Alaskan 454 living on 45LCs

[Randal45]

I am considering a Ruger Alaskan 454 2.5". I have no desire to punish myself with shooting 454 Casulls with this revolver. I really want a nice solid smallish double action 45LC revolver. According to the Ruger specs the Alaskan is a smaller revolver than their 4" 45LC DA revolver. I am planning on feeding it 45LCs only. Is there any concern with this? Will there be permanent damage to the cylinders with a steady diet of 45LCs? I understand that one must scrub out the cylinders after using 45LCs if one wants to switch to the longer 454 Casull rounds.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[moooose102]

i really do not see why there would be. it would be like driving your car at less that 1/2 throttle all of the time. no big deal.

 

[Stainz]

I owned a .454 SRH for years - it was my first DA revolver. The lockwork can be 'improved', but it will never be the equal of my S&W 625 Mountain Gun in .45 Colt. The 625MG weighs 39.5 oz and has a tapered 4" barrel with a partial lug and chamfered cylinders - very traditional look and feel. Accoprding to Ruger, that 2.5" Alaskan in .454 weighs in at 44 oz - it needs more cast SS to equal S&W's hammer-forged/heat-treated strength. The S&W 25/625 is built for .45 ACP specs >22 kPSI vs the .45 Colt spec of 14 kPSI, so strength for .45 Colts won't be a problem.

I've shot an Alaskan in .454 & .480. The .454 variant with .45 Colts seemed to bark a lot - may have been me, but I think it was the shorter barrel. With .454s, it was a bouncy flamethrower! Believe me, the .45 Colt 625 or 25 MGs are far nicer handling, shooting, etc. Yes, I owned a .45 Colt RH - a 5.5" SS - for years, too. It was horrible. I now have two 625MGs in .45 Colt... and I am Ruger-free. YMMV... really... but, at an MSRP of $992 now, that Alaskan is expensive - and I know you can find a 625MG, probably new, for what that Alaskan would run at a fair discount. I've seen the Alaskans in the $729-$759 range locally.

Stainz

 

[ArmedBear]

I was going to chime in with that, too.

A 625 Mountain Gun would be a great choice, or a 629 in .44 Magnum.

The 4" barrel gives better ballistics, the gun is significantly lighter than the Ruger, and the trigger doesn't feel like ****. Also, the Alaskans are FAT guns. The skinnier, lighter Smith would carry a lot easier.

Also, the 629 Mountain Gun in .44 Magnum is on sale at Cabela's right now for $699 (through tomorrow, 2/28).

.44 can be downloaded to "cowboy" velocities as well. I'm assuming you'd be looking at loading your own. .45 Colt would get too expensive otherwise, too.

 

[Randal45]

I reload for my 45ACP and my fathers Judge. I like both the ACP and the Long Colt because I can use the same bullets and primers for reloading. I really do not want to inventory reloading materials for the 44mag, otherwise my interest would be with the S&W 629 line. Who knows, that may change after further thought. I do like the S&W 325 NightGuard 45ACP revolver. My concern with that scandium frame is that it may not give me the lifespan that I desire. I am averaging 10k rounds per year in my primary carry 45ACP pistol. Could the 325 NightGuard handle 200 reload rounds per week without shaking itself loose in a year?

thanks everyone for their input!

 

[BCRider]

If you're already reloading for .45 and this is going to be more of a "for fun" sort of gun what about finding a nice older S&W Model 22 in either the original type or the new Classics lineup. Or a 625 in stainless for a more current option. Both of these as well as a few other options use the .45ACP that you're already reloading. And I'm pretty sure most of them, the 625 for sure, use moon clips so you can easily keep all the brass in one spot. Far more tidy in fact than shooting semi...

 

[Stainz]

I shot a friend's Expensivium framed lite weight/no barrel 625-10 with 'just' ball ammo (230gr FMJ). Being accustomed to the recoil of my 625JM SS 4" .45 ACP, I was in for a shock. Those lite weight .45 ACPs bounce a bit! I have no doubt they will last a long time - certainly longer than my interest.

So - what about the .45 Colt 625 Mountain Gun suggestion? Of course, you could just get a 4" 625 in .45 ACP - like my 625JM below. Moonclips are reasonable - as low as $30/100. Additionally, you can load .45 Auto Rim cases with the same bullets as your .45 Colts - like the Speer #2484 250gr Gold Dot or 255gr LSWCs. The .45 ARs load like .45 ACPs, except for the shellholder.

The 625JM comes with a nice grip, interesting hammer and mean trigger, as well as a spring-loaded front sight, easily changed without tools. BTW, a .223 metal ammo case holds 105 loaded moonclips - see below! Great Zombie protection...



Stainz

PS The best news re the 625JM... you can buy reasonably priced ammo at Wally World for it, when you run low!

 

[RevolvingCylinder]

The Alaskan is larger than the .45 Colt Redhawk as it's built on the larger and heavier Super Redhawk frame. It's barrel is merely shorter.

I'd go with a .45 Colt Redhawk if I were you. I got rid of my S&W 29 because of it's ever worsening excessive endshake if that tells you anything about how I feel about them. It's a shame too because I actually like the feel of their actions.

 

[22lr]

Stainz

That is gun and ammo collection worthy of the zombies, very nice.