Just remember, 95% of the people who give advice on bear guns have never even seen a grizzly or brown in the wild, under 1% of those giving advice have been uncomfortably close to one in the wild, and 0.00001% have had a DLP event.
And, as you've posted several times Paul, most people don't practice enough handgun to be proficient *enough*, let alone when the teeth are coming at you at 30 MPH!
Almost any rifle is better than almost any handgun.
That said, my wife carries a 357 with Buffalo Bore HC 158s when we are riding. I'd rather she carried something bigger, but she doesn't like anything bigger and would not shoot it as well as the 357.
Placement, bullet, cartridge.
