Selling Defensive Gear In The Frozen North
Chuck Inderrieden, owner of C4 Training Group in Fairbanks, Alaska,
with one of the state’s most popular targets.
In any retail field, some products are universally desired by the buying public, and some will increase or decrease in popularity depending on regional factors. I was reminded of this recently when teaching in Fairbanks, Alaska.
We’ve all heard the old saying a really good salesman can “sell refrigerators to Eskimos.” Well, this shows the futility of prognosticating about places we haven’t been. Any Alaskan could tell you almost all the native people there do have refrigerators, just like anyone else.
Wherever I go, I drop in on gun dealers to feel the pulse of what’s selling where they are and get their assessment of the mood of their customers with regard to various gun, ammunition and accessory trends. This trip reminded me of the truth some trends are universal from region to region, while some are specific to the locality.
What’s Universal
Lots of folks carry guns in Alaska. Geographically the largest state in the nation, the 49th state is populated by slightly less than 750,000 people. The Alaska State Troopers number just under 400. In the most remote areas, it can take days for law enforcement to respond to violent crime. Alaskans learn to be self-reliant in every respect, including self-defense.
When Vermont had long been the only state where law-abiding citizens could carry concealed in public without a permit, Alaska became the second in 2003, setting off a wave of constitutional carry that now numbers more than half the states. Many Alaskans still apply for the carry permit, if only for reciprocity.
Nationwide, we’ve all seen the 9mm ride a high wave of popularity, with more than half of all handguns sold being chambered for this cartridge. In Alaska, police and armed citizens alike have gone to it. Alaskan cops were the first to go with open-top pouches for spare magazines instead of the slower-to-access flapped type. (Reloading under stress is fumble-prone enough, particularly with gloves on in a climate often 40 and 50 degrees below zero.)
Thirty years ago, Alaska was powerful pistol country for cops. The State Troopers had just switched from S&W Model 686 .357 Magnum revolvers to S&W 4006 pistols in .40 caliber. They found the all-metal frames held the cold and were extremely uncomfortable for shooting in some common weather conditions — a problem they solved by going to the polymer-framed GLOCK 22 in the same caliber. Anchorage Police issued the .45-caliber GLOCK 21.
Throughout the state, very few police were issued 9mm. One reason was hollowpoint service ammo was designed to expand with the dynamic pressure of tissue pressing outward on the walls of the hollow cavity, and when the cavity was plugged by some inert substance (such as thick winter clothing) it failed to expand and turned into ball. The cops wanted, if this happened, for their ammo to turn into big ball ammo.
Time went on. The ammunition industry developed barrier-blind bullets as a solution to plugged-slug expansion failure. The Alaska State Troopers recently adopted their first standard issue 9mm, the GLOCK 17 MOS. More northerly Fairbanks has downsized their caliber to 9mm also. The most popular concealed carry guns for armed citizens in Alaska today? You guessed it: 9mm.
But a huge number of handguns sold in Alaska aren’t for street carry or home defense. In a state where outdoor sports are enormously popular, powerful handguns sell virtually as quickly as concealed carry guns. The reason can be found in one word: Bears.
To Ruin A Bruin
Salmon fishing is practically the state sport in Alaska. The bears like salmon too, and don’t appreciate the competition. Now, when you land in Alaska — whether it’s the Anchorage airport or the one in Fairbanks — one of the first things you see are full-body bear mounts. The brawny grizzly, the towering polar bear … it’s as if the state wants to warn you upfront those things are out there.
And it’s not just bears. The moose ain’t exactly Bullwinkle: Lots of folks have been badly torn up by these large-horned ungulates.
When I visited the indoor range at Alaska Ammo in Fairbanks, I noticed more customers were shooting at the grizzly bear target than any other.
Big, tough animals require big, tough bullets. While one professional guide with a cool head and steady hand managed to kill a charging griz with a 9mm Smith & Wesson, it should be noted that he used a special load — hard-cast for deep penetration — to do it. In the 19th century, large .44- and .45-caliber handguns were preferred for the Alaskan outdoors.
When Douglas Wesson killed big bears and moose with the then-new S&W .357 Magnum in the mid-1930s, he made the caliber disproportionally popular there. And when the .44 Magnum was introduced in the mid-1950s, the double-action Smith & Wesson and the less expensive but still high-quality single-action Ruger Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk became immensely popular. Alaskan “super trooper” Jeff Hall, a leading authority on combat shooting, once said (only half-jokingly) the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk was the official Alaskan outdoor sidearm.
This changed with the coming of the 10mm cartridge in the 1980s and particularly GLOCK’s introduction of the G20 in that caliber in 1990. Instead of five or six chances to stop the charging bear or moose, the G20 offered 15 deep-penetrating rounds in the magazine and a 16th in the chamber. It was soon followed by other polymer double-stack 10mms from Springfield Armory, S&W and FN.
When “Emergency Tools” Are Needed
A decade or so ago in Anchorage, gun dealers told me the title of top-selling handgun there was a tie between the GLOCK 19 for carry in town and the GLOCK 20 for going afield.
At Frontier Outfitters in Fairbanks, I was told the G20 was overwhelmingly the top choice for “four-legged” threats and the GLOCK 9mms, mostly the G19, for the “two-legged” kind, closely followed by the SIG P365 and the Springfield Hellcat. The good people at Alaska Ammo, when I was there to do a book signing, told me it was flatly GLOCK 19 for in-town and GLOCK 20 at the river or in the bush.
This doesn’t mean the .44 Magnum is now a relic in the north. They still sell, they’re just not as popular as the higher-capacity 10mms for punching through dense fur, thick hide and heavy bone. One Frontier Outfitters salesman said the Ruger Alaskan double action with the short barrel was their hottest-selling .44 Magnum: it was thought to be more maneuverable if the bear was right on top of you.
The outdoor handgun is largely an emergency tool for when hands are tied up with a fishing rod. Many outdoorsmen prefer a short-barrel shotgun loaded with slugs. Bears and such are a big reason why, when cops in the lower 48 traded their patrol car shotguns for AR-15s, Alaska State Troopers and other lawmen there went with shotgun and AR-15.
The load of choice is almost unanimously the Brenneke Classic because of its accuracy and because its hard, flat-front configuration penetrates very deeply and crushes a great deal of tissue.
Some trends, like 9mm, are universal. Some, like “bear guns,” tend to be more regional. The wise seller knows his buyer’s needs — and stocks his or her showcases accordingly.
