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My first time ccw'ing..out of state and 2 wally world trips..lol

2K views 18 replies 18 participants last post by  Sky Pilot 
#1 ·
Hope you have a nice drink and are comfortable...this IS long..lol..sorry

So I had to go to AL for my moms wedding over the weekend. I have been waiting on my max con V, but it did not arrive in time. So I had to use my unlce mikes IWB holster for my full size 1911. I test fit it and the best place I found for it was at the 3 o'clock postion with a little cant fwd to prevent the mag from poking out when I twisted or bent over. To top it off, my brother, his wife, and 4 y/o daughter were ridding in my car down there with me. So this was going to be a good full test weekend.

I showed up to my brothers and helped load the car and we were on our way. Not spotted yet. Had to resist the urge to look and fool with the rig. I've read about it, but I understand now what everyone is talking about. So I am feeling good about that, but that was ~5 minutes. We stop for gas and I am pumping and go inside and get a drink and use the bathroom. The biggest thing here was looking in the window of the car making sure not printing. Again, trying not to touch it or make a specticle of myself. And no alarm went off anywhere. After returning to driving I realized I was so worried about being "made" that I was not paying much attention to my surroundings. Granted, this was noon at a busy gas station directly off the interstate, but I was not as alert as I should have been. So far , so good.

Now we are stoping at micky D's for food. We go inside and I wait inline and I try to focus more on what is going on around me, but still thinking that someone is calling the police on the armed guy..lol.. no problems what-so-ever. We return to the car, Bro's wife and daughter are in the bathroom and I feel that I should inform my borther that I am CCW'ing. He has a CCW, but uninformed and does NOT use it. (he is older than me BTW) So I tell him I am carrying and I show him exactly where.

Your thoughts on this??? Mine were that he should know incase something bad happened. Possibly a car wreck, that may incapaitate(sp) me. I'd rather him take possesion of my weapon than allow it to end up on the side of the interstate or someone elses hands.

Well he and I "chat" about it. He thinks I am a "gun nut" and moves on. Shortly there after he tells his wife, which was ok with me. They think I am "gun happy", which is fine. So I call my mom and she asks me to meet her at wally world to get the kes to her house while she runs some errands. Wow... my wallay world trip..lol..

So I go to wally world and walk around, TONS of people, hug my mom and chit chat. She says nothing, she may or may not know. I followed someones advice and went low with my hug so she went high, worked out. I did this ALL weekend. Continue walking around with zero problems. Go to my moms and greeted by more family.. same thing, aim low and it worked.

Was in the chruch saturday and CCW'ing. Bro and his wife thought I was the devil. Your thoughts? I did not want to leave my weapon in my hotel room or in the car. I thought if it was on me, it was secure and safe.

Had to go to wally world again for a trash can, no problems again.
Now at the reception, its outside and HOT in lower AL. I'm sweating and the weight began to become an issue. I started getting a headache about 2 hours into it. The reception was at a friends house by the water with little access, so I was happy, I let my guard all the way down. I was thinking about not exposing my weapon and feeling better. 5 hours later, we leave. Not feeling well and heading to a resturant, I decided to leave my 1911 in the locked glove box of the car. After some reading here, I thought that if I had to use my weapon, I could have made a bad choice, so I decided to put it up. No issues at dinner, just not feeling well.

Sunday on the drive home felt better and CCW'd. No problems.

The last thing that I wanted to share was my brother's thoughts. I asked not to tell ANYONE other than his wife. He did not understand that I wanted it to be private. He thought I was embarrassed and that I was over-reacting by getting upset at him about telling friend of his. Yes, I do not want to explain myself to every person, but I also feel that CCW'ing is a private thing. This really irritated me. He got the message, but it may come up again.

Anyway, SORRY for the LONG post, but from talking to yall and reading here, I felt informed about what to expect. Even though it was my 1st time, I was able to think about things while they were happening and evaluate afterwards.




CLIFFS.. good weekend of CCW'ing. Went to wally world and other places and hugged family members with no issues

And thanks to MZMTG who helped me with AL laws :hand10: ..along with packing.org
 
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#3 ·
Haha - the preliminary ups and downs of new CCW! :wink:

Does get way easier that's for sure - good start tho and - just maintain that good condition yellow - it is the most likely thing to save your butt :smilez:
 
#4 ·
.45acp said:
Not so bad was it? :smile:
Not at all. :)


.45acp said:
Cocked and locked?
No. 1 in the chamber, hammer fully seated/down. With all the sitting I was doing my ribs/sides were rubbing the back of the beavertail. The hammer was a little more uncomfortable. SO I seated it. I thought I could cock the hammer while drawing. Although, I only practied this twice.

When my broomeland max con gets in, then yes.

P95- yes. That's what I found funny. i was more worried about being seen than anything else. I need to get a little better with my alert level. It was hard to focus a few times. I need more practice with that
 
#6 ·
From experience, I can tell you that you should tell nobody outside of your spouse or girlfriend that you carry. The word seems to spread! You've heard that saying, "A secret is something you tell one person at a time", right...so it goes with knowledge that you carry.

Enjoy...it gets easier. My challenge is to maintain reasonable vigilance and not be lazy like the other sheeple.
 
#7 ·
Sounds very familiar, except when I first started carrying I did not tell anyone. All of the feelings that you are dealing with on your first few times of carrying the last thing you need is a family member giving you a hard time.

Just remember that people are not looking for a law abiding (NORMAL LOOKING) person to be carrying. It gets much easier and the part about always wanting to touch your shirt or your weapon will go away soon enough.

Carry everywhere you legally can and do not leave it in the glove box unleass you absolutely have no other choice. Get yourself a Center of Mass gun safe

http://www.center-of-mass.com/About_Product_Safe_Incar.htm

Also a good idea to look at a DAC Sport Safe.

http://www.dactec.com/store/items.t...0&itemCategory=safes&category=Safes&startat=1

Good first trip though and it is a lot better when you have a comfy holster.
 
#8 ·
isn't it a good feeling that you can walk around and not cause a panic. :smile:

When I first went into Wally World I thought everyone just turned around and stared at me, like a nut walking into a Squirrel cage. LOL...

Good for you about thinking about the Going Low Hug. It works pretty good dontcha think? That's what happened to me on my very first trip. An aunt that I haven't seen in a very long time.

Keep up the good work and be safe!!! :wave:
 
#9 ·
Was in the chruch saturday and CCW'ing. Bro and his wife thought I was the devil. Your thoughts? I did not want to leave my weapon in my hotel room or in the car. I thought if it was on me, it was secure and safe.

I do every sunday. Safest place for your gun is on you.....
 
#11 ·
I've learned the lesson the hard way not to tell people you're carrying ... I still people that I carry (as a broad concept) but I don't tell people (hey, I'm carrying RIGHT NOW).

What's real annoying is to have some yahoo that knows you're packing say to a group of people "Don't piss off Mike, he's liable to draw that gun he's carrying and shoot you!" (that's happened to me) or worse when a dodgy lookin character crosses your path and said yahoo says "You better scram, my friend here has a gun and knows how to use it!" (that hasn't happened, but I could imagine this particular yahoo doing that).

CCWing a full size 1911 in an Uncle Mike's has GOT to be uncomfortable ... once your Max Con V shows up it'll be 100 times more comfy.
 
#12 ·
Kinda like pulling your first tooth, huh? Now you wonder what all the fuss was about.... Carrying should be uneventful, if it's not thats a bad thing....
I'd carry cocked and locked though, once it goes numb it doesn't hurt anymore... ;o)
 
#13 ·
Sounds like a pretty good trip all in all. I have learned that the fewer people that know that I carry the better. I do not have a number of folks thinking that I am gun happy and all of the other inane comments nor do I have to answer the QUESTION 'Why do you feel as though you must carry a gun?' Concealed means concealed to everyone at all times IMHO anyway.
 
#15 ·
Sounds like a good trip and good first CCW experience. Keep carrying and in hindsight probably would have been better to not tell your brother: you already knew he had a CCW but didn't carry so you should have expected some friction and/or negative comments.
 
#17 ·
I used to use my elbow or forearm to check and make sure the gun was secure till I got used to carrying. It goes unnoticed and is reassuring. anymore I have confidence in my holster.
You might want to research carrying hammer down a 1911. I found plenty of reasons not to carry hammer down.
 
#18 ·
Zundfolge said:
What's real annoying is to have some yahoo that knows you're packing say to a group of people "Don't piss off Mike, he's liable to draw that gun he's carrying and shoot you!" (that's happened to me) or worse when a dodgy lookin character crosses your path and said yahoo says "You better scram, my friend here has a gun and knows how to use it!" (that hasn't happened, but I could imagine this particular yahoo doing that).
Which brings to mind the question, "Why do you hang with this Yahoo?":confused:
 
#19 ·
Will echo the above advice not to tell anyone.
The military teaches the principle of layered defense.
The first layer of defense is always knowledge.
Do not give away this valuable defensive perimeter!
 
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