The Best Alaska CCW/trail backup revolver

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Cosmoline

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After much trial and error, I'm hoping I've at last found the ideal concealable revolver for both the trail and the city in Alaska. The problem I have is that my routine (to the extent I even have such a thing) crosses back and forth from city to suburbs to howling wilderness often during the course of a single day. I'm very happy with my Mossberg 500A, and it does have a folding stock. But it ain't exactly easy to tote around cocked and locked in Anchortown. Plus, while lighter than a safari rifle it's still pretty hefty.

Now I had been carrying my Colt Police Positive Special concealed in a nice rig that did hide it. But a few weeks back I found myself walking down a very rough trail in the decreasing light looking for my fishing partner. The fishing partner who had my shotgun :mad: Anyway with the salmon around there's no telling when you might just have to pull over and crash through the underbrush in what is most definately bear country. That's just the way it is with salmon.

I tried to imagine what the ADN would say about me, using a vintage .38 Special with HP's. Plus, I love that revolver and sorry to say the exposure to rain, fish crud, sand, mud, etc. was starting to rust it and scrape it up. So the PPS has been retired.

But what to get instead?? It's a real issue. I've carried a wide array of short and long guns around Alaska over the years, and if CCW weren't an issue I would not hestiate to get a .44 Magnum in a belly rig with a 4" barrel. But CCW is an issue. I don't want to have to mess with switching sidearms because more often than not I either don't have the right one with me or I've left them all back home. I need a sidearm GLUED to me. All the time. Because you just never know what's going to happen around here.

I ultimately decided on a short barrel .357 Mag. Buf. Bore and Corbon are producing some very hot hard cast loads for the cartridge now which make it quite useful for short range bruin defense. The high sectional density of the 180 and 200 grain .357" bullets to some extent makes up for their lower power compared with a big bruiser. I was leaning towards a S&W Centennial, but ultimately decided against it because the revolver just seemd too fragile. Not that I planned on shooting a bunch of hot .357 hout of it, but fact is I don't want it breaking into bits if it falls off of me onto some rocks, gets run over by a car--who knows. So I've opted for a Ruger SP-101. Nice stainless construction, extremely tough. Trigger is only so-so but will get better with age. Very durable frame. And it's concealable. I will probably set up my Miami Galco rig with two speed loaders, one with heavy trail ball and the other with some two-legged medicine.
 
I suppose it'd be better than a sharp stick. Probably.

Unless it's a big long sharp stick. Although that would be hard to carry.

I'm sure it'd be better than a small pointy stick.....
 
The Ruger SP101 was going to be my suggestion when I read the title of your thread. It appears you've already come to that conclusion also.
Good choice on the Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore. I might suggest 125gr Speer Gold Dots for the concrete jungle.
 
Being as the criminals in Los Anchorage are a bunch of cant shoot straight wimps, Ill stick with my .32 for day/evening wear and keep the Mountain Gun for primary outdoors stuff...and I live in Spenard...

WildthiscityisjiveAlaska
 
Another Suggestion.....

While I know some people have issues with them and their quality control is sometimes a bit "iffy", you might want to look at the Taurus snubby .41 Magnum. That is about the top end of the portable/powerful ratio. Most of the models I have seen have been stainless steel, but I am pretty sure they also made it in Titanium. Silvertips for social work and hard-cast Keith SWC for poking large, long and deep wound channels. Sounds like a good deal to me!!

PS: Although I am currently a Washingtonian, I lived in AK for almost ten years. I know what a wet bear in an alder thicket smells like.......I carried a chopped Super Blackhawk at the time.
 
An SP-101 would be enough gun for trail and CCW anywhere BUT Alaska.

I lived for three years in Alaska as a kid and never saw a brown bear, but you can't plan for being in the bush and not think of them. A 3" or 4" .44 mag is about the minimum I would carry.

S&W, Taurus, and Dan Wesson make nice trail guns. If money is no object, Bowen does a slick "Alpine" trail gun conversion on Redhawks that I like very much.
 
.41 Mag for Alaska

For many men the recoil of a .44 mag is too punishing to shoot accurately especially for repeat shots. In my sales or progressive reloaders and bullet molds I found that many of my Alaska customers liked a .41 mag 4 inch carry weapon for whereever their activities took them. My .41 molds are a 220 grain lead SWC and customers report that they have taken moose and bear with it for their food supply as well as defense. That was surprising to me because I thought all hunting needed a Jacketed bullet that expanded.

As a Californian I find it unusual to hear that folks eat moose and bear on a regular and especially when taken with a pistol. When I had 45-70 molds it was normal to tell customers that the 45-70 would take anything on the North American Continent including moose and bear but I did not know they were edible or regularly eaten.

After all our ancestors did not have the fancy jacketed expanding bullets either.

Paul Fitz Jones
 
Well keep in mind I have a slug gun for primary use in bear country, this is just for an emergency. For a primary bear defense handgun I wouldn't want anything less than a .454 Casull.
 
Cosmoline,

Taurus is coming out with a stainless 44 Mag Tracker (5-shot w/ porting), with a 4" barrel. They claim it weighs 34 oz. I've never owned a Taurus, and it seems one hears both good and bad about them, but if the 44 Tracker actually works well, I think it might be ideal. I've also been looking (for years) for the all around "1" handgun for AK; I haven't found it yet either, but I'll take a look at this Tracker.

Paul,

Moose and (black) bear seem to be commonly eaten just about everywhere they exist, and even grizzly can be very good, when they're not eating salmon.
 
The problem with a 4" tracker is it would be pushing things for everyday CCW. The point is to have a firearm that you never need to take off, at least that's my goal. Based on some ideas in this thread I've done some comparison and I'm now leaning towards the .41 Magnum Fitz discusses. In a 3" SP-101 frame it would actually be slightly lighter than my existing .357 (due to less metal in the bore and chambers, and I believe would still be plenty strong enough to cope with max. loads. However I don't know if it's been done. The .41 Magnum isn't a cartridge I have much experience with, but I do know the hot .44 Magnum out of a small frame revolver can be a brutal experience. The pain is obviously not a big factor if a huge bruin is charging, but the recoil also kicks the handgun way up, and a second shot is going to come slower. With the SP--101 I can do something like a rapid fire at least to minute-of-bear at close range. I can't do that with a hot .44 Magnum or .454 Casull, even in big frame revolvers. Considering how fast bruins move you might as well be carrying a single shot, because one shot is all you'll get. The .41 Magnum is apparently easier to cope with than hot .44 mags and it exceeds the energy potential of the .357 and moves into the 1,000 ft. lb. range at the high end.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong...
the ballistics of the .41 magnum are approached by the 10mm

S&W 610 coupled with a 10mm auto
a Glock 20 or 29
 
A 357 mag is a POOR choice for bear defense up here. Get at least a 44 mag with heavy hard cast bullets. A 357 mag is not a bear defense cartridge. You would be better served with pepper spray than a 357 mag.

Pat
 
Interesting combination!

Backup and CCW! I would urge you to take a look at a S & W Trail Boss with a 3" barrel. Actually it is not bad for concealed carry. As to backup for a bear I really can't recommend any handgun but if you must................... The Trail Boss is pretty good.
 

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I also have a Trail Boss. Good handgun for backup, IMO, but too big and heavy for constant carry (IMO). I suppose Cosmoline would feel about the same; if the Taurus Tracker is a little too big for him, the Trail Boss definitely will be.
 
Well obviously any handgun is likely to be a poor choice for bear defense, though some can be used for bear hunting. I've been impressed by the heavy 200 and 180 grain .357 loads as the bullets have a very high sectional density and good energy. Your only hope with a handgun vs. the business end of a charging bruin is to get one in the brain pan or break a shoulder. The .357 is able to do both, though of course it's not ideal by any means. Neither is the vaunted .44 Mag., esp. when you're trying to shoot powerhouse .44 loads out of a CCW size revolver while wetting your pants.

My first line of defense is always the Mossy loaded with magnum hardcast slugs, not the foster type deer slugs. The Brennekes generate 3,000 ft. lbs. at close range, and with that power and a 12 ga. hole I have quite a bit of confidence in the slugs.
 
Mountain Gun in .45 Colt

.45%20lc%20Mountain%20Gun.jpg


This with some fairly hot 265gr Keith SWC should do the trick, if it has to be a handgun.


Yea, I know, the pic sucks. :(
 
I think with a sturdy gun belt, a quality holster, and appropriate attire a S&W Mountain Revolver would work.
 
Sure, absolutely. But CCW with a mountain gun on a shoulder rig? Not unless I have a hole bored into my chest. That's the problem. It's such a limited set of criteria, perhaps it's simply too restrictive. Nevertheless I do like the way the SP 101 is working out. It's plenty enough for town, and it's not a completely useless trail piece with 200 grain hardcast.

I may just be banging my head into a wall of physics here.
 
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