Moving to alaska, keep my .40 or buy a .44?

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Sounds like you're definitely up to speed with a .40 S&W and you'd just be okay with a .44 Mag.

Personally I'd probably more go with a full size .40 S&W or a 10mm and get some Underwood, Double Tap or Buffalo Bore loads and hedge my bets. That way you'd have a better chance if you came up against a bear or a moose because you'd at least have loads more suited to that. However at the same time you'd have more of a chance against someone or several someone's armed with guns.

That's exactly what I was thinking of when typing my comment. Lots of armed people in Alaska and not all of them are nice and polite.

Plus many times you're further away from civilization.

I mean even in Alaska which is more likely? To have a brown bear or a moose attacking you? Or to be attacked during a road rage incident or some other assault.

I actually don't know the answer to this question, but I suspect that even in Alaska that you'd be more likely to be attacked by someone else.
FMJ's deflect easily. A hard cast or monolithic bullet is a better option.

If you can shoot it well, I think your .40 will work as well as most any semiautomatic handgun when it comes down to it...as long as you use the proper bullets. Stick with flat nose FMJ or Hard Cast bullets from Buffalo Bore or Underwood. It's not a .44 or .454, but I'll bet you can shoot 6 rounds from your .40 faster and more accurately than you can shoot a 5 inch DA .44, and you will still have another 7-10 rounds left loaded in the gun to continue on...

If you are shooting a GLOCK, or any other gun without a fully supported chamber, buy a fully supported aftermarket barrel. I prefer KKM's personally...

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=347 (read the notes from Tim Sundles on Glock's)

Underwood ammo similar to BB offering:

https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...in-hard-cast-flat-nose?variant=18785705295929

I personally carry the Underwood Ammo or Buffalo Bore hard cast when in the TX woods in my G23 with KKM barrel.
 
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Out of curiosity, how big (heavy) is the biggest predatory animal you are likely to run across in the TX woods?

Other than a human, chances are it would be a hog, which could get pretty large and nasty when provoked.

I lived in AK (in the Interior near Fairbanks) for 7 years. Lived in Great Falls MT another 7. I get what you are saying...where is my credibility for my statement? I've seen bears in the boonies, but never had to defend myself against one...have you?

Honestly, mine is from research mainly.

I'm sure you read Phil Shoemakers encounter while guiding fisherman, and the bear he killed at bad breath range with his 9MM using 147 +P Buffalo Bore hard cast.

Then there is this thread https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/handguns-95-effective-against-bear-attacks.849193/ about this article:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/03/pi...nd-against-bear-attack-95-effective-63-cases/

Larry Mudgett had a similar type of account recap on his BLOG:

http://www.marksmanshipmatters.com/dangerous-predators-stopped-with-handguns/

I'd NEVER advocate hunting a large dangerous critter with a .40, but I can shoot my G23 MUCH better than I can shoot a 5" .357 or .44 DA revolver, and I have over twice the rounds.

Also, I've heard a lot lately about some AK organization, maybe DNR?, who was using the .357 SIG for their service weapon, but I cannot confirm that. My point was if that OP is good with their .40, it's a valid option...
 
Just a couple of anecdotes: The first .44 Redhawk I bought was used on consignment from a dentist who fished Kenai a lot and after his first close encounter with a brown he sold the .44 to get a .454 for the next trip (back in 1988 before many of the larger bores). He said up close the bear looked way too big for his .44. Ammo has changed quite a lot since then so the .44 is probably much better than it was. My brother had a similar experience. He worked in the Coast Guard and they had to go to remote light stations to do repairs. He carried his personal 7mmRM rifle with him. One time a coastal brown chased the crew up a cliff and he said he wasn't even going to try to shoot it with the 7mmRM because he thought at its size it would just piss it off more. Same thing, he said up close any gun you have just seems puny.

I've only encountered large black bears and feel my .44 Mountain Gun is a good balance of bullet weight and velocity for the given handgun weight. One black bear I ran into in Mt Rainier park had to be well over 400 pounds, in the fall rippling fat over muscle. They do look larger up close! I only had a .357 mag at the time and that is when I went looking for a .44 mag.

If I am going to the the areas I know larger black bear reside I carry the M29 .44 with 300 gr hardcast. It is one of my favorite guns to shoot so I not only have confidence in it, I am very comfortable with it and enjoy it. If I am going hiking where there are more people and some chance of black bear I carry my G23 .40 with 200 gr hardcast. If it is slim chance of bear then 165 gr Win PDX bonded. I practice with them all often. Something is better than nothing, and we have to make do with what we/can afford, and are willing to carry--but I have never heard anyone that fought off a bear say, "Gee, I wish I had my smaller caliber gun with me that day!"
 
I can shoot my G23 MUCH better than I can shoot a 5" .357 or .44 DA revolver, and I have over twice the rounds.

Also, I've heard a lot lately about some AK organization, maybe DNR?, who was using the .357 SIG for their service weapon, but I cannot confirm that.

Yes, an autoloader is easy to shoot. I've been training with my revolver for a while now and still haven't mastered it. Yeah, I heard of the guy who killed a bear with a 9mm. Also so a youtube video where I guy mag dumps a 9mm into a moose. I also know the story of the guy who killed a brown bear with a Buck 110 folding knife. These guys were successful, but not because they had the proper gear.

I haven't heard a word about anyone using 357 Sig up here, but I know 3 local cops, so I'll ask around. I can tell you that it wouldn't be "DNR" because our "game wardens" are also State Troopers. (we don't actually have "game warden" anymore; they just assign state troopers to do that task.)
 
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I recently watched a video by four guys that live in Alaska & (supposedly) have lots of experience with bears & what works & doesn't work. They placed SA revolvers (of any caliber) dead last due to the slow rate of fire. They prefer a semi auto pistol in 40 or 9mm over a 44 Magnum SA. I've never experienced an angry bear charge so I can't argue with them one way or the other but it appears that a great deal of the Alaska folks that carry very powerful revolver rounds like the 454 Casull for bear defense do it in SA revolvers. I have a SA 44 magnum & until now felt that with adequate ammo I was ready for anything. Now I'm not so sure. Anybody have any comments on this?
 
I recently watched a video by four guys that live in Alaska & (supposedly) have lots of experience with bears & what works & doesn't work. They placed SA revolvers (of any caliber) dead last due to the slow rate of fire. They prefer a semi auto pistol in 40 or 9mm over a 44 Magnum SA. I've never experienced an angry bear charge so I can't argue with them one way or the other but it appears that a great deal of the Alaska folks that carry very powerful revolver rounds like the 454 Casull for bear defense do it in SA revolvers. I have a SA 44 magnum & until now felt that with adequate ammo I was ready for anything. Now I'm not so sure. Anybody have any comments on this?

A charging bear can run very fast and cover a lot of ground quickly. The general rule I've heard a lot of other guys follow is anything under 100 yards is "danger close." Rapid fire under stress is difficult with any gun. Practice, practice, practice is the key. Missed fast shots don't count. You won't likely get a chance to reload. If it ever happens to me (and I've had one walk into camp while I was cooking), I'll be shocked if I have time and opportunity to fire a 3rd shot with my DA.

I think the real benefit of a DA revolver, over everything else, is that, once the bear is on you, he is on you, and you're on the ground. It may be very difficult, if not impossible, to cock an SA revolver with your hand and gun pressed into a bear. A DA revolver gives you the option to just crank the trigger. An autoloader pressed into a bear will be out of battery and useless. (I don't know why I keep saying that.)

I really don't think people realize how close bears can get to people and how quickly things can go south.
 
I recently watched a video by four guys that live in Alaska & (supposedly) have lots of experience with bears & what works & doesn't work. They placed SA revolvers (of any caliber) dead last due to the slow rate of fire.
It’s somewhat common in my experience for people to translate their own inability with a particular type of equipment into their own particular brand of “truth”, which they then share with the world.

When in fact it’s their opinion only.

I have shot a SA revolver exactly once, and I’ll take that over any 9mm or 40 S&W for a bear or moose encounter.
 
Playing "defense" is definitely more complicated than going on the offensive. If I'm headed off to hunt a bruin, especially a coastal brown bear, no way I'm going to engage in that effort with less than a .338 Win, better a .375. No doubt.

I did the whole “bought a .44 Redhawk, and eventually a short barrel 12 Mossberg 500”, but I wasn’t very good with that Ruger with full magnum rounds...much better with .44 specials, which I generally carried. And most of the time, that shotgun was sitting against a tree or worse, in my Jeep. Hated carrying that thing while I was fishing...it would snag on ever alder or birch thicket. I’d have been way more apt to carry a Glock, even a full size as I always carried OWB on my belt.
 
Yes, an autoloader is easy to shoot. I've been training with my revolver for a while now and still haven't mastered it. Yeah, I heard of the guy who killed a bear with a 9mm. Also so a youtube video where I guy mag dumps a 9mm into a moose. I also know the story of the guy who killed a brown bear with a Buck 110 folding knife. These guys were successful, but not because they had the proper gear.

I haven't heard a word about anyone using 357 Sig up here, but I know 3 local cops, so I'll ask around. I can tell you that it wouldn't be "DNR" because our "game wardens" are also State Troopers. (we don't actually have "game warden" anymore; they just assign state troopers to do that task.)

I don’t know about the guy who shot the moose, but the guy who killed the bear, Phil Shoemaker, is a 33 year bear guide. His story in his words is here:

https://www.americanhunter.org/arti...fishermen-from-raging-grizzly-with-9mm-pistol

Admittedly, he says his usual sidearm is a .44 mag revolver. On this fishing guide job, where he ran into bears before, he never anticipated any problems with the boars...

As far as the troopers versus DNR, yes, troopers were/are the AK “game wardens” (I left AK the last time in 2001). At one point, we used to call the officers who were “primarily” assigned to game laws “brown troopers” because they wore brown uniforms. I guess these days they all wear the blue uniforms?

The DNR guys I was referring to were the field biologists or some such position. Troopers, as far as I can confirm, carry .40’s. But again, I could be mistaken on the Sig 357’s, and I said I couldn’t confirm that as fact at this time.
 
As far as the troopers versus DNR, yes, troopers were/are the AK “game wardens” (I left AK the last time in 2001). At one point, we used to call the officers who were “primarily” assigned to game laws “brown troopers” because they wore brown uniforms. I guess these days they all wear the blue uniforms?

That is still the case. We call them "Brown Shirts." As an historian, I dn't particularly like the name because of the association with Nazi Germany, but that is the vernacular used up here.
 
I don’t know about the guy who shot the moose...

Here is a link to the you tube video.



However, this video has been severely edited. When I first saw this 3-4 years ago (it was all-over the local outdoor facebook groups), it was longer. What they cut out in the beginning of this version was the guy on the snow machine harassed the moose to make it get off the trail so he could ride through, rather than just wait for the moose to leave. When the moose responded aggressively (big surprise there), he shot it. This video makes it look like an unprovoked, predatory attack on a human.

People worry about bears, but moose are every bit as dangerous. One stomped an 8 yr old boy in my neighborhood because he got between a cow and her two newborn calves. Fish and game put down both the cow and the calves. My girlfriend was stalked by the same juvenile male mosoe twice this winter while walking the dog.
 
I was charged by a big bull Moose while grouse hunting several years ago. My dog had gone after him in the dark woods then was returning with the bull in hot pursuit. I had #7 1/2 shot so I decided not to shoot, he was still about 40 yards away, since I was upwind I quickly unzipped a took a leak. That actually stopped him.
 
Here is a link to the you tube video.



However, this video has been severely edited. When I first saw this 3-4 years ago (it was all-over the local outdoor facebook groups), it was longer. What they cut out in the beginning of this version was the guy on the snow machine harassed the moose to make it get off the trail so he could ride through, rather than just wait for the moose to leave. When the moose responded aggressively (big surprise there), he shot it. This video makes it look like an unprovoked, predatory attack on a human.

People worry about bears, but moose are every bit as dangerous. One stomped an 8 yr old boy in my neighborhood because he got between a cow and her two newborn calves. Fish and game put down both the cow and the calves. My girlfriend was stalked by the same juvenile male mosoe twice this winter while walking the dog.


This fella a jackxxx. He provokes the moose, shoots it 5 times, doesn't give a kill shot to put it out of it's misery, then takes off running.
 
I like this one. How fast can a bear move?



Bear chasing a deer on a mountain.



Oh a 9mm will do. Sure! My G19 will stop that 300 pounds!

I can outrun that. I got my Jordan's on. I'll kick it with my steel toed Redwings!
 
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I have to agree with most of the other posts so far, in that you should have adequate firepower for two-legged threats. But if you hav a safe full of .40 and 9mm autos, surely you could take some of those with you. Then you can carry a .40 for EDC, and a big bore revolver (possibly with a lightweight 9mm backup) for wilderness carry.
I flew the bush in Alaska for seven years back in the 1980s... For big bears, I carried a 12 GA Coach Gun loaded with slugs... I also carried a S&W M-629 in a shoulder holster... A light weight 9MM shouldn't be necessary... When we went to the wilder places, I carried 44 SPL HP Reloads that aproximated a 45 ACP in power in the 629... These could be fired fast and accurately if needed... My 18 rounds of them was lighter than any 9mm handgun... For Anchorage and the surronding area, the 40 would be ideal... If you have occasion to wander into Big Bear country, a 12 GA is the way to go.
 
I've mostly been working but I've fired 600 rounds through my 629 so far, an even split of magnums and specials. Finding .44 special practice ammo up here is pretty tough, even the cheapest factory ammo seems to be over .50/rnd. It's a reloader's caliber I guess. I took the lock off the revolver, plugged the hole, and swapped to some hogue grips. After trying the factory and pachmayers, the hogues worked best for me.

I am getting better with it, and have been trying to hit the range at least a few time a week. I went hiking a few times but haven't seen any critters yet thankfully. Carrying in town with blazer 200 gr gold dots and the 305gr hard cast underwoods on the trails, usually with 2 speedloaders. My reload splits are still about 6 seconds with HKS speedloaders, need to work on those, but have mostly been working on drawing from the holster for fast hits at 10-15 yards, finally down under 2 seconds for a reliable hit at 10-15 yards. The long magnum rounds are pretty tricky to get a smooth reload on, luckily the specials are much more consistent with the shorter cases. The DA trigger is off the scale on my trigger gauge, I'm guessing about 15 pounds. SA is about 4 pounds.

The cylinder release screw started to come lose after the first range session. I tried fingernail polish to secure it, but that didn't hold through magnums. Blue loctite seems to have done the trick for now.

Would really love to find some SL variant speedloaders for .44, doubt that'll ever happen.

I am glad I did not get a 329. I would not be able to practice much with the underwoods if I had.
 
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I think a 10mm with a load meant to penetrate would be better than a 44, a shot gun or guide gun would be my first choice
 
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