Anyone carry a 454 Casull Ruger Alaskan for backup? How about a Toklat?

Which is faster to use? The rifle you already have in your hands, or the handgun in a holster that you can use after you set down the rifle?

Which is easier to have on your person at ALL times, a rifle or a holstered handgun?

Both. Toklat carries just as well as the Alaskan, and shoots much better with less muzzle flip, so while it might lack the wow factor of the Alaskan, it's the better option for a defensive carry revolver.

Load both up, pick the one you can draw and shoot faster while still being accurate.

I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but those are alot of gun for blackbear. I get wanting "more" than you need, but "more" can be tough to shoot fast.

I live, hunt, hike in heavy black bear country (estimated to be 5 on my mountain ridge). I chose a Springfield XD45 loaded with 255gr +P hardcasts from Underwood. I get 13 rounds on tap that is lighter, faster and easier to shoot than my big revolver. After shooting "bear loads" out of my Ruger, I realized I'd be lucky to get one... maybe two... good shots off at a charging bear under pressure. I get much more volume of still potent fire out of a big auto. Not sure if you have any of those options, but that's what I chose. Hopefully that's not a thread drift...

In black bear country, .357 has always suited me and that's for just hiking. If I'm hunting, the rifle in my hands is FAR quicker and more accurate. When hiking distance, weight is important. The more gun you carry, the less water you can carry, or anything else.

It's a little old, but I got a couple sets of Altamont grips for one of my Toklat's and one of my Alaskan's a few years ago, so I took a photo posing with their new shoes.

Snub 38 for me

Do it if you want.. I don't generally in Virginia, at least not for bears. More likely a 45 Colt Blackhawk just because. I did carry a 454 Alaskan in a Chesty Puller rig elk hunting in grizzly territory. I wouldn't worry much about having too much gun assuming you can handle it. I don't know about more muzzle flip with a short barrel. Not in my experience anyway. You can get 300 grainers well over 1000 fps with Colt loads out of an Alaskan so you don't even need full house 454's. The reason to carry it is when you don't / can't have your rifle in your hands. As in field dressing and packing meat down to and on the mules. We also had one guy off to side with a rifle. Every carcass was hit by bears by the next day. We had a persistent black bear that visited camp regularly. A camp with dogs and electric fence around the mess tent. Any black bear that makes a living in grizzly country doesn't become less of a threat because of the species. The grips on the Alaskan just work. I have hard smooth grips on all my SA revolvers but i won't be changing the Alaskan grips. I considered it a belly gun as in contact range.. so a semi with however many rounds in the magazine didn't matter if it wouldn't cycle.

Just curious if anyone carries one.

Click to expand...

I have two revolvers that I can and do carry while hunting/hiking/camping out here in NW MT. I have a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan in .454 Casull and a Ruger Redhawk 4.2" in .45 Colt. Actually I have three since I also carry a Ruger KLCR given that it's so light and compact as an additional backup. Anyway, I bought two Simply Rugged holsters and one Chesty Puller system a few months back and set about working up hardcast loads for the two Rugers. Ultimately I decided to carry the Redhawk since I get more velocity shooting the same bullet weight (340gr to 360gr with 360gr at 1,125fps) and less recoil and I'm more accurate with it. My plan now for the Alaskan is to make it into something special by sending it to Bowen at some point. I'd like a 4" barrel on it to get .454 Casull loads up to decent speeds. So I guess my answer is that I did carry an Alaskan but have decided that the Redhawk is a better choice for me.

I did neglect to mention - out of over a hundred handguns I've owned, the Toklat is by far the best balanced big bore revolver I have owned, and one of the most dynamic handling handguns as well. It's better balanced and easier to control than the Alaskan, which begs for nose weight for balance and recoil recovery, but not as slow and burdensome as a 7.5" SRH. It affords itself to a broader spectrum of custom grips compared to the 4.2" or 5.5" Redhawk or 629, and with the 2 spring action, rather than the single spring, a guy can tune the hammer and trigger springs independently, giving better control over action feel than the single spring Redhawk action as well.

The Alaskan is a fun revolver to own and show off, but it's quite limited in its utility. The Toklat is about as versatile and convenient as a big bore revolver can get - especially for a factory model.

The Alaskan is a fun revolver to own and show off, but it's quite limited in its utility.

Click to expand...

I can't argue with this. I bought my Alaskan eight years ago or thereabouts because it looks awesome and it shoots the .454 Casull but I've come to realize that it's not that useful. If Ruger came out with a good looking 4" version of the Alaskan and not another ugly Toklat I'd sell mine in a heartbeat, but in the meantime I'll think about how cool Bowen could make it.

Pardon me, but what is a Toklat? Never heard of that one.

armoredman said:

Pardon me, but what is a Toklat? Never heard of that one.

Click to expand...

See my post above with picture. The Toklat is a 5.5" Ruger SRH in .454c, with slab side barrel.

How about Buffalo Bore 45 long colt +p,less muzzle flip ,good bear medicine

I own a Toklat but, alas, I've not done much with it since I bought it. I use the .40 caliber with 200 grains of bullet going 1000 fps rule.
Steve

Never been hurt by a bear... Only bears in Texas are in the eastern part and even then it's illegal to hunt them if memory serves BUT if I did have blackie bears near me a good .45 colt (standard load 250 grains at 900 GPS)would be my choice. No need for uber duper magnums for them as far as I can tell but what do I know about bears the last one I saw was in the zoo and a glass cage was enough gun for that one.

I'm not an expert on bears, but I know a few people who are. They are guides in Maine, and they sometimes have to track wounded bears. They mostly use 45 autos. One guide had a 12 gauge riot gun full of 00. He said that he would carry a pistol if only he was any good with one. Another guide but down a wounded bear with a 9mm.

U never know what blackbear u are going to run into. Will it be a 200lb bear or 500lb. A friend thats a guide recently shot the biggest southwestern bear ive ever seen. He carries his 454 bfr and was darn glad to have it. I love those guns u have and i agree the toklat is imminently useable. Just a great gun and i love the way they look. That would be my choice. I have the alaskan, my son has a toklat and we all have the 7.5” version in various calibers. I usually reach for the 7.5” night sighted 454 srh for any and all backup duty. If i had a toklat too id reach for it.

To answer the OP’s question, yes. Not me, but my old hunting pard did/does carry the Ruger Alaskan in .454 as his backup whenever hunting big game; actually, anytime he is in the woods, that’s what’s on his side.

Sam

The toughest decision in my life:
Toklat or the Alaskan?!!!!
I stood at the counter of that gunshop for almost an hour picking up one, then the other, and repeat. Same price even! It came down to which one locked up tighter, and the toklat won. I dont think id regret it if id picked the alaskan though, and ill probably still get one of those too just to match my mdl. 70 alaskan. God i have an addiction.....