Backpacking in Alaska: carry choice?

[GreaseMonkeySRT]

Looking at the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan. Thinking of going with .454 Casull because why not?

[Garymac]

When I hiked in Alaska I carried a Tru-Flare pen flare launcher with bear bangers and flares. I also had a Baofeng UV5R multi channel/ham radio for both my wife and I. Those radios have a strobe light and a rather obnoxiously loud alarm built into them. Those were in addition to my Redhawk.

Soon after we hiked the Savage River trail in Denali NP last year, a couple was charged by a grizzly. A local guy was mauled by a grizzly while walking his dog near the Russian River while we were fishing there. And just this summer, a 16 year old was killed by a black bear on the Bird Ridge Trail in Anchorage and three others were mauled by a black bear near the Eagle River campground. We had hiked the Bird Ridge Trail and stayed in that campground. Millions of people to go Alaska every year and very few if any are injured by animals. However, it does happen occasionally.

I should also note that while you can carry in the National Parks in Alaska you are "not allowed" to carry firearms on the buses. The only way to get into the back country in Denali is by bus which ironically is where you are most likely to encounter a bear. Nevertheless concealed is concealed.

[dirtmcgirt76239]

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/201...y-saves-bears/

[Fuel Fire Desire]

Looking at the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan. Thinking of going with .454 Casull because why not?

I had wanted one for years, but was always put off by the thought of how much energy is lost on that 2.5" barrel.

I just ordered myself this, which up to a week ago I had not known it to exist (even though its been out for a couple years)

Ruger Toklat



Its still a .454, but in a much more portable size than the usual 7.5", but also has enough barrel to get 240gr hornady's up to 1900fps (as claimed by another owner). Not sure on the 300/325gr stuff. It wins the 'ugliest revolver in production' award too.





My personal evolution of bear repellent started on my first trip to northern montana. I had two bear encounters in the same week. One was a docile black, and the other was a pissed off brown claiming its territory. The black was maybe 20' from me, looked at me, didn't care and moved along. The brown bluff charged our raft all the way to the river bank, yelled, and watched us as we floated away. All I had was bear spray that trip. The very next week I had a raging bull in .454 which I had for a few years until I got it stuck in my head that 5 rounds might "not be enough" for some weird reason. So I got my first desert eagle. I sold the desert eagle after being offered an obscene amount of money for it in 2012, and bought another one a year ago. But this time an early 90's MKVII to save a few ounces. Even after respringing the entire gun, every now and then it still has a failure to go into battery (not limp writing, using varieties of full house .44, fully cleaned, etc), and have lost a lot of confidence in it. Hence the Toklat purchase.


Is a .454 really needed for a close range shot? Probably not. I liked the 10mm-like recoil of the MKVII, and the ability to dump 9 rounds of 240gr/ 1497fps .44 mag as quickly and as accurately as I could dump 9 rounds of 10mm out of a 1911......but the whole 1 out of 50 failing to go into battery really bothers me. And I got it stuck in my head (again) that I needed something different. .....which also explains why my safe is packed to the brim.

[Dennis D]

True about the Black bears. Last year two people were killed by blacks bears in two days in AK. Very usual but it happened.

[elwarpo]

The short barrel of the Alaskan really hurts. You lose roughly 250-300 fps versus the 7.5". The 2.5" Alaskan weighs 53.5 ounces or (3 1/3 lbs without ammo) and more than twice as much as the S&W 329PD (25.5 oz). The lightest 460 is the 5" (really 4" and a 1" comp) S&W 460 at 60.7 ounces, but only holds 5 rounds. For the extra 7 ounces being able to shoot both 460 and 454 and not losing as much in velocity is the reason I went for the 460 for my Alaska trips. Between the comp and few extra ounces, the 460 with 454 loads is much easier to shoot than the Alaskan (tried both side by side) and has about 100 fps extra velocity.

Although I started out with a chest rig, I found this setup much more comfortable. your belt secures if from moving, but a lot of the weight is taken up by the shoulder strap. It is also in a normal carry position so is more natural to draw.

There were fresh bear scrapes in the area and we saw one bear, but it wan not interested in us.