How easy is this? I'm a slim guy who wears 32inch waist pants. If I conceal at 4 o'clock, I think I can do it but it doesn't seem to optimal for sitting down/driving.
It isn't. Dressing around the gun is the only way. You're better off with a smaller frame pistol. If fullsize is all you got, then quality holster and belt, and the correct wardrobe are all in your future, which they should be, anyway.
I'm 6.2 and have been as low as 150 lbs and had no probelm conceiling.. I'm now 195lbs and lean as hell and still no problem. But then again I dont go around wearing skin tight shirts.. Fairly tight but no underarmor/spandex
I'm also curious how one might conceal a fullsize gun. I'm a big guy - not thin as a rail, but not portly - and haven't found a position that works with my G17. I have no holster(s) to test with, but anything short of in the small of my back is painfully obvious should I bend over or do anything too far off stand upright.
I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that is your problem. Good holsters bring the gun into the body, cant the gun just right so it fits in with your body line, and break up the shape of the gun. Just start buying 'em, you'll have eleventeen soon in your holster drawer, anyway Look at my Holsters, Ill. thread, the M40A1 is about as wide as your G17, just not quite as long in grip or barrel. Most of the basics still apply.
Quite a bit of it, no doubt. Trouble is it's going to have to force the grip against the body somehow, otherwise the shirt is going to stick on it and it will tend to protrude. But I guess I can only try it for myself or look for more helpful illustrations. I think I'll go for my CHL before getting into holsters. No real point in owning a number of holsters if I'm just going to play mall ninja in my apartment or risk all sorts of headaches carrying illegally.
I'm 6'3" and 250 and could hide a full size gun (p226) under a tshirt without hassle at all. You need a quality belt (gun belt, not the super heavy belt you think is super strong from walmart that will be just as good, a real gun belt from a holster maker) and a quality holster. Personally I think the alessi hideaway is great for this but you'll have to try to find what works best for you.
629 classic s&w with a 6.5 inch barrel in a vertical shoulder holster for the win.. Its slow drawing.. but it gets the point across that dont mess around.. (.44 Magnum)
I have two belts, one from JC Penny, and one from Wilson's leather, I think both are more supportive and more comfortable than the Don Hume belt I just got. Both were about half the price or less, too. I think the "you have to buy a gun belt" thing is BS, get a good sturdy belt, no less than 1 1/2" wide. Hick belts are also good for this from tack shops and places like western warehouse. The have to support those 10 lb buckles they wear, so they can support a gun pretty well.
i have a belt from the beltman and a milt sparks vm2 holster for my sig p226 - i recently stopped carrying it because i got a ctac and a subcompact glock - that said, the p226 was going to be a little too big to start carrying in the az summer - a regular t shirt doens't do a great job covering it, i usually wear a light jacket with it, otherwise it prints whenever i sit down or lean over at all and generally my shirt gets stuck onto it so i have to pull my shirt up and over the gun everytime i bend or lean over i'm liking carrying the subcompact a lot more