View Full Version : Advice Needed
So last year I - very stupidly - parted with one of my all-time favorites, a NM Blackhawk in .41 Mag, still kicking myself about that decision. Needed to sell it to fund another purchase, but that's no excuse, I had a moment of weakness. Anyway. Now, I have been approached by my boss to consider relocating to Anchorage to support our team up there. Not definitive yet, but I'd say it's more likely than not I will be spending the next few years up there. Which I am fine with. But of course, my next most powerful handgun left is .45 ACP...
So my question for you all- I would like to purchase a new handgun for hiking, protection while fishing, that sort of thing. Leaning towards a .44 Mag revolver, something easy to carry of course. My father-in-law loves his Taurus Raging Bull, but I am hesitant to go the Taurus route with all the problems they've had. So any thoughts or recommendations from you all would be greatly appreciated. I will probably sell a few of my other pieces to fund the new gun, but will need to stay well under $1K.
Thanks!
Get a 10mm 1911 or Glock. Or any S&W .44 magnum. Or both.
Stick with the 41 or get a 454.
Everyone has a 44 Mag. They are boring.
I would track down a 4 inch Smith 657.
I won't advise you on caliber but I will say if you want double action then go S&W. If you want single action, go with the Ruger.
I'd never trust my safety to anything from Taurus. Based solely on personal, first hand experience with their products.
You liked the 41M, get another Ruger unless you want DA then Smith. I wouldn't touch a Taurus for any price.
I won't advise you on caliber but I will say if you want double action then go S&W. If you want single action, go with the Ruger.
I'd never trust my safety to anything from Taurus. Based solely on personal, first hand experience with their products.
I must strongly agree with Ray.
Yeah that .41, that was a sweet shooting gun. I'm not worried about stepping up to a .44 and I think it will be a good option just because the ammo is everywhere. I have never tried a .454 though.
I love the Glock- I have 3. So definitely am interested in the 10mm, will need to do more looking into it.
Any experience with the Redhawk or Super Redhawk? I think the Rugers are going to cost less than the S&W...
sportbikeco
03-10-2016, 21:48
629 of your favorite barrel length.
Pass on Taurus.
sportbikeco
03-10-2016, 21:51
Rugers are tanks but the trigger in SA or da isn't going to be what a Smith can easily be with a spring swap.
hurley842002
03-10-2016, 22:06
I'm not worried about stepping up to a .44 and I think it will be a good option just because the ammo is everywhere.
This is the main reason I'd go with the 44 mag, of the big boy calibers, this will be the easiest to locate, especially in Alaska.
I have thought about what I would carry in AK. It seems that 44 mag is the most common but I would also give hard consideration to a 454. I would think stainless would be most durable. I personally like a 4" barrel over the 3" in those big calibers. For me I would look for a Redhawk a Super Redhawk or a S&W 629, double action just makes more sense with bears and moose. I have a number of 10mm that I would definitely have with me. I just have a reoccurring nightmare that I stick a semi-auto in the belly of a bear and the slide goes out of battery and then I wake up. If you choose to go with a Glock 20, I have an unfired gen 4 that I keep thinking I should sell, PM me.
Seems pretty consistent across the board; I definitely like the thought of the DA revolver- appreciate the feedback.
Thanks for the though Big E3 but I'm already going to have to pay to have my current guns shipped up to AK (leave with family, have them ship to me when I arrive) because we will be driving through Canada and there's no doing that with handguns. My next purchase will be up there, if/when we really do make it...
Thanks for the feedback all!
XC700116
03-11-2016, 18:51
For just straight up bear defense, the S&W 329PD (airweight 44 mag) is pretty sweet, nice and light and packs plenty of punch. HOWEVER, it's not a fun gun to shoot, in fact, it kinda hurts, but it's nice and light to carry and very reliable.
Limited GM
03-19-2016, 21:31
I...... I just have a reoccurring nightmare that I stick a semi-auto in the belly of a bear and the slide goes out of battery and then I wake up. me.
Usually a light mounted on a rail will prevent this concern. I forget which state, but an officer with a Glock 22 and a light had to put IIRC, three rds in a bad guy from contact. Not probable without a light mounted.
68Charger
03-20-2016, 12:07
I know you're talking pistols, but consider a guide gun... Marlin in 45-70.
When it goes clean thru using heavy flat points, there are 2 large holes leaking!
hurley842002
03-20-2016, 12:13
I know you're talking pistols, but consider a guide gun... Marlin in 45-70.
Miss my 45-70 Guide gun.
Definitely yes to the guide gun; would love a .45-70, I have a 444 Marlin already. Also another reason to consider the .44 Mag; if I should be there long enough to consider a reloading set-up, I could reload for both.
I did get a solid answer from my boss this past week while out of town for spring break. Definitely a go; now I have work to do to get my crew up there. Should be fun :)
Has anyone here ever driven through Canada with guns or ammo? Any thoughts or advice to offer on that?
Has anyone here ever driven through Canada with guns or ammo? Any thoughts or advice to offer on that?
I believe that this is a no-go, but have not done so and don't know for sure. I'd research this very closely. I'm under the impression that you'll be mailing your stuff to yourself.
Has anyone here ever driven through Canada with guns or ammo? Any thoughts or advice to offer on that?
Dont. Mail them.
Ok, so I found this out. You can travel with certain firearms and ammo through Canada. They have 3 classes of firearms: non-restricted, restricted and prohibited.
You can travel with rifles and shotguns, also ammo; there is paperwork to do ahead of time. Handguns aren't completely off the table, but it's very limited and I don't have any that are not prohibited in some way. There are mag capacity limits for all weapons. It's pretty restrictive, which I'm sure surprises nobody here. I'm going to call the Canadian Border Patrol before my shift tomorrow and get some further info- particularly for the ammo. Shipping ammo will not be cheap; I'll have to figure out if it's more cost-effective to just sell it all here (and replace it when I get up there) since ammo is so heavy.
Here is a link I found in case anyone here is curious:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5044-eng.html
Nice work, that was quick!
Even with that, the dude at the border might not know the law that well and cause a bunch of ass pain. Most all of the guys that I know that drive up there to hunt mail their handguns.
For just straight up bear defense, the S&W 329PD (airweight 44 mag) is pretty sweet, nice and light and packs plenty of punch. HOWEVER, it's not a fun gun to shoot, in fact, it kinda hurts, but it's nice and light to carry and very reliable.
Kinda hurts? A "friend" loaded his up with some hot loads and handed it to me. I gave it back after 3 shots. That thing is a son of a bitch.
Martinjmpr
03-22-2016, 16:33
As far as ammo goes, how much ammo are you talking about? If you're coming back to CO you could always just leave the ammo with friends/family here in the lower 48. Or if you're not coming back, just sell it to someone and buy ammo once you get up there.
As for the gun, I think .44 mag just for the easy availability of ammo everywhere. Blackhawks are well made and rugged. I love S&W DA revolvers but damn they are pricey! What does a 629 go for these days, somewhere around a grand?
Hey, does Ruger still make the Super Redhawk in .44 mag? That's a DA revolver. Something to consider.
spqrzilla
03-22-2016, 16:39
For years, I had a Ruger Redhawk and a Blackhawk in .41 Magnum. Great guns and a great caliber. The only problem I had was that the Blackhawk cylinder was just a hair shorter than the Redhawk's. That meant that it was not difficult to create a handload especially with long nosed heavy LBT style bullets that wouldn't chamber in the Blackhawk. That always irritated me and I sold the Blackhawk to my regret. The Redhawk was sold off my recently just because I wasn't using it but not before taking a couple of whitetail deer in Nebraska.
The Redhawk is a good strong DA revolver and not as fugly as the Super Redhawk.
XC700116
03-22-2016, 17:50
Kinda hurts? A "friend" loaded his up with some hot loads and handed it to me. I gave it back after 3 shots. That thing is a son of a bitch.
[ROFL3]
Ok it's kinda ok to shoot 44spl cowboy loads in, mags straight up feel like hitting a steel pole with an aluminum bat, but if a bear is trying to eat your head, I doubt you'd notice.
68Charger
03-22-2016, 18:16
Check ammo prices in AK... if you don't want to pay shipping, remember everyone up there getting ammo has to... even reloaders pay to have components shipped...
EVERYTHING costs more in Alaska... the more remote you are, the more it costs.
Even if it's locally sourced, the prices are higher fore everything...
Rather than go thru Canadia, have you looked at a Ferry option out of Washington? you can bring your vehicle and what you can put in it.
hurley842002
03-22-2016, 18:20
Rather than go thru Canadia, have you looked at a Ferry option out of Washington? you can bring your vehicle and what you can put in it.
I was going to suggest this, but I only read about it on a forum (maybe this one), so I don't have enough details to be useful.
Yes, I am concerned about the ammo prices; I do agree it will be more $$$ and I have a fair amount that I already own, and therefore would prefer not to get rid of! I can leave it with my father-in-law here in CO, he's solid, but I have no idea when we will be back. I'm not thinking we'll be too remote- at least not the first year; we are looking at the Mat-Su area, so at least we'll have access to supplies.
The ferry idea is solid- I didn't even think about it. We already know that flying up there and shipping our belongings is not an option. Wonder what a ferry would cost and how much time it would save over driving the Al-Can Highway. Going to have to research that for sure... Good tip- thanks!
Ok, thought I'd post what I found out here in case anyone is interested or ever decides to drive through Canada as well. I ended up calling both the Canadian Firearms Program and the Canada Border Information Service- and spoke with an officer at each- to get the final word (most of which verified what I had already found on their websites).
All of my rifles- I have several bolt actions, a semi-auto, and a lever action- are non-restricted and can be carried across the border through to Alaska. They do not require you to have a locking case, but you need to either have the bolts removed and stored separately, or otherwise altered so they can't be quickly made to fire (such as a trigger lock). Same with shotguns. Cannot have the barrels "sawed off" (they used that term a few times). I have no ARs or AKs, so didn't even go down that road.
I have no pistols that are ok to travel with as the regulation is a minimum of 4.25" barrel length. If you do have a pistol with a barrel that is long enough, it will fall either into Restricted or Prohibited; if you were going to take one, you'd need to research your own model. I will have to have my handguns shipped to me, and that is a whole separate issue as not all carriers will ship handguns. If anyone has any recommendations for this, please let me know. I may buy my father-in-law a plane ticket and have him bring them up to me which, while more expensive than shipping them, will prevent me from having to go through an FFL.
Re. Ammo- an individual can bring up to 5000 rounds as long as there are no "armor piercing" or "explosive" rounds. This does include handgun ammo- so I can bring ammo for handguns, just not the handguns themselves.
Also- we can carry all of our bows/arrows across; there are some restrictions re. crossbows, but I have none, so I didn't pay attention to this.
Finally, if you are going to do this, be sure to visit the Canadian Firearms Program website and download the Non-Resident Firearm declaration form (and continuation form if you have more than 3 rifles). Once you arrive at the border, you declare your firearms and ammo for inspection and they will issue you an Authorization to Transport (ATT). Also, they recommended that I have documentation showing that I am indeed moving (i.e. a rental agreement in AK, an accepted job offer, etc...) to help speed up the process for clearing customs.
On the plus side, the 2 different officers I spoke with were very polite and helpful and seemed to want to help this not be an issue. So that was encouraging; I'm sure we'll be good to go...
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