Nice thread, with lots of honest to God Alaskans participating. Only been up there once, flyfishing Andrew Creek at the mouth of the Stikine near Wrangell. I brought a SS Redhawk with 5 /12-inch barrel in .44 Mag with heavy 330-grain flat points under a full dose of 296.
Discussing this with our Tlingit guide, he smiled and said shoot all six then throw it at him. Not terribly reassuring. Guide left us at our Forest Service cabin with a 12-gauge pump loaded with slugs and buck. A few days' fishing showed the wisdom of this, with narrow gravel bars -- maybe 10 feet wide -- and then vertical walls of brush with four foot bear holes every few yards. We were lucky that temps were warmer than normal, causing the griz to sleep all day and fish salmon at night, but with those short distances, fishing a revolver out of a holster would have been futile.
Guide told us he always carried a shotgun and brought his dogs when out fishing.
If you had the federal stamp, I suspect a 12-gauge pump with 12-inch barrel would make an optimal rig in these conditions.

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Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

use your weak hand to cock the hammer

Only works if both hands are available.

Tho I've been charged a number of times , and bluff charged several more . And been followed and stalked more times than I can remember . I've never been mauled . I give all the credit to Almighty God for looking out for me . And for giving me Great dogs . And a general ability to understand the dangers and properly prepare for them. With things like 416 and 458 rifles.
John Linebaugh told me in a phone conversation one time that the 44 mag w/300 gr + boolits @1200+ fps killed the same as the 30/06 with an appropriate load. Everything I know about the 06 on brown bear never inspired me with confidence . So , I up scaled as soon as the 480 came out. Most of the time however , even tho I wore a handgun . I had a rifle in hand. Most of my problems with bears I delt with a rifle. Which is what I recommend .

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Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:
They Do. The one in my pic above is a 5 1/2" 45 Colt/ACP Bisley Convertible. . It's only available thru Williams shooters supply. http://www.ruger-firearms.com/...specSheets/0472.html
Ruger also came out with a 3. 3/4" stainless Bisley Convertible . I think its available thru Lipsey's.

Thanks for the info.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Nice thread, with lots of honest to God Alaskans participating. Only been up there once, flyfishing Andrew Creek at the mouth of the Stikine near Wrangell. I brought a SS Redhawk with 5 /12-inch barrel in .44 Mag with heavy 330-grain flat points under a full dose of 296.
Discussing this with our Tlingit guide, he smiled and said shoot all six then throw it at him. Not terribly reassuring. Guide left us at our Forest Service cabin with a 12-gauge pump loaded with slugs and buck. A few days' fishing showed the wisdom of this, with narrow gravel bars -- maybe 10 feet wide -- and then vertical walls of brush with four foot bear holes every few yards. We were lucky that temps were warmer than normal, causing the griz to sleep all day and fish salmon at night, but with those short distances, fishing a revolver out of a holster would have been futile.
Guide told us he always carried a shotgun and brought his dogs when out fishing.
If you had the federal stamp, I suspect a 12-gauge pump with 12-inch barrel would make an optimal rig in these conditions.

Nice place. I used to go there each year to stay with friends and fish. Hunted a few times on the islands around the area. Did you see the petroglyphs on the rocks at the mouth of the Stikine?

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Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

use your weak hand to cock the hammer

Only works if both hands are available.

Having killed a few be



Tho I've been charged a number of times , and bluff charged several more . And been followed and stalked more times than I can remember . I've never been mauled . I give all the credit to Almighty God for looking out for me . And for giving me Great dogs . And a general ability to understand the dangers and properly prepare for them. With things like 416 and 458 rifles.
John Linebaugh told me in a phone conversation one time that the 44 mag w/300 gr + boolits @1200+ fps killed the same as the 30/06 with an appropriate load. Everything I know about the 06 on brown bear never inspired me with confidence . So , I up scaled as soon as the 480 came out. Most of the time however , even tho I wore a handgun . I had a rifle in hand. Most of my problems with bears I delt with a rifle. Which is what I recommend .

Having killed a few charging bears with a 30-06, and knowing for a fact that I shoot a rifle much better than any handgun, I will stick with a 30-06 over any handgun

Yup , Don't in any way doubt your experience . But , I found what worked well for me and stuck with it. For me , a best day was if I didn't see , hear , smell or have to deal with any bears. Unfortunately that wasn't the case ALOT of the time.
My business was killing trees not bears. I often wished the bears would figure that out .

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I shoot a rifle much better than any handgun

Most people do.

If I know I am going into a defensive situation I prefer a rifle also.

Trouble is working every day life's don't allow one to have a rifle in your hands all the time.

Unless your guiding hunters for a living. But Phil's last defensive use that we know of used a 9mm 3913. ( some would say a totally impotent caliber for bear defense Why because a pistol is there when your left your rifle some place else.

It is real hard to run a chain saw or a lot of other tools with a rifle in your hands.

One soon find's that you set the rifle down leave in the truck and you don't have it handy.

If you hang it from a sling it flops around keeps coming off your shoulder and gets in the way. Sling it across the back helps but it is not perfect and sure is a lot slower to get into action.

Then then sling with a empty chamber. Ones response time in getting a shot off is slower yet.

In a perfect world one prefers not to get in defensive gun uses. But the trouble is animals and people often force them onto you.

A running power saw is the ultimate bear run off tool. But as has happened. Saw breaks down and has to be packed out. That's when the handgun may be needed. . I've encountered a lot of bears packing out saws that died , over the years. When hiking in and out I pack the rifle in hand . Then hang it in a tree when I fired up my power saw. Falling timber I usually leave the handgun in my pack. Thinning trees, I always wear it all day.

Truth time. There have been several times when I had an 06 and even a 308 with me in preference to a 12 ga. For bear protection.
People can say what they want , a 12 ga is imho insufficient bear protection . except for very small bears.

Gents,
Great reading your replys. One of these days the wife and I hope to visit your fine state. Glad to know I don’t need to buy a cowboy holster to fit in.

The first agency I worked for issued a flapped holster for “uniformity” sake since deputies supplied their own gun. You could draw pretty quick from them when excited.

Could the apparent popularity of SA revolvers be related to price or the fact you can’t hardly break a Ruger S/A?

Of course everybody has their own personal reasons for their choice but it's a little easier to build a single action chambered for a powerful cartridge than a double action. Cheaper too.

Realistically these guns are made for deliberate shooting like hunting for example rather than self defense against animals. Relatively few will ever be employed against a dangerous animal. So accurate single action fire is most important. Plus single actions never really went out of favor since they were invented.

IMHO a single action is a little better than a double action in the recoil department because of the shape of the grip. DA's tend to bite a little more in the web of my hand. Saying that the only large bore revolver I presently own is a double action S&W model 29 .44 magnum I've owned for 25 years or so. The .44 mag is more than enough for me. I've shot some of the bigger ones and found they had more recoil than I like.

I think you have the right idea about holsters, choose one that rides up on your belt. They're more comfortable, convient and aren't in the way. Those dropped down "cowboy" holsters came from the 1950's quick draw shooters and Hollywood just picked up the style from them. No cowboy way back when ever used anything like that in real life.

I think a good part of it is history. And not cowboy history. When I came to Alaska in 78 there were by and large 2, 44 magnums . The Super Blackhawk 7 1/2" and the Smith &Wesson model 29 . in a couple different barrel lengths.
Yes there were others. Dan Wesson. Interarms's Virginia Dragoon and Tarus .
There were others I'm sure . The Smith was spendy but a great gun . The Ruger super reliable and more affordable.
The Ruger made a name for itself as being just really tough . Lots of guys got used to cocking the hammer before each shot. Even with double actions.
My first 44 mag was a 12"barrel Virginia Dragoon. It was a great big thing. I packed it as often as I could in a holster I made . None of us knew about heavy hardcast boolits back then. Everyone seemed to be much more into high velocity. An old gunsmith told me about handloading the 265 gr Hornady bullet for it as it penetrated a lot better than the standard 240 gr ammo. So I did. With a Lee Loader I bought.
Anyway, I never had a problem protecting myself with a single action revolver. And I've had at least a wheel barrow full of them .
Kind of a ( if it ain't broke , Don't fix it kinda mentality, I guess ) .

I don't see that there's a whole lot of difference between double and single action revolvers . Other than an individual's preference. Which is really the single most important part.

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I don't see that there's a whole lot of difference between double and single action revolvers . Other than an individual's preference. Which is really the single most important part

That's the nice thing about this country we have choices.

That said I am a dedicated double action fan for many reasons.