Bear? .44 definitely. And make sure you're a good shot.

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Nothing less than a 357 mag or 10mm, and I used a 44 mag the only time I had to destroy a bear. All three calibers require signuficant commitment of time and ammo/money to learn to shoot well.

 

S&W 629 4'' 44mag if you can afford one and if you can find ammo....

 

I am comfy with 357 or 45 where I hike, but I don't have to worry about the Grizz. If brown bears are a significant concern, I would look into a 44.

 

I have large brown bears around my place 4/500 lbs .
I allways carry a 1911 but after a few Encounters with very large obnoxious black bears
I upgraded to Ruger red hawk in 45 colt with a hot Ruger only load .
It a little heavy on my belt but my Ruger security 6 3” may not be enough.
I have some 6” 357s but they are hard to drive with.

 

My area only calls for a snubbie .357...first 2 are CCI snake loads and the other 3 are 38+ pos Silver Tip Glasers...W/O the Glasers Id have to load full .357...reg 38 spec wont do

 

Grizzly bears?!?

 

Can I get a shoulder holster for that?👀

 

10mm glock 20 or glock 40. You can use it effectively on brown bear with the right ammo. And it has been used on moose. At the same time you have more rounds and more accuracy than a revolver.

Shot placement is essential and 15 rounds just gives you more chance to hit something vital. Plus the more you hit a bear , the more likely it is to decide it doesn’t want any.

A glock is easy to carry. It is lightweight. It is reliable enough to bet your life on. It is also affordable.

Of course there are a few other 10mm options. The XDM has a higher round count for example. And of course the sig p220 is a great gun but heavier and lower capacity.

 

Years ago I bought a broom handle mauser for back packing. Shoulder stock holster and a few stripper clips to organize ammo. 80 gr cast projectiles or 80 gr round nose soft points. It is a good compromise between rifle and pistol. Prior to the broom handle I carried a smith model 10. A 38 spec 158 cast SWC is not the best but nothing to be sneezed at. Most pistols will take care of a treed bear or a controlled harvest shot but none will stop a bear that is upset and coming at you. My recomendation is not to **** of bear.

 

Years ago I bought a broom handle mauser for back packing. Shoulder stock holster and a few stripper clips to organize ammo. 80 gr cast projectiles or 80 gr round nose soft points. It is a good compromise between rifle and pistol. Prior to the broom handle I carried a smith model 10. A 38 spec 158 cast SWC is not the best but nothing to be sneezed at. Most pistols will take care of a treed bear or a controlled harvest shot but none will stop a bear that is upset and coming at you. My recomendation is not to **** of bear.

Actually a few angry charging brown bear have been killed or incapacitated with a handgun, including a few with a 10mm glock. The issue is , unlike a large rifle , one good shot is NOT likely to put yogi on the ground.

 

In my admittedly under-informed opinion, no handgun has the power to stop an angry grizzly, or one with cubs.

The BEST stopper in my opinion is an AR in .50 Beowulf. Ten rounds of that, properly placed, will break down and stop any animal in this hemisphere.

Also easier to master and shoot than a comparable handgun. The fact that a heavy rifle is MUCH easier and faster to attain proficiency with than a heavy handgun is what makes it a better choice, IMHO.

 

Just to give some evidence, that isn't true. Pistols surprisingly of many calibers have been used to stop bears, including 9 mm.

Defense Against Bears with Pistols: 97% Success rate, 37 Incidents

However, I am not suggesting people go out preparing for bear defense with a 9 mm or .22. Obviously, more powerful guns and even shotguns/rifles would be wise.

 

I would personally go with the Glock 20. 15 rounds of 10mm is better than 6 of .44... i have one and carry it all the time up here in Alaska.

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Bears, brown bears = not something for pistols.

12 Ga shotty, yes. 45/70 or larger? Yes.

YMMV, but I would urge caution and go with a long gun. This also reduces issues with 'concealed' carry....

 

The real problem is the bears are sneaky and quiet for there size.
I live with black bears all around me , if you are noisy most likely you’ll never see one.
If you walk up and startle a mother with Cubs there is a good chance she is going to charge you .
They don’t get Startled when. your 75 or 100 feet away they will run .
At 25’ a mother with Cubs will face you down .
You have to look as big as you can don’t stare them down but don’t look away .
just slowly back away .
They will lung at you once or twice just keep backing away .
It would only take a bear a few seconds to be on you @ 25’
in reality it would be hard to pull your pistol and get off more then a shot or 2
I like a 44 45 cal revolver 4” red hawk I have both .
It is easy to knock a auto out of battery , a revolver will keep shooting pressed against the bear while he chew on your skull .
The bear in the pics was 65’ away and I had 2 Cubs to the right about 100 ‘ from us .
Just for reference the posted sign is 7’ in the air , this is a big black bear.
She has been here for years .
My pistol was on a table behind me I was wearing gloves with concrete all over my hands
I got the pic because the Cubs popped out to the right 100’ from me and I saw them and reached for my phone then saw the mother , there where 4 of us there

 

I don't live in bear country and haven't dealt with them but in some of the forums I've been on I've paid mind to lots of posts / threads from folks who have had to deal with them and most ring true with what has already been said in here. 44 Magnum and up in a hangun, 10mm in an pistol and 45 Long Colt with the right rounds in a modern Revolver designed to handle them (something like Buffalo Bore etc), also Hard Cast for penetration. And most consider a Handgun as a Backup Weapon, not a primary.

If you're on a budget you might be better off getting a combact 12ga with a full length tube any any restrictive plug removed and a quick access scabbord, then working towards a more powerful pistol. (thinking if it were me I'd be packing a minimum of my 18" 12 gauge pump and 44 Blackhawk .... Not optimal but it's the only 44 I currently have).

... GS Owner: Anyting Else?
... "Phased Plasma rifle in the 40 Watt Range"
... GS Owner: Hey, Just what you see Pal.

 

I don't own one.... but how about a 12ga 590 Shockwave in an over the shoulder scabbard?

 

O sure a bazooka would be nice I have 45/70 12g pump a safe full of 308 rifles
But it’s hard to walk around with a bazooka tucked in my pants .
I’ve lived in the woods and never had to shoot one, but there is allways a chance .
I had a bear eat the bbq off the side of my sail boat when I was docked in a picnic area in the Adirondacks .
I allso had a bear tear the trunk of my buddys car going after a liverwurst sandwich in the trunk .
I’ve had one in my basement .
And they’re always tearing up my garbage .
It’s gotten so bad that I freeze the food garbage and some one walks it out when the truck is in the road .
The little black bear in the pic just showed up , my daughter dropped the bag in the trash can
and before she walked in to the house she was taking this pic

 

You guys are funny .

 

I have never had the pleasure of camping/hiking in grizzly country, but if you put me in a cage with an angry one there isn't a handgun in the world that would give me the warm fuzzies.

I think anything you carry short of a 12 gauge loaded with slugs is just a mental pacifier.

 

When I'm out in the woods, I carry a Taurus Judge as a sidearm. Takes .45 LC, as well as .410 shotgun shells (which make good "snakeshot") I load it with both types of ammo, so it will take care of just about everything I'm likely to encounter out there. (No grizzlies here,)

 

I have had the opportunity to talk to a LOT of guides and other folks who make their living in the bush.
and
most of them I have talked to said for serious up close unintentional interaction with things that stomp or bite, they like a short 12ga. LOTS of energy and pellets vs a single bullets that may or may not hit something critical as it charges and bounces like a basketball in movement as it comes at you while making sounds that make you wish your daddy had never met your mommy.

Remmy 870s with folders seemed to be everywhere.

 

Glock 40 MOS, It has taken me accumulating a large collection of pistols to finally find what's perfect and the Glock 40 10mm in a chest holster is 16 rounds of awesome in a very accurate package, I carried a polymer judge for a while that kind of sucked at everything and now sits in the safe, I carried a G29 Glock 10mm that I still carry occasionally that is awesome but I got into some coyotes that were about 50 yards out that were too far to hit so I decided I wanted a SBR or a longer range pistol, I decided on the pistol because it's easier to hike with, and the G40 will hit out to 100 yards accurately and consistently.

 

Bear threads are fun.

 

It would be like shooting at , and hitting the VW badge on the front of a bug, a few times
in 30 feet at 35 miles an hour before it runs over you .
A DEC officer once told me that 30feet is a Acceptable distance to shoot a bear , and not be charged with wrong doings.
The little 200lb black bear in post 19 was 15’ from me when i took the pic .
A friend of mine shot it with bear spray and After that he did not like men any more, my wife and kids could walk past when he was sleeping but he would get aggressive towards me .
After a month or so he went to hunt trash some place else .

 

I will hunt down the link, but I saw an article that addressed the use of pistols and their effectiveness against bears, both black and grizzly. It appears that even such lowly loads as 9mm and .38 special, in real life, kill bears the majority of the time. Knowing how proficient many people are with handguns, I suspect shot placement to be key.
You don't need a bazooka to kill a bear. They have been killing them with sharp sticks for ages. Look at the terminal ballistics of your typical broadhead launched from a recurve bow.
In the world of hyperbole and drunken hunting guides, nothing less than a mountain howitzer would be useful.
Me? I actually walk in the woods where bears live, a lot. Bear spray is better and I do carry a gun, but its for the two legged varmints.

 

I was not happy with the effect the bear spray had on my little blacky
He took a good hit to the face , and just sat there looking at us .
He was pissy and walk into the woods a few feet ,but came back in 10min
I would not want to shoot a large angry aggressive bear with this stuff .
I saw a guy shoot a bear with a 3006 at 75’ and the bear ran 100yard thru a tree line
Breaking off 3 and 4” trees .
We had to cut the bear up and take out parts .
If you get charged with a bear you have a very small window to get off a shot .
You won’t have time to think if your going to shoot or nail him with the breath mint .
I saw a black bear run across a4 lane road at full blast he ran about 150 yards in about 8 /9 sec I was counting .
It takes me 4 sec to draw my weapon and draw a bead so you have 4 sec to shoot I could get off 3 rounds maybe the other 3 rounds would go off as you are getting chewed .
A unannounced charge from a startled bear from 30 feet happens in seconds .
On the flip side my wife throws here slipper at them , and mod the poodle brings them back for a reload .