As I said in my post, I have never had to try to stop a bear, but have to try to learn from the experts- I think i have read Phil Shoemaker carries both bear spray and a handgun when fishing, and I know a couple of friends that have stopped bears with spray. Also, a couple of agencies, I think from Alaska, have tallied results on many bear attacks and have found bear spray to have worked better than guns stopping bear attacks. Most bear attacks that occur in Montana where someone tries to use a gun to stop a bear do not end well. If someone else wants to rely on a gun, any type of gun, that's fine with me. I'll carry both and use the spray as my first line of defense.
Bear spray does require some caution- My girlfriends grandson unleashed some on his brother in the back seat of my Tundra to no good results!