Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska GP 100 44 Spl or Alaskan 44 Mag

Thanks to EVERYONE who contributed.

I got my answer, on this particular topic.
I notice there's lots of love for the Glocks, and I'm sure at some point I'll greatly appreciate the usefulness of the semi. For now, I see the Ruger standing up to the beatings delivered by the 180's at full steam better than the beloved S&W, although the S&W has a pretty sweet trigger.

I believe I'll run the little GP 100 for awhile and after decide if bigger (and bulkier) is something I need...while keeping the Glock in mind also.

Thanks again to all.

my opinion, always worth what you paid for it, a few 180s here and there aint' going to hurt the smith, and for a lighter package, better trigger etc.. I'd not worry about it.

How many 180s are you actually going to shoot? I mean in the 329 PD we've shot maybe 50 rounds of heavy stuff, enough to know whats what, and then shoot mid 240 hard cast or a lighter XTP if hunting deer or such...

I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet you won't put 50 rounds of 180s through whichever one, in a couple of years, and likely not more than a few hundred of something like 158 hard cast coated for normal day to day....a year...

Used to be a place out of soldotna that makes ammo. I used there 180gr hard cast out of my Smith 686. Shot well.

Other than fishing (and I had a friend that fished with a slung 45/70), you'll find a rifle a hell of a lot more useful.

I believe that, Scott.

Handled a Glock 20SF 10mm...pretty nice package with the Lone Wolf barrel.

I have a Marlin 1894 carbine, 16 ¼" bbl in 44 spcl/mag that I stomp around the ranch with. No bears but some pretty surley pigs from time to time. I'm no expert but am a lot better shot with that carbine than i am with a pistol.

I look at a handgun as a "better than nothing" option. I've tried the .454 Casull/.475 Linebaugh route, but they're just too big/heavy. Frankly, the recoil is just too much for me to shoot them often enough to make consistent hits. Any more, I pack a 2-1/2" Model 66(it's DA only with a bobbed hammer) loaded with 180's, or a M69 .44 with heavy hard casts.

As they say.....a pistol is a great thing to use, to fight your way to a rifle!

Jeff

Yep. If God didn't want us to shoot rifles, he wouldn't have given us shoulders.

Yeah but how many Kodiak bears have you had to shoot off your boot tops with a handgun?

I read a study a few years ago that showed a person with a handgun had a better chance of survival than a person with a rifle if a bear gets to you. Rifle being almost useless at that point. The other nice thing about a handgun is it can always be with you. You don't have to put it down to use your hand for some task. Maybe same study showed pepper spray to be the best of all. Most people carry handguns for self defense either from bears or lion and mostly the baddest predator of all, people. We also hope we never have to use them. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it idea.

As I recall Phil Shoemaker wrote an article claiming his daughter carried a .357 for bear protection. I have shot a Ruger Alaskan with 260g Winchester factory loads. Even with the 2.5" barrel I didn't think it was unpleasant to shoot. So between the 44 Sp GP 100 and the Alaskan I would choose the Alaskan.

You can ask Gene Moe and he can attest that a knife works just as good. I personally never wanted to be in the position to have a bear on me so the handgun is more effective. I've carried a revolver but much preferred a rifle.

Well Sir,

I expect it's better than throwing rocks (if that rifle isn't in one's hands or over his shoulder).


I've recently been looking at the Ruger SR1911 in 10mm. Seems it's a better fit than the G20.
My question to all and anyone is "How does the SR1911 cycle the heavy 200gr/220gr Hard Cast bullets.?"

Sig has a nice 10mm too. Fit wise we had to go to the G20 SF just an FWIW thing. I prefer the 1911 triggers by far. But when SHTF I may appreciate the 16 rounds vs...

As to any 1911, it'll be feed ramp issues if it doesn't feed, good mags required, and buffers and recoil springs being correct for the bullet weights and life will be fine.

As much as I like the 357, no matter how heavy or hot you load it IMHO it just comes up a bit short. For me the threshold of enough gun in a handgun is a minimum of 40 caliber, a minimum of 250 gr's and a minimum of 1000 fps and just as important sufficient practice to shoot the gun proficiently. Less sometimes works fine, more is sometimes needed, but IMHO the above minimums will work most of the time even in less than ideal situations.

That said, a 22 rf on a trapline likely makes a whole lot more sense.

Have a 6" S&W as my personal hip carry bear gun. I'd recommend 4" as the sight radius won't matter that much when it's point-blank range.

I load 300 gr hard casts for mine. I simply gave up on 110/296 as propellants. Simply too much muzzle flash and muzzle flip. I get 1,250 fps with IMR-4227. YMMV . . . .

358wsm
Been following your quest to determine what you'll carry on the trapline. It appears to me that Sitka Deer and 458 LOTT have been around a bit and have something worthwhile to say.

I have a S&W 69 in .44Mag. Even with factory 240's it's a stinging handful of recoil for me. The smaller grip really doesn't help...but I don't have the heart to go with the X-Frame beasts.

The ONLY handgun that's actually hurt me more was a Ti-Scan snubbie with full-house 125gr. .357 mags. I managed 2 shots before I unloaded it. Even my Ti-Scan .357PD .41 Mag wasn't close in the pain department.

My goal is to figure out a 300gr. 1,000 fps load to see what that's like.

Check out the Beartooth bullet website. Marshall Stanton makes a 180 grain cast bullet with a wide meplat. He says it will penetrate with the 44 Mag and I have no reason to think otherwise. I use that bullet with an over the top load of H-110. It is my standard 357 mag load in my Blackhawk. Accuracy is outstanding. I also love my Glock 20 with the 6" barrel. I am loading 200 grain XTPs right now. If I go into grizzly country will try some hard cast.

My shooting buddy had one of those and he let me shoot it with full house 125 mag loads. The most painful handgun I've ever fired, and I was stupid enough to shoot the whole cylinder. Anyone who's considering buying one should first put their shooting hand palm up on a table and beat the web of that hand with a hammer.