Drastic CCW weapon change

I've had some interesting evolution in my choice of concealed personal defense weapon.

When I first started carrying, I found myself most easily carrying a 3" Ruger SP-101... a 5-shot .357 magnum revolver. I had a Glock 21 (.45), a Springfield XD9 (9mm), a Charles Daly 1911 (.45) and a Redhawk (.44) to choose from as well... but they never seemed to fit my body right.

The G21 was too wide, had too long of a grip, and "bit" at me with the squareness of the frame when carried inner-waistband (IWB). The grip of the gun was the heaviest point when fully loaded with 13 rounds, and it had a tendency to rotate behind my waist and print noticeably.

The XD9 had a shorter grip and was lighter, but it still had the square-slide bite issue against my hip... even with a high quality holster.

The full sized 1911 was fine in regards to width and contour, but was a bit too heavy, and the Redhawk with its 5.5" barrel was simply too big to carry in a concealed manner.

So... the SP-101 got the nod.

I tried out other guns as I got more and more proficient at carrying: I got a CZ-75 at one point when capacity became a concern of mine. Despite its drawback with weight, it was otherwise very concealable and some day I will have a lightweight PCR or P-01 variant of that product line as a potential carry gun. I think I enjoy the platform even more than 1911's. Blasphemy, but it's true.

I got a Colt Lightweight Commander last spring... that finally trumped the SP-101 as daily carry. And how! Same weight, thinner profile, 8+1 rounds of .45, single action trigger, faster reloads.

I carried that all spring and summer quite happily.

Now that fall is setting in and the low, low 90 degree fall Arizona temperatures are upon us, I've taken to carrying my project gun: A customized 4" Redhawk in .44 magnum. This is largely an experiment, and we'll see how long it lasts.

This Redhawk sports the factory rubberized finger groove grips, which I like alot: But I'm considering changing them out for the other hardwood factory grips and a Tyler T-grip. I'll experiment on the larger Redhawk first and then migrate those changes to this one. Aside from that, this Redhawk has its chambers cut for moonclips, so I can run .44 Russian, .44 Special and .44 Magnum in moonclips for extremely fast reloads. The trigger was tuned for swift and smooth DA work by Ken Feinmann up at Wild West Guns in Alaska (he also cut the cylinder for me). The finish was matte bead blasted and a chrome turn line is on the cylinder to reduce drag of the bolt stop. I also have a fiber optic front sight on it.

I'm carrying it with 200 grain Speer Gold Dot .44 Special hollowpoints. I practice with 200 grain lead roundnose equivalent loads.

I have two ways I can carry this gun: Out in the woods I have a Wilderness Tactical Products Instructor Belt, with an inexpensive yet sturdy Uncle Mike's 4" large frame revolver holster with hammer retention snap. Around town (and the dominant way for as long as I can stand to do so), I have a Simply Rugged pancake holster that fits OWB on my Beltman 1.5" belt.

I'm going to try and make it all year until next summer with this gun on my side. The 4" Redhawk weighs in slightly more than a GI 1911, @ 47 ounces. Just shy of 3 pounds, unloaded.

Why? Why on Earth would I set aside a perfectly good, comfortable, powerful Colt LW Commander for this thing?

-Because I can. :-)
-I'm just drawn to Redhawks.
-I've got a goal to be able to one-hand operate a Redhawk in a defensive manner, accurately, with .44 magnum ammunition. Helps to treat the Redhawk as my primary defensive platform if I want to attain that goal.

So, range trips are going to be a revolver-oriented pursuit for awhile: I'll be practicing with .38's to build eye-hand coordination in both hands (I found a model 65 to buy, I think), and practicing with .44 specials at least with the left dominant hand to keep defensive proficiency.

At least I won't have to chase brass!

(Actually... I intend to "dump" my brass during reloads so that I practice correctly. I'll pick it up after practicing the reload and re-holstering or otherwise setting down the revolver depending on range rules.)