioned smoothly. Some of the used guns had holster wear, but they were otherwise in very good to excellent condition.

New Guns

The new guns examined were regular production models. None of these revolvers and pistols had been modified in any way, and no attempt was made to select the best example of any particular model. These are the same guns that anyone who passes a background check can buy from a well-stocked gun shop.

1 Beretta Tomcat .32 ACP

Beretta's Tomcat is a popular small Double Action (DA) semi-automatic.  It's a bit big for a pocket .32, but it is comfortable to hold and will conceal in either a coat pocket or an inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster.

There are a number of hollowpoint defense loads made for this caliber, including a Winchester Silvertip, Federal Hydra-Shok, COR-BON DPX, a Speer Gold Dot and a Hornady XTP. Winchester's factory ballistics have a 60 gr. Silvertip hollow point bullet leaving the muzzle at about 970 fps, which produces about 125 ft. pds. of muzzle energy.

The .32 ACP is clearly not a high-powered cartridge, but actual street results published by Evan Marshall and Edwin Sanow indicate that it expands to a little more than .40 caliber and penetrates a bit more than 9 inches in actual shootings.

The Tomcat examined for this article was well made. It's double-action trigger pull was smooth and the sear broke cleanly. One nice feature of the Tom Cat is its tip-up barrel. This pistol's user doesn't have to cycle the slide to load or unload it. Just release the barrel latch and either insert or remove the cartridge. For those who want carry gun that is easy to use and has limited blast and recoil, the Tomcat is a good option.

SIDEBAR

Specifications

Beretta Tomcat
Action:         Blow back operated semi-automatic pistol
Caliber:         .32 ACP
Frame:        Aluminum alloy
Capacity:        8 rounds with loaded chamber
Barrel Length:     2.4 inches
Trigger:        DA
Overall Length:  4.9 inches
Weight:        14 oz. unloaded
Sights:        Fixed
Finish:        Blue
MSRP:        $435

Guns - Take All The Anti-Gun Reporting With A Grain Of Salt

Gun

The Romans had a term for warning buyers about possible defects in property they purchased that might render it useless or unfit for the use for which it was intended. /Caveat emptor/ means “Let the buyer beware.” In other words, there was no liability on the part of the seller unless he/she concealed the defects or made false representations about the product being sold.

 Of course, under today’s laws, buyers have many safeguards to protect them from defects or dishonesty—but certainly not for all products, and not all of the safeguards are enforceable, so buyers must still beware.

Today, Americans should familiarize themselves with another Latin term: /Caveat lector/. It translates as, “Let the reader beware,” and is similar in many ways to /Caveat emptor/. Rather than accept as fact everything they read or hear in the news, readers/listeners need to sort things out for themselves to determine what’s factual and what’s agenda driven.

This holds especially true in terms of gun ownership, which is constantly under attack by the media, as well as by those who hold public office who believe the Constitution is “a living, breathing document,” whose text is meant to be flexible. Often, the handiwork of armed lunatics is used by the media and lawmakers to make us law-abiding gun owners look like we’re all a bunch of fanatics who live in the past.

During the two short years I’ve been editor of /Gun World/, Supreme Court Justice Breyer, who dissented from the majority in the landmark cases District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010) told Chris Wallace in a televised Fox News interview that the role of the court is to interpret the Constitution flexibly, in light of ever-changing consequences. We’ve also seen the ATF push for new regulations on gun dealers near the Mexican border—ironically, at the same time Fast and Furious was still in full swing.

In that same period, the tragic Tucson shooting led to an anti-gun outcry on the parts of both the media and members of Congress; the latter used it as an excuse to propose stricter gun-control laws, and the former crafted stories to influence public opinion in favor of these stricter regulations.