THE HOLSTER AND THE 4-5 O’CLOCK POSITION:

A few thoughts…

By Paul Howe

I have watched new and old students for years who come to class and want to practice what they
have heard, read or what they have been taught is the best holster carry technique. I feel it is
time to weigh in. This article will deal with the 4-5 o’clock position of the holster. Or for better
terms, holstering in a spot that you cannot see.

Training Perspective
New students come to class and want to train with the gear they invested their money in, good or
bad. Sometimes the gear is bad. Sometimes they bring a holster system that someone with little
or no training said is best.

As a trainer, I have to take a group of students whom I have never trained with and “calibrate”
them for safety in the first few minutes of our firearms program. As I tell student instructors, the
first ten-minutes of a class is the most dangerous. I have to be on my toes and continue to
visually scan all students. Additionally, we have them unload their weapons because we run a
cold range to start. With that, we don’t’ know their skill set. This may be the first time they have
handled a firearm. We must be ready for this and assist them so they safely make it to the first
block of instruction.

Training Methodology
I show students the basic system and explain the rationale of why I want them to load/unload
their pistol in a certain sequence. Next, I show them how I want them to holster as this can be a
dangerous situation if someone is new, untrained or is poorly trained.

We begin with a 5/1, five-dry fire and then one live shot from the high ready position, which is
done five-times or sets. This buys me time as an instructor to fix gross problems with students
while they are dry firing and with unloaded guns. This also allows my instructors and I to walk
the line and look at all holsters and equipment issues. Again, this creates time to fix students and
their equipment before we get too deep into the class.

Once this is accomplished and the students have over 25 reps under their belts, we do the same
drill from the holster. Again, this system allows instructors and I to immediately fix problems.
We routinely send students back to fix gear, guns, equipment. This technique keeps students
from having to fix equipment later in the course and losing training time. We are also ready to
issue a gun and holster to a student to replace their sub-standard equipment if necessary.
Observations as a Trainer
I routinely step in and correct new students on safety issues. One incident was a young man that
had a 4 o’clock holster that he was just now learning with. He was pushing an H & K USP into it
with the gun cocked and safety off. His only training was the internet forums. We got him on
track in short order.

With this technique, he would have created a very dangerous situation for himself, other shooters
and my assistant instructors if he were allowed to continue. With his method of holster, a
negligent discharge would have hit his butt cheeks and possibly an instructor behind the line. He
wanted to get proficient with his equipment in my class, or should I say his dangerous way of
doing things.

With the holster position, I also look at the pistol’s arc of movement when holstering. Shooters
new to vests and other gear quickly realize that pouches that were once not an issue, when
drawing or holstering, now create dangerous issues. One that comes to mind is where a student
holsters around pouches and points their weapon at the core of their body to access the holster
because a pouch now interferes with the proper alignment of the gun and holster.

Also, I routinely see students “jabbing” their pistol at their holster as they have not developed a
muscle memory as to its location. I tell students if they miss it one time, to look at their holster.
The reason we are putting it away is that the threat has been neutralized and there is no rush to
holster.

Next, being in Texas, we don’t get much cold weather. Individuals in northern states work out of
jackets sometimes over half the year. We put jackets on only a few times a year and shoot much
less in them than folks up north. As a result, we must closely monitor zippers, jacket balls or
anything hanging off the jackets that can enter or be pushed into the holster potentially creating a
problem on holstering. Combine this with not being able to see your holster and you have a
recipe for disaster.
Finally, we do on occasion have a student that is fluid with the 4 o’clock position.
Unfortunately, the risk versus reward is too great. We must decline the use of the position as a
school. If I let one person do it, others will want to mimic it and I do not feel it is safe.

Tactical History
During my tactical time in the service and as a civilian instructor, I taught shotgun breaching. I
used a holster mounted to the front of my pistol belt to secure my shorty shotgun. My first
holster was made of two-three miscellaneous pouches sewn together to secure the shotgun. It
was ugly, but it worked. I placed it up front on my left side so I could see it. I had the riggers
sew a flex-tie in the mouth opening to keep it open for a smooth holster.

This, in my mind and experience, was the fastest and safest way to work the ballistic breaching
tool (shorty shotgun) multiple times on one hit and not have any safety issues. I could rock the
safety on and off with little effort, even when wearing gloves.
The strap through the trigger guard was for an initial infiltration where it might be physically
violent. Once on the ground, the strap was removed and gravity kept it in.

During that same time period, the movie “Romancing the Stone” came out and Michael Douglas
carried a shorty shotgun on his back. It looked cool. Some tactical guys tried to copy it.

Looking at it from an end user or Team Leader perspective with a few years of training under my
belt, the technique was extremely unsafe and slow. First, you could get it out, but the muzzle
would sweep either yourself or someone else around you.
The big problem I saw was that of re-holstering. You would either take a hot shotgun and “fish
for the pouch” over your shoulder, hoping to find it, or you would have to have a fellow team
member secure it for you. Now you have a hot weapon on your back that you cannot see or see
the condition of the safety.

Now, repeatedly do this under high stress in an operational environment.

In another “learning curve” of shotgun breaching, someone developed an “X harness” where the
shotgun would hang under your firing arm via a bungee/strap. You would engage a door, safe it
and let it go. Well, as Murphy would have it, the breacher reloaded it, but did not safe it.
Feeling for the shotgun for the next door, he caught the trigger and discharged a breaching round
into the back of his calf. Again, a problem of positioning equipment where you cannot see it and
adding high stress into the mix.

Finally, should you find yourself in a close contact situation and on your back, you are in a
position of weakness when drawing your pistol. They can pin your elbow or trap your wrist and
with your body weight on it, it would be difficult to get out.

CONCLUSION:

 Not being able to see your weapon system/holster, can be extremely dangerous. You
cannot see if there is a problem with it.
 If you miss your holster one time, look at it. Don’t jab/force a gun into an area where
there might be a problem.
 As a former Tactical Team Leader, I would not let anyone stow or routinely carry a hot
weapon in an area they cannot see or control. When you sling a weapon around your
back, safeties routinely get bumped off and weapons need to be continually checked.
 Finally, during the average pistol training day, we draw and holster our weapon hundreds
of times. You don’t want that one time to leave a permanent training scar you cannot
undo.

As a civilian, you do not hear of all the training accidents that happen in special ops. Being
secretive, that is the way it is. The reality is, training accidents do happen there.

At CSAT, we will steer you to options that are proven and safe.

About the Author

Paul R. Howe is a 20-year veteran and former Special Operations soldier and instructor. He owns
Combat Shooting and Tactics (CSAT), where he consults with, trains and evaluates law
enforcement and government agencies in technical and tactical techniques throughout the special
operations spectrum. See combatshootingandtactics.com for details.