Ruger Alaskan: A Powerful Snub Nose with Classy Grips

M

Mr.RevolverGuy

New member
Enough has been said and written about the Ruger Alaskan. If you happen to be looking for a review here is one I wrote a few years back on this same revolver, Ruger Alaskan 454 Powerhouse Review.

This is just a thank you from me to my wife for a fantastic Christmas gift in this season of giving. It is obvious this woman knows a good looking man when she see's one ( kidding I am humbled, blessed and fortunate she tolerates me) if not in men she has great taste in everything else and she has out done herself going out on a limb for me on her own to surprise me with a classy pair of grips.
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I have always loved the Ruger looks with the wood panels. Well Chad over at www.chigsgrips.com makes a quality product and the craftsmanship is absolutely outstanding. I received everything needed in a well protected package to turn this beast into a beauty.

I am hoping to get out tomorrow to shoot a few rounds to check functionality. The 454 Casull in this small package can be a handful depending on your ammunition of choice. The original grips that comes on the Alaskan sports finger grooves which I really don't care for so it isn't totally about looks. The only concern I have is the gel pad that comes in the original grips which is there to absorb recoil. I am willing to make that trade off for the beautiful craftsmanship, and losing of the finger grooves.

I am in no way associated with chigsgrips.com but after seeing his work first hand I felt the need to give him a shout out -- http://www.chigsgrips.com or visit him on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/chigsgrips
One Happy Customer
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The original grips that comes on the Alaskan sports finger grooves which I really don't care for so it isn't totally about looks.
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I felt the same way about the same Hogue grips on my Redhawk 4" .44Mag. I swapped them for some Butler Creek grips which have a similar profile to your own, just without the class of yours!! Anyway, I much prefer them to the stock versions.

I really love the look (that barrel and cylinder give it such presence) and size of the Alaskan, but whenever I consider the idea of trading my 4" for an Alaskan, I am reminded of the loss of velocity and sight radius.

So, I realise this is .454, not .44 but just out of interest, do you feel you lose out a lot with the short barrel?
 
I felt the same way about the same Hogue grips on my Redhawk 4" .44Mag. I swapped them for some Butler Creek grips which have a similar profile to your own, just without the class of yours!! Anyway, I much prefer them to the stock versions.

I really love the look (that barrel and cylinder give it such presence) and size of the Alaskan, but whenever I consider the idea of trading my 4" for an Alaskan, I am reminded of the loss of velocity and sight radius.

So, I realise this is .454, not .44 but just out of interest, do you feel you lose out a lot with the short barrel?
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Mr. Pond, James Pond ;)

First on recoil honestly it is not as bad as it looks when you watch the crazy youtube videos. Most (not all) of those videos are of someone giving such a beast to an inexperienced shooter. The original grips with the gel insert was great for recoil management, I just hate the finger grooves. Hopefully I will get the chance to shoot soon with the new grips.

Secondly on velocity lost here is a quote from my first 454 review many years ago "First up was Hornady 454 Casull 240gr XTP/MAG the box says these are rated at 1900fps at the muzzle. With only a 2 1/2 inch barrel I am sure the Alaskan would produce about 15% less velocity which is still about 35% more than standard 44magnum rounds."

At the time I did not have a chronograph but now I do. I will see about putting out a request to have a 454 Casull shoot at the range so that we can chronograph longer barrels against the Alaskan.

Your point about sight radius well it is a valid one :)

FYI you may be very surprised about velocity lost in short barrels. I know I was when I did my 44mag review which you may like since you are a 44 connosieur of sorts :)
You can read the entire review here http://www.dayattherange.com/?p=2925

But in short I had a S&W Performance Center 3inch 44magnum with a larger barrel to cylinder gap produce higher velocity than that of a 6inch barrel S&W performance center revolver. I am still a little confused by that one :) I posted all of the chronograph results as well as the barrel to cylinder gap for each revolver.
 
Secondly on velocity lost here is a quote from my first 454 review many years ago "First up was Hornady 454 Casull 240gr XTP/MAG the box says these are rated at 1900fps at the muzzle. With only a 2 1/2 inch barrel I am sure the Alaskan would produce about 15% less velocity which is still about 35% more than standard 44magnum rounds."
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Yep, that will get you noticed!!

Thanks for the link. I shall read it with interest. I suppose for me it is an academic question as I doubt I'll sell the Redhawk. The calibre is effective enough, I believe, and I know that here, in Estonia, I can get reloading components with ease. If I jumped to a .454, then I can kiss plated bullets goodbye which means a big hike in the cost of components.

But in short I had a S&W Performance Center 3inch 44magnum with a larger barrel to cylinder gap produce higher velocity than that of a 6inch barrel S&W performance center revolver. I am still a little confused by that one I posted all of the chronograph results as well as the barrel to cylinder gap for each revolver.
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Just guessing here, but could something like bore-tolerance have something to do with it? Could a tighter bore on the 3" mean that velocity increased due to increased pressure, despite greater gas loss through the gap? :confused:
 
The recoil really didn't feel any different to me and it was shot with some very stout loads over the chronograph.

Hornady 454 and Winchester 454 --- I will be posting the pictures and chronograph numbers in a bit to my website.

For starters here are the Hornady numbers

1604 Hi
1592
1596
1581 Low
1589
1593 Average
17 ES
6 SD
So not only beautiful but functional.
 
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