ruger alaskan 454

does anyone hunt with an alaskan on a regular basis? I normally hunt with longer barrels,7.5 to 15 inches but the alaskan is so much handier. what do you think out to 50 yards? opinions?

I took a Sitka and black bear with the one I had at about 25yards or less,one gut pile.I carried part of the deer out and shot the blacky on the rest on my return.Freezer full one gut pile two shots but in 45colt.

I have nothing to add to this discussion, but am watching it as I'm interested in the Alaskan or the longer version and wondering how accuracy compares between 45 colt and 454 in the same gun.

I too have considered the Alaskan.

Just.

Be.

Cause.

i have been carrying one for bear protection for years in the mountains. It seems to have minute of charging bear accuracy with heavy 335grn hard lead cast bullets to 15 or so yards. it seems to have very good accuracy with 45 colt loads to 50 yards or more. havent really done much testing with 454 rounds for accuracy as i went straight to the heavy stuff in that caliber. dont really see a reason not to hunt with one as a primary woods bumming gun. I have been considering a 4" revolver in a 44 or 454 to fill that need but think that I might already have it covered. just seeing if anyone else had done much with one and what they are using for ammo. Figured someone on the site has experience on this.

I think the gun is up to the task. It really boils down to the shooter.

I have a late season nebraska hunt for does coming up over new years. going to try to get some load development going for some xtp's and see what I can do in the accuracy department, then do the field test. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Make sure a barrel that short is legal for hunting where ever you plant to use it.

That is good advice; it would not be legal here in Colorado, (4" bbl. min) even though it would more than likely meet the min. POWER requirement.

Go figure.

So far the barrel length where I have hunted has been measured from the back of the cylinder to end of the barrel for a revolver. I will check the ne regs before carrying. in IA I am legal as that measurement is over 4 ". thanks for the heads up thou, dont want to get in trouble over a technicality.

just checked the ne regs, they have a power restriction of 400ft lbs at 50 yards but nothing on caliber specific or barrel restiction. looks like it is legal, i think i will start load development and practicing to see what my effective range is and just keep within my limits

I had the XS small dot front on mine with the one ragged hole peep on the rear. It was put together for close and fast but stayed on a paper plate at fifty.

just got back from the range with the alaskan, very happy.I was able to shoot two inch groups from 25 yards with a field rest. i loaded 29.0 grn of H110 under a 300 grn xtp. I also had a couple rounds of hsm orange box with 300 grn jhp's which shot just slightly higher poi, but grouped just as well. the recoil is snappy but not bone numbing. this load is showing 1350 fps out of a 7.5 inch barrel in the manual. I dont really know how fast it is going as I know that the trade off of the short barrel is loss of velocity. I am assuming the xtp will expand at the velocity that it is running. it seems to be easily minute of big game at 25 yards which i would consider tree stand distance. back to the reloading bench to build more and test at further ranges.

on a paper plate at 50 is nice to hear, i am hopeful that my loads will stay in a 6 in group at 50 based on what i saw at 25. I think it is now up to me as a shooter not the loads.

do they sell a fiber front sight for the pinned Alaskan front sight set up. I have a v bead on my super redhawk 7.5" but have since put a scope on it. definitely not interchangeable. A more precise aiming system would go a long way right now

I found the fiber optic to bleed out in full sunlight and go dark in the shade and woods.

do you have another recommendation that would be better. I currently have a plastic replacement yellow sight blade that is visible but it is hard to do precision work with. maybe i should be happy with 2" groups and just go hunting.

Shot the 454 over a crony today 29.0 grns of h-110 300 grn xtp ran 1126 fps. I thin the manual put them at 1350 fps out of a 7. 5 in bbl. so I am lossing about 225fps. I dont think a whitetail will be able to tell.

I'd expect a little less expansion with the reduced velocity, but I'd also expect a dead deer if placed appropriately.

One note. On my alaska i run a heavy load of hs6. Burns faster. Loses less on a short barrel than h110 loads. I have loads that run 300 fps faster out of a 7.5" fa than the hs6 load but the hs6 load is faster outta the alaskan