Back in late June, with my birthday pending, (July 1st), the wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Not being one to pass up an opportunity, I said, "A short barreled Ruger Alaskan in caliber 454". We proceeded to my favorite gun shop and lo and behold they had that very thing right there in the display case. I asked to examine the gun and found some scratches and tool mark dings on the cylinder. The price tag was around $718. I asked if they would lower the price because of this imperfection on the cylinder. They said, "Nope. It's going back to Ruger. We should have it back in around 90 days". Well, knowing how money burns holes in the wife's pocket, I spent July, August and the first week of September looking for the same gun in other gun shops in town. Couldn't find one. They all kept telling me Ruger don't make the 2 inch barrel 454 Alaskan any more. They all kept trying to sell me the new 44 magnum Alaskan with the longer barrel. Last week the wife said, "You need to settle for something else and let's go buy it today, before I spend the money on something else". We returned to my favorite gun shop and what do ya know... the short barreled, 454 Alaskan had returned from Ruger with a new cylinder installed! I gave it the quick once over, inside and out and told the man, "We'll take it".
It is a big, beefy, beast of a revolver with an intimidation factor on a scale of 1 - 10 of 10+. I can't imagine any criminal miscreant staring down the barrel of this thing and still entertaining any thoughts of criminal activity.
I've had it a week now, drooling all over the stainless steel but haven't had the opportunity to actually test fire it yet. I'm amassing boxes of CorBon's hot 45 Colt ammo, since that's what's available around here and that is what I'll regulate the adjustable sights to shoot. I'm not even aware of any other "hot" 45 Colt ammo available. I can buy a large assortment of 454 Casull ammo through the mail. There's even a special price on two of the 260 gr. loads.
The biggest problem I'm having now is finding accessories for the Alaskan. Who makes holsters for these things? SKS makes a six shot speed loader in 45 Colt for the S&W model 25-5. I'm wondering if this will work with the Alaskan.
I'm going to do a web search for holsters, speed loaders, etc. for the Alaskan but so far I haven't found much for any of the Super Red Hawk guns, particularly the Alaskan. Anyone know of a good custom holster maker in case I have to go that route?