Cowboy guns as defensive guns.....sorry bored at work again!

[Paddy OFurniture]

Hi All,

I was mulling this over the other day and thought I would ask.  Do any of you cowboy shooters who opted to keep your CAS pistols/rilfes completely box stock, every carry them as Personal Defense Piece or as a Home Defense Piece?  You know when not making the good ole bang and clang?  When I carry my 5 1/2 Cimarron SAA as my carry piece, I keep it loaded with 5 X 185grain Hornady (non plus P) Critical Defense Hollow Point rounds.  I realize that there are far better pieces nowadays to carry, but for those of you who do carry the ole single action, what do you carry, what kind of concealment holster do you carry and what loads do you carry.

Paddy

[joec]

I carry a RIA/Armscor 1911 CS (compact), prior to that I carried a Taurus PT111 Pro (wife claimed it for herself). In the past I've carried S&W 357 revolvers and Beretta 92. I've carried concealed since the 70's and now have a license to do so (since early 80's). Now with that said I've sure owned a few single action guns through the years but have never considered them for personal concealed carry. I wouldn't hesitate to carry one in an open holster in the woods for example, just never considered it for concealed carry. Just my personal opinion on it though I'm sure if one wanted too the 4.75 and shorter barreled versions would work just fine especially in a shoulder rig.

[Rafe Covington]

I have carried a Ruger SS Bisley in 45 Colt for years, has saved my behind at least one time. Never liked Semi-Auto handguns anyway. JMHO

Rafe Covington

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[PABLO DEL NORTE]

   WHERE I WORK, THERE IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF  $$$ I WORK WITH EVERYDAY & THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS
PRETTY BAD AS WELL.  MOST OF THE TIME I KEEP MY STOEGER OR SAVAGE DBL BARREL IN THE OFFICE AS WELL AS MY .44
BLACKHAWK. SOMETIMES I'LL HAVE A .30-30 INSTEAD OF THE SHOTGUNS.  THE BOSS LADY KEEPS A  DBL BARREL BY HER SIDE OF THE BED FOR JIC

[Shotgun Franklin]

I've been in Law Enforcement for 34 years. I've carried nearly every type of gun made, either on or off duty. I carried a Colt SAA .45 for about 4 years while working a corporate job for Jack in the Box . I carry one at times now. I've been in some shootings. If you can't settle a fight with 3 or 4 rounds from a handgun then you needed a shotgun or rifle. BTW, 'Die Hard' was only a movie.

[Jamie]

I've got a 4 5/8 inch Ruger Single action in 45/45 ACP that carries pretty well.  I've got an Uncle Mike's belt slide (black nylon) holster for it that keeps it high enough that under a bulky sweater, it's completely unobtrusive.  I'm not a small guy, but that only tends to make grips stick out, if you know what I mean.  That gun with that holster are not apparent.  The holster was actually designed for a 1911, but it works really well for nearly every handgun I've got, though longer barrels do protrude.
Jamie 

[Shotgun Franklin]

If anyone asks you what that bulge is just tell'm it's your colonoscopy(?) bag.

[Jamie]

Good (? thought...
Another view of the single action as carry piece is outlined rather well in one of the later issues of Guns magazine - including suspender holsters.  I'm not sure I could sit down, and then I'd have to claim that I had a hernia...
Jamie

[Sunset Slim]

My home defense weapons are shotguns, 12ga cowboy guns.  I carried, for years, ,.45 auto's in various iterations.  Most recent a Kimber Ultra ll.  Lately  I've taken to carrying a custom Ruger NV by Competitive Edge in .357mag loaded with Speer 158gr jhp gold dots in a right hand cross draw holster that puts the end of the butt right next to my jeans zipper.  Cowboy shooting has gotten me much more familiar with the SA and I can draw and put five accurate enough rounds down range fairly quickly.  The Kimber out of a good plastic hip holster not quite as good.

[Adirondack Jack]

While I generally carry a semi, any gun you shoot WELL is a good defense gun.  I shoot my CAS Vaqueros better than most anything else, owing to the many many rounds downrange, and wuld not feel at all under-gunned with anything from "service level" .45s on up.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Yeah, I think it's odd that a man will shoot a gun thousands of rounds a year but then pick up a gun he shoots once a year to defend himself.

[Cherokee Bob]

I like my Ruger 45LC with a 4-5/8" barrel.  You can load them down so they don't go through your wall and kill your neighbor but they still have enough knock down power to take the fight out of even the highest meth-head.  Easier to hide, hold and point than a shotgun.  But big enough to see and the size of the hole in the end of the barrel pointing at you would make most people backdown or at least think twice. Just the sight of a gun that big can end a confrontation peacefully ..... or not so peacfully if need be.   

[TomBullweed]

One of my favorite travel guns is my Cimarron Uberti Thunderer .45 Colt with a 3-1/2" barrel.  The birdshead grip is great for not printing with a IWB or mex carry.
Stoked with five 225-grain XTP's loaded to 900 fps (in 4.5" barrel), I feel very safe.

[BearBio]

Several times, a single action was all I owned.  When I was a teen-ager, we had the Watts Riots in LA--kept a Ruger Single Six by my bed.  Kept a 41 Blackhawk and a Super Blackhawk when in college.  Carried them for defense at those times.

Of course, we have bears (some BIG ones) here in the Northwest.  I carry a modified Vaquero (3", Bisley grips) with very hot 45 Colt loads while hiking.  Or a 45 Colt SAA, sometimes (milder loads).  Wife carries a 41 Blackhawk.  Carried various single actions when I guided on pigs in grad school; for poachers, wounded hogs, and mtn lions.