Trail gun for the lower 48

Here in the state of Washington there are very few Grizzlies. However, where I hunt and hike there are some dang big Black Bear and Cougar. I will probably never encounter them, but I do scout in the spring when the bears are out and about feeding after a long winter. They have been known to be ornery not to mention the sows with new cubs. So, I bought this revolver and holster from a member of this forum to carry on those spring and summer walks when I am not carrying a rifle. It is a 4" Redhawk 44 Mag carried in a Simply Rugged holster with convenient shell loops. I am stoking it with some 300gr hard cast loads. I think this will do the job if needed.




Dave

Nice outfit you have there. I just bought it's twin a couple weeks back. I installed factory wood grips on mine and plan to make a set of Elk grips for it this winter.
Enjoy!
Mine came with the quick change front sight although I have no plans to replace it.

Chuck 100 yd said:

Nice outfit you have there. I just bought it's twin a couple weeks back. I installed factory wood grips on mine and plan to make a set of Elk grips for it this winter.
Enjoy!
Mine came with the quick change front sight although I have no plans to replace it.

Click to expand...

Chuck, I had a 4" 629 with stag grips. It was a finger buster. Installed some Hogue rubber grips which helped some. It came down to the lighter weight of the 629 that made me change to the more recoil friendly but heavier Redhawk. The Redhawk is a fluffy kittens-cat with factory loads...... I like it!

Dave

Nice gun. 8)

I've had the same revolver for about eight years. A great shooter. I really like that holster you've hit there too.

Nice rig!

Dave I've got the same one as you, with the early pinned sight. Also the Simply Rugged holster. Mine has a Pachmayer Decelerator grip but that's the only difference. Should serve you well.

Nice outfit

One tough revolver !

I like it ! Find a speedloader and speed strips for it now. Those Fed CastCore loads, or handloads w/nickel cases ?

Great trail gun combo for anywhere you may go. Enjoy.

stevemb said:

I like it ! Find a speedloader and speed strips for it now. Those Fed CastCore loads, or handloads w/nickel cases ?

Click to expand...

Yep, I have speed loaders. The rounds are commercial reloads; 300gr WFN @ 1275' per second. Nickel cases are a mix of Starline, Speer, and Federal.

Dave

That'll do, Dave!

If you can shoot 300 gr bullets at 1275 fps with those factory grips, you are a better man than I am. I can shoot about 3 rounds with those grips before crying uncle.

I switched to the Pachmayr Presentation grips and never looked back.

RalphS said:

If you can shoot 300 gr bullets at 1275 fps with those factory grips, you are a better man than I am. I can shoot about 3 rounds with those grips before crying uncle.

I switched to the Pachmayr Presentation grips and never looked back.

Click to expand...

I will modify that load as needed to make the Redhawk tolerable for me , including different grips.

Dave

That is a fine looking Ruger!

Good gun, carried one all over Alaska in a plain Jane Simply Rugged holster like yours. From Anchorage to Barrow it worked great as a bear deterrent. The only bears I saw were in the Anchorage Zoo. I have never had a problem with the hogue grips. I had a 7.5 inch barreled Redhawk previously with the standard wood grips ( looked great), but shooting 20 rounds of hi-velocity 180 grain JSP's gave me hand tremors for a month afterwards.
gramps