Well, this weekend was the Raahauges shooting fair. I went there with a few hopes:

1. That Merkel would be there and that I could play a bit with their "toys"

2. That some safari outfitters would be there and I could chat them up a bit

3. That my wife could play with a few shotguns

4. So that my puppy (a 6 mo old Toller) could enjoy the festivities.

Well, Merkel wasn't there and there weren't any Safari outfitters. On the other hand, Ruger was there and they were kind enough to let me fire a couple rounds through a 20" Ruger Alaskan with the Hogue stock.

Personally, I like short, handy rifles and the Alaskan certainly fit the bill. I was a bit concerned that an 8# rifle (no scope) with a 20" tube was going to be a bit of a handful. The loads used were the factory 300gr. Hornady Solids.

I put two rounds downrange from a standing position, hit my targets twice (3" clay pigeons hung out at 40' or so) and thought "Well, that wasn't bad at all!"

The truth is that I thought it was a bit of a pussycat. Recoil was incredibly well managed for a short, light rifle and I thought the Hogue stock worked great - excellent grip and very comfortable to shoulder. The trigger was very nice - around a 3.5# pull and quite crisp. The sights were a very robust shallow v-notch and high white bead on the front.

Now I could be biased but I honestly think my Remington 673 in .350 RMag (250gr. @ 2500fps) recoils a bit more sharply than the Alaskan.

Ok, so the stainless rifle looked like crap. But as a solid workhorse rifle I was impressed.

(Oh, and the puppy did GREAT!)

Too bad that stupid pad they put on that thing sticks to clothing like nail to a magnet. Quality wise it's about as good as you're going to get in a NEW $850 rifle.

So why didn't you buy that solid workhorse rifle?

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:
So why didn't you buy that solid workhorse rifle?

Two reasons:

1. I'm not going DG hunting until probably 2012...so no need to buy an asset that I won't use or need for a long time...

2. I'd rather have it in .416 Ruger...and time is on my side.

The 375 Ruger Alaskan is about as good as gets for a stainless semi big bore. Good name for it, too, as the rifle is perfect for Alaska.

I have been shooting mine as well...

Still have a feed problem with spitzer shaped slugs...Factory 300 RN's fed without a hitch...

Managed to whack myself with my scope real good on Sunday....took a practice off hand snap shot at an elk target 50 yds away...guess I didn't snuggle in well enough...touched her off and whamo. Ouch.

I am happy to report that I did score a direct heart hit...my son is still laughing at me.

The ruger is proving to be a fun rifle to shoot and very accurate. Big bullet seems to get down range in a hurry.