Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan

[BKLooney]

I don't own one myself but was shooting at my neighbor's house across the road the other day and one of his friends shows up with one, 2 1/2" Alaskan .454 Casull. I was shooting a .45 auto and my neighbor was shooting a Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum.

The Alaskan was a massive snub nose revolver, weighed in at 44 ounces. The recoil of that .454 out of that revolver was painful! I've shot three .500 S&W's, one 10 1/2" Hunter and the other two were the 7 1/2" barrels, that .454 out of that short barrel had more felt recoil.

My opinion of it is this, will it stop anything with a heartbeat in North America, yep...but you're only getting one shot off as recovery after that shot is going to take time. I will stick with the 10MM and hard cast ammo pushing out at around 1,350 FPS as I can get back on target pretty quick.

A Grizzly can run just under 40 mph if I remember correctly, bears can be very quiet stalking you, think of a car travelling at 40 MPH that you don't hear until it's about 50 or 60' from you...surprise! Yeah, not much time for anything...

Any of you guys ever shot one of these, or a BFR in .454?

 

[ShooterRay1]

I don't own one myself but was shooting at my neighbor's house across the road the other day and one of his friends shows up with one, 2 1/2" Alaskan .454 Casull. I was shooting a .45 auto and my neighbor was shooting a Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum.

The Alaskan was a massive snub nose revolver, weighed in at 44 ounces. The recoil of that .454 out of that revolver was painful! I've shot three .500 S&W's, one 10 1/2" Hunter and the other two were the 7 1/2" barrels, that .454 out of that short barrel had more felt recoil.

My opinion of it is this, will it stop anything with a heartbeat in North America, yep...but you're only getting one shot off as recovery after that shot is going to take time. I will stick with the 10MM and hard cast ammo pushing out at around 1,350 FPS as I can get back on target pretty quick.

A Grizzly can run just under 40 mph if I remember correctly, bears can be very quiet stalking you, think of a car travelling at 40 MPH that you don't hear until it's about 50 or 60' from you...surprise! Yeah, not much time for anything...

Any of you guys ever shot one of these, or a BFR in .454?

Well said.

 

[Mark37082]

I haven't shot a snub nose 454 Casull, and don't really relish the thought of doing so. I do have a 4" SW500, and it is more fun to watch other people shoot it than doing so myself. I will say that I'm not sure I would want to haul that beast around in bear country, but I can get a couple off with reasonable accuracy fairly quickly. The ported barrel creates quite a flash.

 

[MC2]

FIREBALL!! I have a SIG xTen Comp that is pleasant to shoot but it also makes a unique pyrotechnic display on the bang end.

 

[Mark37082]

The ongoing debate on the best bear defense handguns is always an interesting read. I hope I never have to prove my own theories. The 10mm probably gets the nod for most effective by the majority of folks. I still believe it boils down to skill and most importantly luck in getting a CNS hit on a large charging bruin.

 

[TimberlineJoe]

That Alaskan in 454 is gonna beat the crap out of you! I'd probably go 10mm instead. You can actually get back on target for a second shot. Good hard cast bullets will handle most anything you run into. For bears you need to be able to shoot fast.