The .50 Alaskan / 13x53mmR is a

wildcat cartridge A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom-made cartridge (weaponry), cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created as experimental variants to optimize a certain ballis ...

developed by Harold Johnson and Harold Fuller of the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

in the 1950s. Johnson based the cartridge on the .348 Winchester in order to create a rifle capable of handling the large bears in Alaska.

Design

Harold Johnson necked out the .348 Winchester case to accept a .510" diameter bullet, and Harold Fuller developed the barrel, marrying a .50 caliber barrel to an old

Winchester Model 1886 The Winchester Model 1886 was a lever-action repeating rifle designed by John Browning to handle some of the more powerful cartridges of the period. Originally chambered in .45-70 Government, .45-90 Sharps, and .40-82 Winchester, it was late ...

rifle. Harold Johnson made the first 450 Alaskan in 1952, and continued to make them in the 1950s and 60s. The rifle was based on the Winchester Model 71 in .348 caliber. Bill Fuller made the reamers. John Buhmiller made the barrel. Frank Barnes made the bullets. The "50" came later. Since the rifle was designed for use on Alaska's great bears, Johnson cut boat-tail .50 BMG bullets in half, seating the rear half upside down in the fireformed .50-caliber case. It didn't take Johnson long to find out that the truncated-shaped "solid" would shoot through a big brown bear from any direction, claiming in 1988, "I never recovered a slug from a bear or moose, no matter what angle the animal was shot at."

Performance

Harold's favorite load in the .50 Alaskan was of IMR-4198 with a Barnes flatnose, jacketed bullet for about and just under of muzzle energy. The Alaskan is shorter than the .510 Kodiak Express and produces about 10% less energy or 33% less energy than the 50-110, out of a 71 Winchester re-barreled to chamber the 50-110 WCF 6,000 foot-pounds.

Availability

Rifles for .50 BMF Bullet are available from some specialty gunsmiths and also conversions from

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

and

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

lever-action rifles file:Winchester 73 open.JPG, The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms file:Volcanic.JPG, Picture showing a Volcanic Pistol A lever action is a type of action (firearms), ac ...

. Reloading dies are available from

Hornady Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition cartridges, components and handloading equipments, based in Grand Island, Nebraska. History Joyce W. Hornady began manufacturing bullets in the spring of 1949 with a .30 cal ...

. Brass is available from Starline Brass. Although it is considered a wildcat cartridge, loaded ammunition is available from Buffalo Bore.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:50 Alaskan Pistol and rifle cartridges Wildcat cartridges

Design

Performance

Availability

See also

References

External links