Guns for the Alaskan Bush Dwellers

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 7/17/2019 | J Dickson

[w1n1]

From Plinking for the Pot to tending the Trapline to Protecting against Cabin Raiders – Four & Two Footed Alike – Here’s the Arsenal One Man Recommends
This article is for those who live in the bush. Those who go on a guided hunt may find other guns satisfactory for their purposes, but a bush dweller's life may depend on his guns being called on to meet every contingency, not just those of a guided hunt. Most bush dwellers have only a few guns and since these must both provide food and protection, this is no place to scrimp on quality. Having lived there, here are my observations on the subject.

The people living deep in the back country face threats the same as those in the city, only a bit different. Wolf and bear attacks have been increasing in recent years and wolves come in packs, dictating a semiauto for defense. No matter how deep into the wilderness you go, you still may run into people. Some of them are nice and some are not. Some treat any cabin and its contents as abandoned, even if there is a fire still going in the barrel stove. Be forewarned and be prepared.

A GOOD .22 RIFLE is a basic necessity for small game and practice. No practice, no hit anything. The old Browning semiauto .22 has the longest trouble-free life by far. That made it the mainstay of shooting galleries in years gone by. A somewhat cheaper alternative is the Ruger 10/22 semiauto, which has earned a wide following.

Rifles need to be able to handle moose and bear. The best one currently available is the semiauto version of the German G3 rifle. This was also Norway’s standard 7.62 NATO rifle, so you know that it will work in any part of Alaska at any time of the year.
The G3 has proven more reliable than any other gun in widespread use. Even Russia’s vaunted AK-47 pales in reliability comparison to the G3. New guns built on the machinery Portugal used to build the gun under license from H&K in Germany are available from PTR-91. Guns built on military surplus parts kits are available from Century Arms at about half the price. The ones made in Spain are called CETME and they were the first ones. Designed by German engineers after World War II, the CETME was adopted by Germany as the G3. These guns work perfectly with all 7.62 NATO and .308 loads, including the heavy bullet ones.

People often want to know what is the best survival rifle to carry in their bush plane. The answer may surprise you. It is the M1 carbine. Its cartridge is basically a high-velocity .32-20 load and it kills small game cleanly without ruining the meat. It has also killed very many deer and bear, even though it is universally considered not to be the best caliber for that. Some people say they would not want to face a charging grizzly with one. Well, the grizzly’s brain is located on the centerline of the skull about halfway between the eyes and the ears when his head is down, and you have plenty of shots at it, for the carbine is almost as fast-firing as a .22. Read the rest of guns for Alaskan bush.

[yarddog]

I guess having different opinions is what makes discussions of guns interesting.

I particularly like .22 auto or revolvers with barrels between 4 and 6 inches. There has been a huge number of really great ones made. Many no longer.

The better quality ones are about as accurate as a .22 rifle. The rifle does provide more energy.

It is interesting how different animals react to the .22. Daddy used to kill hogs with a Remington model 513 using .22 shorts. I knew a guy who had a small packing house in Garden City, KS who used an old Marlin model 60 with a cut down stock to kill steers etc.

I once shot a medium sized coon twice in the thorax, both good shots, with a .45 auto. He fell out of the tree but fought the dog for several minutes before dying.

My first whitetail succumbed to a single 9mm HP from a Glock 17L. It had the long slide and cutouts but the barrel was solid.

All in all tho very few things beat a .22LR pistol.

[allwrong57]

The bad news is that if you get between a bear and cubs, they don’t give you a wide berth

[allwrong57]

I have personally shot whitetails past 100 yards with a 45 ACP, the same Ed Brown gun I won a bunch of bowling pin matches with.

[allwrong57]

No, there are tons of people that can kill at 100 with a .45 1911, maybe you’re not that guy. No perhaps and no carbine, I’ve shot against lots of them.

[Mr Rogers]

The Forest Service used to issue their people a 375 H&H Magnum. Sounds a bit SMALL to me, but I sure wouldn’t choose anything smaller!

[CommerceComet]

I have personally shot whitetails past 100 yards with a 45 ACP, the same Ed Brown gun I won a bunch of bowling pin matches with.

Unfamiliar with an Ed Brown gun. Is that a pistol or a carbine? A 100 yard shot with a pistol is way out of my league. A 100 yard shot with a carbine calibered in 45 ACP I could do.

[yarddog]

I don’t know a lot about Ed Brown guns other than what I have read. I think he is from Illinois and makes expensive and highly regarded .45 autos.

[mylife]

45 acp at 25 yds will drop 6”.

Up close and personal it is hard to beat.

[mylife]

45 acp only has a muzzle velocity of 850 fps in a pistol.
you may top 1000 fps in a carbine.

I like carbines, but not for 100 yd shots on bears.

[allwrong57]

Not for bears, in either one IMO.

[allwrong57]

modified 1911 Colt Series 70. I’ve shot quite a bit of game with a pistol past 100 yards, but I shoot a lot, still about 100 pistol rounds a week.

[notloud]

I stopped reading when the author suggested a trip to England to buy a shotgun.