Ruger Alaskan question

[aznwolf118]

Hello

Looking for my first revolver and kinda of settled on the ruger Alaskan
Question is which caliber 44 mag or 454 casul

How does the revolver perform differenty in each caliber?
Is the 2.5" barrel manageable?
How does it conceal, I know it's a beefy set up

Reviews would be great from owners or pervious owners
Advice welcome too

[jswr450]

I have a GP100 in 357 so no real experience with the bigger cartridges, but both the 44 and 454 can also shoot lighter cartridges (like 38 special in a 357). I'd go with the most caliber you think you'll need. I think the 44 would be easier to get ammo for, but I could be wrong. They are both great cartridges in my opinion.

Good luck

[MyGlock17]

454 casul is like shooting a canon with 2 hands lol very expensive to shoot....Would i use it for self defense maybe lol...But very dangerous because it can go through your neighbors walls and possibly hit them if you miss your target...But for a range gun to have fun with its perfect..But than again it's expensive to shoot unless you have the cash to spend on ammo....The 454 can shoot 45colt also i think...i think the 44 mag is powerful enough and pretty much turn heads when you shoot it at the range...Not sure if i'd want to conceal it though...it's pretty heavy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwUS9NiWyv4

[Oceanbob]

Personally I would pick a nice stainless .357/38 as my FIRST wheel gun..but if I had to choose which model I would avoid the .454 casul. Expensive and really, not a fun round to shoot. Maybe if I lived in Alaska and flew a bush plane, the .454 would do it.

The advantage to a .44 magnum is you can shoot for less money and shoot more.

I don't consider a Ruger Alaskan a concealed carry weapon. But I guess with the proper holster/rig you could conceal just about anything.

So my advice would be the .44 magnum version. You can also shoot .44 special in it, which would be great to load up some snake shot loads...

[fanof1911forlife]

Check out Jeff Quinn's review on the Alaskan on gunblast.com so you can get an idea on your purchase.

[TAS]

As a first wheel gun, I would also suggest something in a .357/38 (GP100 comes to mind). Good solid gun with lots of ammo options. If you must go big, I think the .44 is probably the more sensible approach because of the availability & range of ammo between the lighter 44 special up to the heavier 44 Mag loads. There are lots of commercially available options for ammo out there.

The .454 Casull will be a handful out of the Alaskan but you can also shoot 45LC, which will be on the lighter side. I probably wouldn't go this route though unless you plan to reload.

Personally, the Alaskan is on my wishlist (preferably the .454) but it's not my first revolver and I do reload so it's not an issue for me. I don't know your background so maybe it's not an issue for you either.

Just my two cents - good luck.

[drkphibr]

The Ruger Alaskan is a fun wheel gun. I personally like the 454 due to the fact you can shoot either 45LC or 454 from the same gun. 45LC to "practice" and or keep ammo costs down and 454 to have a blast with when needed. Regardless of which caliber you choose, this is a great gun.

[rimfire78]

I had one in .480 with the unfluted barrel. It was beautiful and got a lot of looks at the range.
I ended up trading it to another calgunner for his M14.
If I lived in brown bear country, I would have kept it. But it's not accurate, and the kick is so unpleasant, It would make your hands numb after five rounds.
If I were a rich man, I would have one in my collection just because they're bad a**, but they're no fun to shoot, and cost a lot to run.

[Habid]

I never had a .44mag or a 454casul but I do know you can shoot lighter rounds through them, you can shoot 44special from 4mag, and 45colt from 454casull,

I was gonna go with a ruger alasken redhawak 2" but when I was reading reviews one person posted online that his buddy was shooting a 2" 454 for the 1st time and was not aware of recoil and ended up dislocating his wrist, so I backed off lol, and bought a ruger gp100 4"

I was watching a guy shooting a 44mag and a 357mag on YouTube compairing the two they both went through the same amount of wooden boards but the thing was 357 was making clean holes and 44 was making nasty holes and even shattering some of the boards lol

[22popnsplat]

The big frame of the alaskan i would think it would not be carried with any comfort in comparison to a small framed 357 mag. If it were for holster carry and not concealed a longer barrel would be better. A 2 inch revolver is difficult to shoot well in any caliber , a 44mag or a 454 casull is also difficult to shoot well with any barrel length , Combine the two and there are very few who can shoot it well .
I own a Freedom arms 454 with a 10 inch barrel and a scope and even with as heavy as it is the recoil with full power loads is stiff .I down load it to levels equall to hot 44 mag and have produced 1 inch groups at 50 yards from the bench . If you reload it wont matter witch you buy , if you dont reload i hope you got deep pockets to buy ammo . off the shelf for even 45 colt or 44 special ain't cheap.

[Cuda440]

You didn't mention if you had a main purpose in mind for the gun, but I vote for the 454 Casull anyway.

Both calibers will produce ample recoil and noise if you're just looking for a "fun" gun. Both are capable of protection from bears if you are in bear country. And, both "could" be used for self defense against humans if you use lower powered rounds.

I say that the 454 is more versatile. You can run cheap 45lc cowboy action loads that are as light as 45acp, 45lc heavy loads that are as powerful as a hot 44 mag, and 454 for the extreme power (I wouldn't mind carrying all I could in bear country)

I have not shot an Alaskan in 454, but I do own a S&W 5" 460. Keep your elbows bent, and you'll do fine. They're not hard or painful to shoot, and they're just as accurate as anything else as long as you dont flinch. It's gonna kick, just be ready for it and let your elbows do the work.

[NapaCountyShooter]

I had the .454 version for a time. It was a blast to shoot. Literally. That thing puts out some fireballs, thus, probably not my first choice for self defense. 45 Colt was like shooting .38 special, even fairly stout loads. 454 really wasn't as bad recoiling as everyone thinks it will be. I've shot 629's that had more recoil. Although it's a short barrel, the frame is still massive so it doesn't jump around much. I found accuracy to be surprisingly good for a 2" barrel. It was no 6" model 19, but it was definitely combat accurate. I loved the gun, I just didn't have a practical use for it, so it went the way of the buffalo. It has it's minuses, but it's great if you want to attract dudes to you everywhere you take it...

[tundraotto]

.454 every time for me - like said shoot the 45Long Colts if you cant stand the recoil. I almost returned my 454 Casull Raging Bull because it kicked like a tiny puny sheep. No exaggeration.

[Mr. Beretta]

44 mag................

[razr]

You're going with an Alaskan as your first? Short bbl too eh?