I don't doubt that a single, simple shot might have done the animal in. I've killed far less bears than moose but seen a higher percentage of bears go DRT at bullet's impact. OTOH, bears that don't, seem to react a lot more enthusiastically than does the typical moose. The problem with bears is that you just don't know how they'll react when hit and a good shot sometimes only makes them 'super-bears' for the short while before they expire. But I have seen bears go down quickly with lung shots - especially those where the plumbing is involved directly. That said, I wouldn't choose any semi-auto as an ideal bear weapon though the 45 is obviously better than throwing stones.
