During my 3yr stint in AK in the early 90s, I carried a Ruger 77 Tanger in 338WM that I purchased at Long Drug on C St. Never felt under gunned. I did however wish I had stainless/synthetic rifle, but at the time stainless/synthetic rifles were pretty much unheard of, and certainly not seen in the gun shops I visited in Anchorage or the valley.
After the first season of hunting I sent the barrel action to the lower 48 and had it Teflon coated - Cerakote and Dura-cote weren't heard of at the time. Even finding a place to Teflon coat was a little trying.
During the same off-season I but a Brown Precision stock on it - my first synthetic stock. It was a lot of work finishing up the Brown blank with the mold lines still showing. Bedding it was easy by comparison!
Got plenty of strange looks when carrying that gun with the 'plastic stock'. But look at where we're at today!
I never thought I'd grow up to be a grumpy old man, but I did, and I'm killin' it.
