Moving to alaska, keep my .40 or buy a .44?

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Narwhal

Narwhal

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Moving to anchorage soon. I don't plan on doing anything crazy in the bush but would like to do some hikes in the mountains and trails around town. I have a safe full of .40 and 9mm autos and a few .357 mag revolvers that I could ship to myself during the move. Of course jingle bells and bear spray are on the agenda, but would a .44 magnum be a prudent purchase for those last resort situations or is it just fantasy/paranoia to worry about bear and charging moose? On the pre move visit, the urban moose were a bit intimidating and agressive. I havent shot a .44 but shot a few cylinders of a friend's .460 and didnt mind the recoil (it was less than my .357 scandium j-frame for sure). Thanks.

Edit: I did shoot a friend's taurus .44 with full power loads for a few dozen shots a few months ago and didnt fint it particularly horrible.
 
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I'd say aquiring a big bore revolver would be a good idea. How big is up to you. .44 mag seems a sensible option, provided you can shoot it pretty well (or are willing to put in the range time).
 
How well do you shoot .44 Mags in comparison with your .40's? I'd go with whatever hard hitting handgun I shot the best where I could defend myself from a wide variety of threats.

I've always defaulted to the middle of the road. No matter what unless you move somewhere completely devoid of mankind you're still going to have to worry about two legged predators as well as four legged ones.

You could completely go whole hog and ditch a .40 S&W that you shoot well and get a 6" .44 mag that you've yet get up to speed on, purchase a gigantic can o' bear spray and put bells on and hike your way right into the middle of a bunch of pot farmers growing weed in the forest who are not so happy that you know where their patch is or into the middle of a crime in progress that has nothing to do with you (except that you're a potential witness).

Violent ne'er-do-wells also gravitate to rural locations. So I'd probably go with something in between the two.
 
I classified expert in idpa with an m&p .40 compact and used to do regular Leo quals with an HK USP .40....i would be nowhere near as good with any revolver, especially doing speedloader reloads vs magazine swaps, 8 lb DA triggers vs 4 lb semi auto triggers, etc. I suspect thats the case for anyone outside of Jerry miculek. However, i have a few thousand rounds of revolver experience outside of competition, mostly just practicing for proficiency with my .357 j frame.
 
Browning said:
How well do you shoot .44 Mags in comparison with your .40's? I'd go with whatever hard hitting handgun I shot the best where I could defend myself from a wide variety of threats.

I've always defaulted to the middle of the road. No matter what unless you move somewhere completely devoid of mankind you're still going to have to worry about two legged predators as well as four legged ones.

You could completely go whole hog and ditch a .40 S&W that you shoot well and get a 6" .44 mag that you've yet get up to speed on, purchase a gigantic can o' bear spray and put bells on and hike your way right into the middle of a bunch of pot farmers growing weed in the forest who are not so happy that you know where their patch is or into the middle of a crime in progress that has nothing to do with you (except that you're a potential witness).

Violent ne'er-do-wells also gravitate to rural locations. So I'd probably go with something in between the two.
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After watching Alaska State Troopers I'd be more afraid of meeting a crazy person than a Bear , buy up several boxes of Buffalo Bore .40+P before you move
 
Last I heard, the Alaska Troopers carry Glock .40’s.
You’re more likely to encounter irate two legged vermin in “Los Anchorage” than the 4 legged version.
IMO, I’d take the .40 and load up with some 180gr FMJ-FN.
That’s coming from someone who owns two .44mags and two .45Colts.
If facing an angry Moose or bear, any of the above would leave me feeling under armed. Anything less than my .375Ruger would.
 
I flew a Super Cub in Alaska in '84.
If you're headed for serious bear country, I'd suggest a powerful rifle, or a shotgun loaded with slugs.
For a handgun, I'd have given anything to have a .44 on board (I flew into Canada as well) but a .40 or 10mm wouldn't be a bad option either.
A magazine dump would certainly get Mr. Bear's attention.
 
I think a .40 may not be enough for a brown bear. For bears that weigh up to 1,300 pounds or even more I'd think penetration would be very important. I wouldn't even use hollow points. I could see someone hitting a thousand pound bear with a .40 and really pissing that bear off. A rifle would be best.
 
Narwhal said:
I classified expert in idpa with an m&p .40 compact and used to do regular Leo quals with an HK USP .40....i would be nowhere near as good with any revolver, especially doing speedloader reloads vs magazine swaps, 8 lb DA triggers vs 4 lb semi auto triggers, etc. I suspect thats the case for anyone outside of Jerry miculek. However, i have a few thousand rounds of revolver experience outside of competition, mostly just practicing for proficiency with my .357 j frame.
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Sounds like you're definitely up to speed with a .40 S&W and you'd just be okay with a .44 Mag.

Personally I'd probably more go with a full size .40 S&W or a 10mm and get some Underwood, Double Tap or Buffalo Bore loads and hedge my bets. That way you'd have a better chance if you came up against a bear or a moose because you'd at least have loads more suited to that. However at the same time you'd have more of a chance against someone or several someone's armed with guns.

GooseGestapo said:
Last I heard, the Alaska Troopers carry Glock .40’s.
You’re more likely to encounter irate two legged vermin in “Los Anchorage” than the 4 legged version.
IMO, I’d take the .40 and load up with some 180gr FMJ-FN.
That’s coming from someone who owns two .44mags and two .45Colts.
If facing an angry Moose or bear, any of the above would leave me feeling under armed. Anything less than my .375Ruger would.
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Bama59 said:
After watching Alaska State Troopers I'd be more afraid of meeting a crazy person than a Bear , buy up several boxes of Buffalo Bore .40+P before you move
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That's exactly what I was thinking of when typing my comment. Lots of armed people in Alaska and not all of them are nice and polite.

Plus many times you're further away from civilization.

I mean even in Alaska which is more likely? To have a brown bear or a moose attacking you? Or to be attacked during a road rage incident or some other assault.

I actually don't know the answer to this question, but I suspect that even in Alaska that you'd be more likely to be attacked by someone else.
 
I have to agree with most of the other posts so far, in that you should have adequate firepower for two-legged threats. But if you hav a safe full of .40 and 9mm autos, surely you could take some of those with you. Then you can carry a .40 for EDC, and a big bore revolver (possibly with a lightweight 9mm backup) for wilderness carry.
 
I'd take semi over revolver for capacity, speed of shots, easier to shoot accurately.
One might assume that if attacked by an animal (human) there might be missed shots, poor hits and/or hits that don't stop it.
Glock 20SF with 15 + 1 rounds 10mm would be my 1st pick.
 
Narwhal

When my brother worked up in Alaska he had me send him (through an FFL), his Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum with a 5 1/2" barrel. Found him an old WWII British Canvas holster for a .455 Webley Mk.VI and it fit perfectly on a G.I. web belt. Liked to have it along whenever he went hiking in the woods. Never encountered any bears or any other large, noteworthy animals but he did take great comfort in having that .44 Magnum with him.

That being the case for protection against bears I would also consider taking along something like a lightweight semi-auto, like a Glock in .40 S&W (G23 or G27), or a 10mm. (G29), for any other situations that might arise.
 
prefer the glock 10mm over the revolver especially if you want it to perform in the back country. revolvers hold up well when neglected, semi autos hold up well when abused. I'm not a glock guy but IMHO the glock 20 is one worth having. I haven't handled one of the much newer glock 40s: if that handles heavy loads better with less bang on the frame then consider that one.

I have a super redhawk 9.5" 44 mag and while i think its a great hunting pistol with its sight radius I absolutely consider my glock 20 to be the goto "backup" pistol that sits on the hip.
 
Where exactly are you going to live in Alaska?

I watched a old episode of Alaska State Troopers where a big polar bear tried to come through the back door of a ladies home. The bear totally ripped off the back door and had huge claw marks on the cabinets. When the Troopers arrived there was a very dead and bloody bear laying in the snow just outside the back door and a very excited lady homeowner. Standing beside her was a short barrel pump shotgun.

Seems the story was Mr. Polar Bear decided to come uninvited into the house for a meal (don't know if the meal was what was in the kitchen or the lady :what:) and lady used her shotgun to defend herself.

Final score was 1 dead bear, 1 destroyed back door, one damaged kitchen and one confirmed bear kill by the home owner. (It has the making of a good insurance company commercial).

For what I gather from watching a lot of shows about Alaska a short barrel shotgun is the weapon of choice by the natives for bear defense.

If you are going to be living in town in a apartment I would keep the 40.

A short barrel pump Mossberg or Remington 12 ga, shotgun would be a must have. Just load it according to your situation...people or bear defense.

For tramping around in the wilds I would pack either a 41 (if you are a reloader) or 44 Magnum probably in a across the chest holster. My personal choice would be a S&W Model 29 4" barrel (lighter weight than a Ruger and will still handle heavy loads plus I already own one) that I would have Mag-Na-Ported.

Finally I would grow a beard. You can't look like a sourdough without a beard.
 
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bannockburn said:
Narwhal

When my brother worked up in Alaska he had me send him (through an FFL), his Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum with a 5 1/2" barrel. Found him an old WWII British Canvas holster for a .455 Webley Mk.VI and it fit perfectly on a G.I. web belt. Liked to have it along whenever he went hiking in the woods. Never encountered any bears or any other large, noteworthy animals but he did take great comfort in having that .44 Magnum with him.

That being the case for protection against bears I would also consider taking along something like a lightweight semi-auto, like a Glock in .40 S&W (G23 or G27), or a 10mm. (G29), for any other situations that might arise.
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That's an excellent suggestion. We tend to focus on bears so often here on THR that moose are often forgotten even though they can be extremely dangerous, but more importantly wolves.

Wolves hunt in packs and having a higher capacity 10mm isn't a bad idea.
 
460Shooter

Where we use to go hunting for upland game there were quite a few packs of feral dogs. I started carrying a semi-auto pistol to back up the 20 gauge shotgun I was using.
 
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