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Rifles, Shotguns and Pistols oh my!!!
Posted by Murphy on Jun 28 2005
Jss,
Ok. take a deep breath! Relax. Life is short. Welcome to Alaska...almost.
I'll try to answer all your posts together here, you have inundated us with your inquiries.
Keep the Mossberg. Any good working twelve gauge pump will be fine for ducks, geese and grouse, and the Mossberg is a good one. An improved cylinder choke will work for the occasional slug. If you've already 'kilt' a boar surely you can 'kilt' a bear. Maybe later on, add a cylinder slug barrel.
Is a 444 Marlin of any use anywhere? I would say if you got one keep it, it isn't worth much in trade anyway and it will beat the hell out of nothin'. Actually it can be loaded with high performance ammo (CorBon, Buffalo Bore, Garrett) with heavy hard cast bullets and will work for anything in the state if you do your part. There are better choices but there are certainly worse. (Your 7mm Mag would be better, and the 444 is a better choice than rebarreled to a 50 something or other.) It is pretty poor excuse for a rifle if you load it with 240 grain soft point bullets or any light weight loads. (Listen to what I'm saying here.)
Now, on to the handgun of choice. It is fun and interesting to read the ballistic info about the new (or old) big bore revolvers, but it is not necessarily informative. And, gosh! Talking to the clerk at the gunshop is another experience. They do most of their shooting from right there behind the counter. Be careful and don't step in it. I know, some know something, but most talk bigger than their experience will support. There is a lot of experience and knowledge on this forum. There is also a lot of the afore mentioned counter shooters. You can decide which category I'm in, pick one I don't care which, your opinion of me is none of my buisness. Here's what I think. I think you have little or zero experience with a handgun. If there is some in your back ground, I'll say it is with a .22 rimfire or some small centerfire caliber. Perhaps a 30 minute session with a friend. But that's ok! You know enough to ask questions. It is VERY difficult to shoot big (454,475,480,500) revolvers well enough to hit anything smaller than a house, unless you are inside. Come to Alaska with the three gun arsenal you have described and study this situation a while and tryout some of the other calibers in the meantime. Also, if (when) you aquire some experience behind the hammer of a big bore revolver, you will probably be more satisfied and do better work with a 44 Mag in a good double action revolver. The bigger stuff is heavier and more difficult to bring to bare, for bear or anything else. I dont think the critters can tell the difference between any of the big bores mentioned above. They are a step up in killing power from the 44 Mag but they are three steps up in recoil, they can actually be painful to shoot. If you think you want one, on a budget, the Ruger redhark in 480. But shoot one first then decide. When you get to the state look me up, I'm in Fairbanks, I'll let you shoot a wrist snapper or two.
So many people believe that Alaska is crawling with huge ugly unstoppable beasts. Actually, due to the extinction of T-rex and many of his cousins, there is much less to fear in the state. You should consider yourself very fortunate to have the opportunity to see a wild Alaskan grizzly in his native habitat. Keep your wits about you and you won't wind up on the menu. Your greatest challenges lie ahead and they have nothing to do with guns or bears.
Again, welcome and good shootin'.
Murphy
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