Chest rig?

D

dingobubba

Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
770
Hey guys...my father is heading to Alaska in a few month for a fishing trip. He wants to take his S&W 44(not scoped) and is looking for a chest rig/holster. I've found a few on the NET but need some opinions/recomendations on them. Anyone know of a decent rig? This will probably be the only time he will use it so price can't be too steep.
 
Is he sure he wants a chest rig. They can be difficult to deploy from. He might want to think about a decent belt holster, strong side.
 
I don't much like chest rigs. They can be difficult to get the weapon drawn quickly especially with a long barreled pistol. A shoulder holster draws more quickly and isn't appreciably lower (and closer to that water he'll be wading in).
 
I like the flapped chest rigs for scoped handguns as simple firearm transportation. Once I'm in the woods the firearm is in my hands for hunting. Other than that specific use, I much prefer shoulder holsters to chest rigs for large revolvers. A vertical synthetic shoulder holster would be my choice. Due to the one-time use and $$$$ I recommend Uncle Mike's nylon gear.
 
Chest rigs tend to be better for automatics (more compatible sheaths and easier to draw a shorter barrel). Does he want it just for the gun or does he want to carry other stuff on the rig?
 
I'm assuming that he will be fishing creeks and rivers, so he is trying to add a bit of bear protection. Something that he should check into before going is what caliber they consider to be a minimum for grizzly.

A partner of mine bowhunts Alaska and prior to his first trip over, he was told by the outfitter that he should carry a short 12ga pump and that he should load it with (1) round '00' and back it with (4) slug rounds. When he asked about taking his .44 mag instead, the outfitter said, "it's your life, you can carry whatever you want, but if you want to kill the bear before it kills you, carry the shotgun". I've read on another forum, that the .454 is the minimum sidearm round that they recommend.
 
longbow50 said:
Something that he should check into before going is what caliber they consider to be a minimum for grizzly.
Depends on who you ask. 'They' consider a .44 Mag a minimum, unless it is the other 'they' that consider 12g minimum, or possibly the one brownie guide who reportedly carries a .357 loaded w/ 180s as a backup. Oh, then there's the ones who call anyone who carries any handgun an imbecile, and the few who believe they can put enough lead into a brown bear with a .45ACP that the thing cannot keep running towards them.:jerkit: :foot:

The .44 is fine w/ 300g hardcast loads. He can buy the ammo at most any gun shop up there. Knowledge of bear behavior is much more important than the gun though. Without knowledge, no gun is probably best. Stainless is MUCH better than blue.

Some guys up there really like the chest rigs. I don't know anything about them myself. You can buy those up there too at the Sportsman's Warehouse and some gun shops. At least you could. I will look for a link for you.

There you go. http://www.alaskasportsmanproducts.com/ I don't know anything about these myself. Just in case you can't tell from my post, I am not an eggspurt.:)
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Most guys I know up here carry one of these. I have one myself. These are great products and will last a lifetime. http://www.alaskasportsmanproducts.com/


I also like these: http://www.davidjohnstonleather.com/Pages/Holsters.html
These are well made, but twice the price of the cordura holster

I carry a .44 mag with 300 gr hard cast lead bullets. If you stay alert and do things right, you can avoid most encounters with bears. Key is, the bear has the right of way. Some really like the bear spray. I'd say, if you are going to carry the spray, carry a .44 as backup.

I've had bears very close to me (within 50 feet. at least that's close for me). I've seen a bear get within arms reach of someone just to get a backpack off the ground. It eased right up behind a girl while we were fishing and she didn't know it was there until it had the backpack and she saw it in her peripheral vision.

I've never even started to get my gun out, but I like the thought of having my Ruger Redhawk close by.
 
I bought an Alaska Sportman's chest holster while in AK hunting. I really liked it. It was easy to carry, access, didn´t get in the way of the rifle or driving the ATV and it was easy to use with lots of clothes. Mac
 
The Alaska Sportsman rig is another he was looking at and yes he plans on carrying bear spray too. I bought him the 44 a few years back. He wanted one cuz 1. He was planning this trip. 2. He was told it would be a do-able caliber. He's a very sensable man and he tries to do as much "homework" as he can. Sometimes too much(imagine what it was like for me growing up;).
 
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