Henry Rifle Forums

Here's a pair I haven't had out in a while...my Ruger Alaskan 454/45 Colt and the S&W 629-2E .44 Mag.
Now the Alaskan has the 2.5 inch barrel and the 629 has a 3 inch barrel and both have great grips.

The test was simple and at Self Defense distance of 15 ft. from target point shooting and using double action.
The loads were my 255 and 240 gr. plated bullets both loaded with 9.5 Unique. 6 shots fired quickly.

Alaskan .45 Colt target

S&W 629 target


Result is the Ruger Alaskan shoots and feels a bit better in my hand. But the S&W 629 will do OK too!
Had a pair of low flyers with the Smith which was me !
The Alaskan takes a better picture too!

either one of those can certainly do the job .... nicely done

That's a couple of powerhouses. Nice shooting.

Cool, is 9.5 gr of Unique a moderate load? I have a SRH Alaskan .480 clone (I bobbed the barrel of a 7.5” gun) and my “.480 Special” load is a 350 gr cast lead bullet at around 800 fps. It still thumps pretty darned hard but it doesn’t destroy your strong hand thumb. For the factory stuff I wear a thumb brace and a gel mountain bike glove, and it still hurts.
Great bear self defense medicine though....

John Davies
Spokane WA

Love the 629. That's a great vintage in a 629.

I like the looks of the big bore snubbies, and used to have one years ago. Those are both sharp. Can't remember what the offer was for mine, but it was something I couldn't turn down.

John E Davies wrote:Cool, is 9.5 gr of Unique a moderate load? I have a SRH Alaskan .480 clone (I bobbed the barrel of a 7.5” gun) and my “.480 Special” load is a 350 gr cast lead bullet at around 800 fps. It still thumps pretty darned hard but it doesn’t destroy your strong hand thumb. For the factory stuff I wear a thumb brace and a gel mountain bike glove, and it still hurts.

450EE14B-20C7-4CD8-A42F-FE245EF0623C.jpeg

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Great bear self defense medicine though....

John Davies
Spokane WA

Now that's a real thumper!
My .45 Colt load could be considered on the warm side and the .44 Mag load is a somewhat milder load for .44 Mag.
Now my SD carry load for the Alaskan is the 250 gr. Hornady XTP bullet with either 11.5 Unique or 20 gr. of 2400 powder.
Both those loads are moving 1100+ FPS out of the Alaskan and not bad on recoil.
I have shot some 325 gr. Hammerheads with 16 gr. of 2400 and those are in the 850 range.

North Country Gal wrote:Love the 629. That's a great vintage in a 629.

I got a great deal on that 629-2E from a neighbor several years ago and it had few rounds shot thru it.
They are a bit pricey now days.

Forty I wanna see the look on ur face after you quick fire some 454's in that pea shooter.

My EDC has been a Taurus snubbie total titanium in .44 special.
It's light weight, accurate enough at self defense ranges, and packs a punch to boot.

It might not be pretty, but most Taurus firearms are more utilitarian anyway.
I do not feel under-gunned with the .44spl.

Great shooting. Something about these two that always make them look kind of cool. But with no practical use for one and bad arthritic hands I just have to keep looking but I know they are not for me.

BigAl52 wrote:Forty I wanna see the look on ur face after you quick fire some 454's in that pea shooter.

At some point I will have to try that on the last day I ever shoot a gun!

very good shooting and very manly calibers in such "tiny" pistols. LOL