FWIW -
This always popular topic came up on Kifaru forums some time back. After all the guys with actual experience said "understanding bear behavior is most important", and after all the guys with actual shooting experience said "a rifle is a better choice than a pistol", it still came down to what an adequate handgun caliber might be.
I've always said "the biggest thing you can shoot quickly and accurately". Think about that for a moment... It's easy enough to look at specs and say the minimum acceptable caliber is a .454 or whatever, but can you actually hit anything with your pet hand cannon?
Finally I posted a bear gun challenge. Draw from holster (or however you carry), shoot 2 rounds @ 10 yards, post your times and group size. That may or may not have been a realistic standard, but at least it was a standard. Only a handful of people participated and posted times, but the data was interesting nonetheless.
NOBODY posted pistol times with a bullet heavier than 250 grains that was going faster than 1350fps. That was with a .41 magnum. People posted times with bigger bullets, but at velocities closer to 1000fps. People posted times at higher velocities, but with bullet weights closer to 180. All group sizes were inside of 5".
I'm still waiting for the proponents of the really hot chamberings (like Garrett's 310 grain .44 doing 1325) to post a time and group size. I'm truly curious to see if the guys carrying these monster loads can shoot them with enough speed and accuracy to be of any use.
