Gun Choice For Belly Band

[Olympus]

I have recently seen the light so to speak. My carry dilemma was that I could never find a suitable gun/holster combo to wear with dress clothes. I wear thin button down shirts and dress pants every day. I tried multiple tuckable holsters and nothing worked. So I tried a generic belly band and fell in love. Took me a while to find the correct location to wear it and I experimented with several locations. I found that wearing it below my chest with the gun in a cross draw configuration to be the most comfortable. It's very similar to wearing a shoulder holster. Second choice is just above the waistband in about the 2:00 position.

Now that I've found a proper method for carrying in dress clothes, I'd like to see what my options are for upgrading guns. Currently using a Sig .380 but only because I needed a pocket carry gun. I feel more comfortable with a 9mm or .38. Since I have a proper holster, what are some recommendations of a larger caliber gun? For experimentation, I tried carrying my 2.5" 66. It was a bit too heavy and caused the one side to slide down. Not sure what the weight is of a loaded 2.5" 66 though.

Second question is whether I should forget about carrying a G26. I read people say absolutely not and other who says its perfectly ok.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[aus71383]

When you say "just above the waistband" - do you mean that the grip of the gun is just above the waistband? Or that the entire gun is above your waistband?

I can conceal a full size gun with a belly band - but that is by wearing it low, and carrying in the "appendix" position - for me it's around 12 o'clock, but 2 o'clock is also generally considered to be in the same boat. Wearing the belt over the gun helps keep it pressed against me, and being able to "blouse" my shirt and have some loose fabric where the grip is makes it even more concealable than wearing just a t-shirt for me. It is slower to draw from, of course.

I couldn't find the specs for the 66 on their website, but here's the 686, which I think is close. Product: Model 686

It weighs 34 ounces empty.

Here's the Glock 19: Glock 19 | G19 | 9x19mm | GLOCK USA

21 ounces empty, 30 ounces loaded.

So a polymer framed gun is going to be significantly lighter than your all steel Model 66. There are plenty of other options, I just grabbed the numbers for the Glock 19 because it's a popular choice.

Austin

[Olympus]

I position the band so that the entire gun sits above my waistband. My band is all elastic, so it bends and flexes as I sit, stand, and lean and that keeps the gun from jabbing me.

I don't want to go with a full size gun, just a larger caliber than the .380 I'm currently using. Nothing wrong with the .380, but I'd feel more comfortable with something slightly bigger.

[ballfroguy]

I have carried Titan FX45, currently carry ruger sp101 and during winder I carry my Taurus 7 shot revolver .357 mg in my belly band. Heavy guns but I love them. Look at Sig p239, lc9, micro 1911, lcr, s&w light framws etc. Jus depends on what you feel comfortable with