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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 28, 2011 11:31:38 GMT -5
I've been a long-time fan of Model 71 Winchesters. And over the years I've been grabbed by the 450 and 50 Alaskan since the early ones were done on '71s and '86s. Most know that both were the brainchild of Harold Johnson out of the Kenai Peninsula region of Alaska. I plan to build a 50 Alaskan on a Siamese Mauser action soon and thought I'd share some lesser known facts on these wildcats. The 50 Alaskan came first. Harold had a customer that brought in a surplus 50 BMG barrel. He also happened to have an old 50-110 1886 with an eroded throat. Since brass was tough to get for that round, he necked 348's to handle 0.512"s. The BMG barrel was cut and contoured to match the 1886 profile.
Bullets were originally made from 50 BMG slugs he cut in half and seated upside down. Initial weights were around 450 grains. In the late '80s Harold noted that for as much game as he dropped with that rifle, he NEVER recovered a slug.....regardless of what angle he hit the animal
Harold lured Harold "Bill" Fuller and his wife to Alaska from California in the early 1950's. Bill was Harold's chief gunsmith for nearly 25 years. Bill also built the original 50 Alaskan reamer for Harold.
Harold himself only built one 50 Alaskan (the one noted above). Jeff Johnson, Harold's son, claims the family still owns the gun
The 450 Alaskan was born around 1952
Harold Fuller later designed his own version called the 450 Fuller. It was nearly identical to the Alaskan except the shoulder was 20 degrees and had 0.004" more body taper. PO Ackley later did his 450-348, which had even less taper and a 40 degree shoulder.
Ironically, Harold and Bill converted very few guns to 450 and 50 Alaskan. Their work is exceptionally rare.
Harold never named his 50. Legend has it that Fred Hunington of RCBS gave it the "Alaskan" tag. Harold and Bill just called it "The Fifty".
Attached is a photo of Harold's shop in the 1950s. The second picture is of Harold "Bill" Fuller (right).   Bill passed away in 1988. Harold is no longer with us either, though I don't know the exact year he died. Thought I'd share some of what I've uncovered on these two. Very little has been written about them but in time I hope to do an article on both. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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Post by Stump Buster on Dec 28, 2011 12:21:06 GMT -5
GREAT "Teaser" Lee!!! I look forward to reading the complete article when it's finished!!!
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Post by whitworth on Dec 28, 2011 13:07:53 GMT -5
Very cool! I would add one more tidbit here:
The .50 Alaskan makes for a very poor revolver round.
;D ;D
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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 28, 2011 13:53:27 GMT -5
The .50 Alaskan makes for a very poor revolver round. ;D ;D Sounds like the sort of argument made by people that are intensely recoil-shy  I know better than to think you're in that boat Whit. BTW, Bill Fuller later went on to recommend against converting Siamese Mausers to 450 and 50 Alaskan. Not sure why either only that he hinted it had to do with feeding. I don't buy that though. My dad has done three or four 45-70s on Siamese and they feed like a dream. Hell, we even got the 348 Win to work on a standard CZ 24. The nice thing about Siamese Mausers are they're stronger than 71s, 86s, or Marlin 95's. In fact, a lot of guys could duplicate 458 Win Mag with 450 AK Mausers. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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paulg
.375 Atomic
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Post by paulg on Dec 28, 2011 16:30:51 GMT -5
Very interesting. those pictures are great. Buy a gun, get a gun fixed and or built all while havin coffee, ice cream and a burger. It don't get much better. Looking forward to the article.
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Post by whitworth on Dec 28, 2011 22:03:17 GMT -5
The .50 Alaskan makes for a very poor revolver round. ;D ;D Sounds like the sort of argument made by people that are intensely recoil-shy I know better than to think you're in that boat Whit. BTW, Bill Fuller later went on to recommend against converting Siamese Mausers to 450 and 50 Alaskan. Not sure why either only that he hinted it had to do with feeding. I don't buy that though. My dad has done three or four 45-70s on Siamese and they feed like a dream. Hell, we even got the 348 Win to work on a standard CZ 24. The nice thing about Siamese Mausers are they're stronger than 71s, 86s, or Marlin 95's. In fact, a lot of guys could duplicate 458 Win Mag with 450 AK Mausers. -Lee www.singleactions.comI'll bring it out weekend after next and you tell me if I exaggerate!! It just burns too much darn powder not to recoil hard. ;D |
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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 29, 2011 9:26:13 GMT -5
Bring the BFR Whit. I'm a glutton for punishment. BTW, I have a 416 Taylor that needs some range time. I'll try to bring that too. May be good for comparison on the penetration tests. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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Post by whitworth on Dec 29, 2011 9:28:24 GMT -5
Ifit were a BFR it would weigh a pound more and might actually be shootable -- LOL!
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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 29, 2011 9:33:56 GMT -5
Can't be any worse than a 400 grain 416 JDJ at full throttle with those god-awful TC Rynite grips. Not only are they hard plastic, but they have an upper hump that makes DAs seem to roll in the hand. I put 50 rounds through it before switching to Pachmyrs. That's the only gun that got to me in terms of recoil (the loads were 400 grain Hornadys going 1,800 fps). With Pachmyr Presentations it's actually now pleasant to shoot. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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Post by Lee Martin on Dec 29, 2011 9:37:27 GMT -5
Here's the gun Whit. Not sure if I ever showed you pictures of it or not:   It's quite a hammer. I'm out of RL-7 but once I restock we'll get this one to the range too. -Lee www.singleactions.com |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 11:52:25 GMT -5
416 Contender? 50 Alaskan revolver? I want no part of either. But I like the idea of a bolt action 50 Alaskan. Keep us posted Lee.
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Post by whitworth on Dec 29, 2011 12:52:21 GMT -5
525s at nearly 1,600 fps (63 grains of powder) from a 4-lb revolver -- ouch! Not fun at all! ;D It's a novelty at best.
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Post by bigbores on Dec 29, 2011 15:52:25 GMT -5
525s at nearly 1,600 fps (63 grains of powder) from a 4-lb revolver -- ouch! Not fun at all! ;D It's a novelty at best. Don't you mean "it's novelty at it's best!" I'm really thinking about sending my 500SW BFR to Huntington to copy your BFR only using a JT frame, (its got the Bisley grip already added). and maybe a longer barrel. |
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Post by whitworth on Dec 29, 2011 16:50:22 GMT -5
Not a bad idea! He did one recently similar to what you describe and he reports that it isn't bad to shoot at all. The problem with mine is that the platform is a bit on the light side, so you get everything it can dish out.
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paulg
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Post by paulg on Dec 29, 2011 18:15:27 GMT -5
When you guys shoot those had cannons how do you deal with the recoil? Do you resist it somewhat or do you kinda roll with the flow? The biggest I've shot is the .44 magnum. I can't even imagine shooting ya'lls big boys.
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I know better than to think you're in that boat Whit.
