And yet again everyone - which handgun/caliber would you pick??

The handgun is intended to be a backup weapon for grizzly in the Alaska Bush - but since I am going to be owning a magnum caliber hangun I want a gun that is more then adequate for hunting also.

Here is my list of deciding factors and requirements:

- A barrel length between 6"- 10"
- I dont reload so 'normal' calibers preferred. Nothing exotic or too hard to find. No calibers that havent been proven by time.
- Prefer a compensated handgun
- A scope rail
- Prefer adjustable sights
- I have a small hand
- Prefer stainless steel due to constant rain
- Manageable recoil with training
- Accuracy and reliability
- Money is not an object. I love custom guns.

The guns I have been considering so far are:

a .460 from Smith and Wesson Perfomance Center (because it can also use a .454 which to me is an easier to find round)

The Dan Wesson Alaskan Guide Special in .445 because it can also shoot hot .44 magnum

A S&W Performance center .500

A Colt Anaconda in .44 Magnum

What would you guys choose?

I happen to keep a Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag w/7 1/2"(?) barrel next to my sleeping bag at night; but then again, money was an option with me, ha ha.

OK, here you go. Aquire a Ruger Bisley Hunter in 45 Long Colt, send it to Gary Reeder for his 455 GNR conversion. What you get is a custom 5 shot 455 GNR, which is the 475Linebaugh necked down to the 45 caliber. The 7.5" barrel with the scope ring rail stays on since the barrel is heavy enough so it does not require changing it. The end cost is up to you, as you can just have a 5 shot cylinder in 455GNR exchanged for the 6 shot 45 LC cylinder or go all out and have the whole conversion done with all the goodies incorporated, including Magna-porting. What you get is a revolver that is easily scoped, has nice iron sights, has a nice gripframe/grips, and is as powerful as a 454 Casull, without the high pressure/recoil issues. Loaded ammo and Hornady dies/brass are available to satisfy anyone. Check it out for yourself at reedercustomguns.com

quote:

Originally posted by Littlbigd:

- Prefer a compensated handgun

Don't let it fool you, the S&W .500 kicks pretty good even though it is compensated, I think it is only compensated for muzzle rise.

Since you have small hands I say the .500, Just because the grips are pretty small.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
OK, here you go. Aquire a Ruger Bisley Hunter in 45 Long Colt, send it to Gary Reeder for his 455 GNR conversion. What you get is a custom 5 shot 455 GNR, which is the 475Linebaugh necked down to the 45 caliber. The 7.5" barrel with the scope ring rail stays on since the barrel is heavy enough so it does not require changing it. The end cost is up to you, as you can just have a 5 shot cylinder in 455GNR exchanged for the 6 shot 45 LC cylinder or go all out and have the whole conversion done with all the goodies incorporated, including Magna-porting. What you get is a revolver that is easily scoped, has nice iron sights, has a nice gripframe/grips, and is as powerful as a 454 Casull, without the high pressure/recoil issues. Loaded ammo and Hornady dies/brass are available to satisfy anyone. Check it out for yourself at reedercustomguns.com

Or get one of Gary's 510 GNR 5 shot revolvers. Been used on almost everything on the planet. Gary does outstanding work. Loaded ammo is also available.

I have five different S&W 500's and one .460S&W but based on what you've said only two of them meet your criteria. The first one is a 6 1/2" Lew Horton Limited Edition and the second model is the 7 1/2" PC Compensated Hunter. My other ones are the 2 3/4" ES Alaskan Guide, 8 3/8" standard model and the 10 1/2" PC model. My 460 S&W is the 10 1/2" PC model. Factory ammo is not cheap for either caliber but it wasn't designed for casual plinking. There is one company that's loading Ranger Ricks 700gr hard cast slugs and he's a native of Homer Alaska to boot.
The 6 1/2" model doesn't come with wooden grips. Those are Herrett Jordan Troopers I installed to tame some of the recoil and for me they do just that.



Both of these have seen bullets ranging in weight from 223gr to 700gr and none of my Smith's have given me any problems.

The .460S&W can shoot the 454Casull and 45Colt but if you handload, unfortunately you don't, the S&W 500 can do everything it can and more.

Obviously I've already made my choice

I have given this a lot of thought after all the posts. This can't be answered because you really need one of each to be happy.
Every time I shoot a deer with a revolver, I take a different one for the next deer until I run out of tags. I would never be happy with one caliber.

LOL -- I have to agree with bfrshooter on this one -- you just need to get one of each! That is the only solution to making such a difficult decision!

If you can handle the recoil, the 500 S&W Magnum is the one to go with.

I have a Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag and a SRH in .480 Ruger; I would choose the .480 Ruger without a doubt.

The recoil in this gun (7.5" barrel) is fine. I can shoot it with one hand, no problem... just for stunt ya' know? With proper 2-hand hold it is quite accurate.

The SRH has integral scope mounting base and rings are included. I have not bought a scope for mine and shoot it with the iron sights, as I want to be able to carry it holstered.

If you were interested in hunting then probably a 2.5X handgun scope would be good, but I have not investigated handgun scopes so I am guessing when I say that.

I have wilderness ATC (Authorization to Carry).

Freedom Arms Premier in .454 with an extra .45 Colt cylinder for practice. Get a 6" barrel and have it Mag-Na-Ported. A barrel much longer than that becomes a PITA to carry.

For hunting the rear sight is easy to remove and a 2 or 4 power Leupold scope can be put on.

..and you will never wear the gun out...

Bob

Yep, I think this is a two gun solution, or more.
For a backup gun, you need it to be handy, light and comfortable to carry, or you might get tired of packing it everywhere and it won't do any good back in camp when you need it.
I have a 4" 500S&W and I think it's almost on the heavy side for a backup gun. It does get noticable after several days. Recoil with factory loads is stiff, but not too bad at all.
A really great packing gun is my 4 5/8" Ruger Blackhawk, stainless, in 45 colt with Houge Mono-grip. It is light, rides well in a belt or sholder holster and can be loaded with heavy cast bullets. I think that Buffalo Bore has heavy loads for it.

For a little more weight, you could get a BFR in 475 Linebaugh. It's a little bigger and heavier, but better to pack than the 4" 500. I have the 6.5" version. The 475 is enough for Elephants so it should do for Big Bears also. You can shoot 480 ammo in it for lighter recoil and still have a great caliber.
The BFR's do come drilled and tapped for a scope mount if you wanted to put one on for a hunting trip, but I'd leave it open sighted for a backup gun.
For a scoped hunting gun then there are loads of possibilities.

Oh, another option just popped in. S&W is selling the survival packs. It's a hard case with lots of goddies and come with a gun. They have 2.5" 460 and 500's. I haven't shot one, but I think I'd go for the 500 and maybe shoot some 500 JRH light loads from Buffalo Bore. maybe a 400gn cast at 1000 fps should be managable and will still give pleany of penetration. You can always get the 700gn monster slugs from Ranger Rick. They come in loaded ammo from
http://www.ballisticsupply.net/Default.aspx?tabid=252105
And are pretty fun to shoot, plus they come with my Carnauba Red lube on them.

Well I think I spent more than 2 cents on this answer

Ruger super redhawk 454 w/ the 7 1/2" barrel. Anything bigger than the 454 and you will have to handload to have mild practice loads. If you can't kill it with a 360 gr 454 load, it's rifle time. Have it cut down to 5", I pack a 7 1/2" srh 480, and will be getting a second one to cut down. To me the 480 is even better than the 454, but factory ammo selections are limited.

The S&W's are simply too big and bulky for a backup gun. I carry my 480 at least a month a year, and am unwilling to have anything heavier.

Why the scope rail? Why the long barrel length? You'll never carry that very far and so you probably won't have it when you need it.

If you're packing meat, keep a rifle handy. If you're fishing then carry a handgun or put a lightweight shotgun or rifle on your back...like a short big bore levergun.

Here's my Bowen built .500 Linebaugh for daily carry.



Here's my .50 Alaskan levergun for daily use. Worked great in Zimbabwe too.

Lar45
Here's a picture of my S&W 500 ES Alaskan model with some of Ranger Ricks 700gr "Tyrannosaurus Thumpers". They aren't loaded down and they are an absolute beast to shoot in this little snubby! I won't be shooting it with these slugs again unless I absolutely have to.

This model in this configuration is apparently in very short supply since the case manufacturer quite supplying them. S&W does sell the same gun with black grips minus the goodies. Shortly after I bought it I replaced the orange grips with the black ones and polished the gun with mothers mag polish.

DEC- what an excellent beast. Do you have problems with the 700's jumping the crimp? I had 2 of them pull out last time I shot them. Maybe I need a different crimp die?


Yukon Delta- I really like that 50 Alaskan. Is that on the new Stainless Marlin action? Or the custom ones from Wild West? Is that an exit on the back of Jumbo's head from the frontal brain shot? What more penetration would one need? Can you shoot 500 Linebaughs in it if you had to?

It started as a stainless guide gun and the work was done by Reggie Nonneman.

That is actually the entrance from the finishing shot. There were 2 exits...both brain and shoulder shots. The finishing shot ended up in her throat and fell out when we removed the head.

You can shoot Linebaugh in it although I haven't done so yet.

I haven't had any problems with them pulling since I actually over crimp them. I bring the die down until it touches and then another half turn. The crimp doesn't iron out when shooting but I make sure I use the same cases with these bullets.

So far I've only seen a 50 Alaskan cartridge and it's a beast! It really makes the S&W 500 look inadequate. We have one shooter that goes to the same range I do and I'm hoping to catch him there so I can actually shoot the thing.

yukon delta,thems some sweet lookin pieces right there.Yes Sir ,I`d rather have the Bowen than a heavy,clunky S&W 50 any day of the week.

Thanks for the compliments. After many guns (all of them someone else's idea of a good carry gun) I decided to commission my own. For now, the search is over. No offense to the other guns shown (and I've owned them too) but they're not right for me.

Here is a better view of the rifle.

A different view of the Bowen.

Yukon, that's one fine revolver! What loads do you use in it?

440's at just under 1300. The thing is they don't do much better than the same at 1100 so I shoot more of those. Full penetration is the expectation from any angle.

Yukon, I was talking to Jack Huntington not too long ago, hammering out the details of the conversion he is performing on my SRH (converting it to .475 Linebaugh) and we talked about the .500. He told me it will penetrate to China loaded with 525 grain bullets. He also told me very few people load them that heavily. I too am considering building a .500. Yours is georgeous! How is the recoil with the 440s at 1300?

Whitworth,I shoot the 525 WLFN at 1120 FPS out of my 500 Linebaugh and it penetrated completely through this Big Boy and exited and only one shot was required

Excellent!! That's what I'm talking about -- puts it in a whole new category. How is the recoil with such heavy bullets?

I find the 525's at 1120 PS eaiser to control than the 435's at 1350 FPS........

I haven't tried the 525's yet. Would you mind PM'ing me the load data? Whose bullet?

The 440's at 1350 are pretty stout...not killers but hard to practice with.

The worst is Ashley Emerson's .500 Linebaugh Redhawk loaded hotter than that.

My SRH Casull with 400 grain bullets at 1400 fps is an unpleasant bugger. I wonder how the Linebaugh will compare......

The double action grip frmae are much more unpleasant IMHO when dealing with heavy recoil...The Bisley grip,The Freedom Grip are both more pleasant when handleing a HARD recoiling revolver......

Yukon Delta, I wil have to look up the load data for the 525 Grain WLFN's I do remember that it is a case full of IMR-4227 up to about 27 or 28 grains

Well, the Linebaugh running the same specs will feel the same of course but different grip frames feel vastly different to different people. Take the Freedom Arms for example...I really don't like the way they recoil and strongly prefer the Bisley. Other friends feel differently and that's fine too.

A single action definitely handles recoil better IMHO. I've always found the Casull a harsh round -- lots of pressure and velocity, and well, recoil.

That has been my experience. The Casull in particular and the 475 Linebaugh are both high pressure. The Casull is high rifle pressure...like 65k PSI.

That's one reason why I like the 500 Linebaugh and 50 Alaskan...low pressure.

If you have small hands, the X-frame smiths may be hard to hold. Money being no onject, I would say a Freedom Arms Mod 83 454 6" (of course I just bought mine, so I may be slightly biased). You can either a 45 colt or a 45 ACP cylinder for it for $275 or so to shoot sub loads. I picked the 6" so I could wear a cross draw holster (strong side has too much rifle meets pistol problems) and I dislike the shoulder rigs.

Another choice for money is no object would be any of the linebaugh hand cannons, facotry ammo is somewhat available though.

That being said, I would also highly reccomend a S&W 629 6" as well, the recoil is much easier to handle and still potent enough to knock the crap out of anything within 100 yds. Scope rail is possible, but isn't included.

Good luck and happy blasting....

John

I'd recommend picking what I picked: a 6" FA mdl. 83 in .475 Linebaugh.

Over the counter off the shelf availability anywhere pistol ammunition is sold calls for a 44 magnum. Since we're dreaming with your money... How about starting with a stainless Ruger Redhawk 7-1/2 with scope mount cuts. Bob the the barrel to 4 inches and install a new front sight. That way you can install a scope if you need one for hunting but there's no rail to get in the way the rest of the time. You could have it Magnaported if you really need to but ports and comps are hard on the ears. If price is no object have Bowen do the work http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/NEW/RugDAbasic.htm and make it a 475 or 500 five shot. Another option is the WWG Wolverine conversion on a 454 Super Redhawk http://www.wildwestguns.com/Pistolsmithing/Wolverine/wolverine.html Just ask them to leave the scope mount cuts on the frame when they go to work slimming the pistol. Their moon clip conversion would allow you to use 454 Casull, 45 Colt and 45 ACP.

Big Bore Boar Hunter
The X-frame Smith uses a standard N frame in the grip area. The Hogue Sorbothane grips make it appear to be larger because of the added material over the back strap. The grips can be easily replaced with a standard set of Hogues but your hands will take a beating. The Sorbothane grips may be slightly larger but to someone like myself with larger hands they still aren't big enough and they are literally a pain to shoot. It places the middle knuckle of my middle finger right against the trigger guard and if I don't grip the gun tightly it slams it every time. The Herrett Jordan Troopers are the only wooden grips I've seen that will hold together on the beast and despite them being made of wood the design of them does tame the recoil better, at least in my experience. As much as I like my SA's I don't like the feel of the grips.