A BBQ gun is, traditionally, a fancy gun you tote on a special occasion. Conversely, most people who carry a mohaska on a daily basis don’t carry a fancy one.

In this pocket dump, SLD of Michigan blends the two. Here’s what he had to say about the gear you see above that he calls, retro BBQ everyday carry, including that sweet Colt Detective Special snubbie:

For our 40th anniversary and my 60h birthday we decided on a late 70’s and early 80’s themed BBQ. All things worn and carried were to be things you carried or wore during that time period, if you could do so. Otherwise, it was improvisation.

All these items I used were things I owned during that time period, the exception being the Bulova Snorkel, nicknamed the “Devil Diver” because of its 666 feet water rating. I spent an entire summer in the early 70s mowing lawns to purchase the original one, only to have it stolen from a shower in a KOA camp in Arizona several years later. The one shown was purchased as a replacement a decade ago and is a favorite to this day.

The penlight is amazingly dim but was rather useful “back in the day”. The PaperMate Pen was bought by a girlfriend for my freshman year of high school and used all four years. It was only replaced for college by a Cross which I use to this day.

The Colt was the handgun I learned to shoot with and was not carried until after I was 21 in the very early 80s. Then it was carried mostly upon visits to Detroit and Flint, since concealed carry was not exactly legal.

The holster is a primitive attempt at a paddle holster. It uses a thick flap of leather to slip under the belt, not exactly the most secure holster I have used, it is functional. The dump pouch was very handy, while a primitive slow method by todays standards, it did at least allow for functional carry of reloads.

One lucky thing for me, for the party, was, I ran more to jeans, cowboy boots and flannel shirts more than silly platform shoes and leisure suits.

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34 COMMENTS

    • The “barbecue gun” concept is so preposterous, so blatantly immature. Who coined that phrase, was it Farago? Who looks at that phrase and takes it seriously? And then goes on to parrot it? What thinking person isn’t offended by the absurdity of it?

        • I will takem any way I can get em, most times their belly up sun roasted on a road

      • relax, dude.
        no one is making you call it a ” barbecue gun. ”
        you can call it a ” burger and fries gun. “

      • relax, dude.
        no one is making you call it a ” barbecue gun. ”
        you are welcome to call it a ” burger and fries gun ”
        if you like.
        or perhaps a ” beef stew gun, ” ” pork and beans gun, ” ” fried chicken gun, ” ” or even a” biscuits and gravy gun. ”
        it is entirely up to you.
        oh … and don’t worry … we will all take you seriously.

      • Please. The term has been around since before Farago knew what a 1911 existed.

        Sunday-go-to-meeting gun? High zoot gun? Fancy gun? Putty gun?

        Just jargon and we like jargon. Suppressor – can. Trigger – bang switch. Barrel – pipe.

        It’s no big deal. Hope your young enough to get over it and quit taking yourself so seriously. Cause I sure don’t.

      • That holster looks pretty trick. I’m curious how you like having your spare magazine on your strong side?

        • It’s an AIWB holster (at 12:30 position) so I draw the spare mag with my left hand. Pros:
          Fast spare mag unholster.
          Can be done from sitting position.
          Spare mag doesn’t get left at home.
          Maybe a plus, can unholster with right hand just like the gun.

  7. I’ve read EDC post for awhile now. Don’t remember this one. If that’s real stag he’s good to go. Plastic? Not so much. I have two BBQ pistols and one BBQ revolver. All wear elephant ivory. It’s a Southern thing (borrowed from the west, but after all, Texas Rangers captured John Wesley Hardin on a train in Pensacola, FL.) If you don’t understand it, you don’t belong in the south.

      • Holy Cow, you’re right. I Did comment on it. Guess you don’t ever forget anything. If you do I guess you Google it. I don’t. And it is still relevant. Even with plastic grips. I spend a lot of time every day talking to guys about firearms, hunting, fishing, etc. (half hour with a friend today about his week long fishing trip to the Keys beginning tommorw) or doing it. Still, my comment was reference this time was elephant ivory on a BBQ pistols. Sorry for your luck if you don’t have one. Ivory has gotten really expensive. I think I paid $650 for the one piece ivory on my Colt SAA nearly 20 years ago. But, I appreciate you archivists.

        • Plastic, , , worked at a meat packing plant, holding a knife all day, your hands would hurt. Company went to plastic handled knives and after two weeks I quit. Them plastic handled was going to wreck my hands. You wouldn’t think thered be that much difference between wood and plastic, same for the shovels, plastic= hurt

        • Opossum, I miss the ash handles of the shovels of my childhood but I really like the plastic coated fiberglass shovels, which are nearly unbreakable. I’m one of the few people I know who can really use a shovel to dig a hole, spent a lot of time out by the highway, a place where nobody goes.

        • You too, I’ve changed my hair style so many times I don’t know what I look like.

    • The grips are real vintage stag. The Snorkel basically created what I like in watches to this day. It is still my favorite, and I wrestle with shelling out the cash to buy the redo of it that Bulova brought out this past year.

      The dump pouch is not something I would use today, but it was a viable solution 40 odd years ago.

  8. Otherwise, cool. Trade the dump pouches for speed loaders. After that I would carry that load out any day.

    • I bought some HKS speedloaders for my S&W 69 Combat Magnums that I honestly thought would work better than what they do. Too fiddly to get the rounds to drop free into the cylinder. Now I’m most likely going to have the cylinders machined for moon clips instead. Hoping to make for a faster reload as well.

  9. I posted a new one a little over a week ago now probably, entitled EDC Options O’Plenty that would probably give some a coronary or stroke. Especially after the comments on the don’t carry more than one gun article with two very different guns mentioned of all things. I’m still scratching my head on that one. I’d still be interested in what the opinions are though whether pro or con. Over on Everyday Carry not many comments just likes.

    • HAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, that’s gonna have some people’s panties in a wad for certain.

      Well played.

      • If you are interested here’s a link. I honestly don’t understand the carry only one gun mentality. I have six that I switch out between, four semiautomatics with the exact same manual of arms and two revolvers. Like others said on that article, when I leave the house I never forget what I’m carrying or how to operate it.

        https://everydaycarry.com/posts/34746/edc-options-oplenty

        • I had already looked at it. That’s why I was laughing so hard.

          Unlike a lot of the other people here I actually do travel over to the EDC site to see the original posts and I belong to EDC so as soon as I knew the name of the post it was easy to find.

          Still hilarious and I’m still chuckling over the reaction that’s going to provoke.

  11. If it’s a repeat, I missed it the first time around. I kind of like this get-up; I’m a watch guy (divers in particular), so I love the Snorkel. And who couldn’t love a Dick Special in nickel??

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