Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Dick Pronneke's firearms

I was just watching Alone in the Wilderness about Dick Pronneke's life and wondered about his firearms. I see him carrying an open sighted rife and he mentions his big pistol. Can anyone enlighten me as to his weapons of choice and their cartridges?

Thanks ironbender. Funny in this day and age he referrers to a .357 as his big pistol! Times have changed.

I think I read in one of his books he had a 30-06 and a 12g shotgun. On the videos he always had a revolver on his hip.

A 357 is still a big pistol and can do a lot.

Great movies and I just ordered the book about his life.

I enjoyed the first book, and the videos. My wife was impressed with the wooden spoon he carved!

Think I “rookie’d” this up and made a 2x quote.

A .357 Mag is a serious pistol cartridge. Wouldn’t be first choice if a Brown Bear was bearing down on me, but my first choice would be to GTFO of there. With proper ammo it’s not as far of a step down from a .44 Mag as one would think.

With any pistol cartridge relating to Brown Bear, you better brain it or kiss your ass goodbye if it’s charging. Hunting, different story but if one is charging you a .357 Mag and proper ammo is as good as a .44 Mag.

I’m not an expert but if carrying strictly for bear protection I’d say go with FMJ. You’ll either cause instant death or not,?

Well, you admitted you were not an expert so perhaps you should get a pass...

Watched one of his documentaries a few years ago. He was using a Springfield sporter in 30-06. Wonder where it is now.

The old Springfield and the 30-06 cartridge were made for one another, they served together reliably in the horrible trench warfare of WWI and WWII battle fields. It's stock trigger is still in or Springfield and works well as it was designed for rough use, unlike many of the so called modern "improved triggers" in many of todays "improved" rifles. Thousands of American hunters then took them after all of our big game animals and Roosevelt took one to Africa. The 30-06 is alive and well and our greatest American hunting cartridge.

I started out hunting Alaska in 1965 with and old Springfield 30-06 my Dad put together for me and it accounted for my first moose and caribou on the same day in 1966. The rifle had to be rebored due to being neglected by a relative when it was out of my hands for about 30 years. I rescued it and is now a 338-06 I gifted to my grandson. Taken care of the rifle will out last generations of hunters and the 30-06 is always suitable for any Alaskan animal with the right load. A smart choice by that savvy old Alaskan sourdough.

I have his book and film and his life reminds me of the same lived by many in Alaska that died of old age in relative obscurity. Had the feds not taken over and locked up so much of Alaska and closed up legal access to remote living for adventurous Alaskans we may have never known much about Dick Pronneke.

Obviously he preferred solitude and God's Creation over city life, I understand that. I don't remember his hand gun and will have to look into that, I'm guessing a S&W model. As for being a .357 and use on bears, well it beats nothing and I doubt he had access to heavy cast LBT style bullets, which are the best choice for frontal shots on bears. Not much difference between the bullet diameter of a .357 and a 9mm, but a hot loaded 200 grain hard cast LBT out of a .357 case is a different deal then about any hot loaded LBT from 9mm.

Renowned Alaskan guide Phil Shoemaker used a Buffalo Bore 9mm load to drop a brown bear. Once again it shows what a knowledgeable shooter can do with a marginal caliber.

I don't think he shot more than a few big game animals in all the years he was there. I think he just enjoyed watching them.

We live in the good old days of bullet technology


Ironbender your googlefu is always strong


Any mention of the loads he used in said firearms?


One of my fave things about Alaska’s Wolfman, good detail on cartridges, grocery lists & game weights

I try to read Wolfman each winter. It's a great book.



Local tv had a show o the other night about Dick. He was not quite as isolated as the documentary implies. He had regular visits from Babe Allsworth, visits from Jay Hammond. There was a NPS cabin up the lake (1/2 mile?) rangers stayed in, at least in summer. A lot of other information, some of which that was was to me.


https://www.ktva.com/story/41485791/frontiers-194-dick-proenneke-at-home-in-the-wilderness

A GREAT BOOK!!!