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Too many act as if a handgun is not up to the task of having the terminal effectiveness to use as a defensive weapon against bears. This is simply not true!

Phil stopped an all out charge with a 9mm with a 147 grain hardcast. I prefer and used a big boar revolver, Phil has sound reasons for his choice.

While this account is not in a defensive nature, it definitely illustrates the the terminal effectiveness of a handgun
Written by Dustin Linebaugh,
"We had sat on an open hillside for somewhere around an hour, glassing the open tundra & alder patches that streatched out below us for miles. Then movement caught my eye as I watched my Grizz amble from the alder thicket some 6 or 700 yds below us. After a few seconds everyone was very focused on this bear & we all agreed he was a nice trophy. After scaling the moss & shale covered hill side for a few minutes we were within 200 yds or so of him. We crept to within 176 yds of him & he knew something was there, I felt confident I could place a good vital shot on him from this distance. He was sitting down on his haunches looking straight at us when I squeezed the shot off hitting him center of chest. The 425 grn LFN penatrated straight through breaking the spine then exiting, he instantly crumpled to the ground then began rolling around trying to get up, I then followed up with placing two brodside shots on him with my .475 Linebaugh. We ranged the distance 3 times to be 176 yds with a Leica range finder, after the 2.5 mile hike back to camp we rolled the hide out flat on the ground & it measured 8'.5" ft nose to taiL"

This a picture of Dustin and his bear.



I'm not recommending a handgun or rifle for that matter, just trying to shed some light on the terminal effectiveness of a handgun.

Don't know if this will answer your question but all of my guides, with the exception of one who lives on Kodiak and is maybe more of a rifle geek than I am, use the 375 Ruger. And I just bought a second one.

And well place handgun bullets, especially the larger ones, do work just fine on bears. My daughter guided a brown bear hunter a few years ago who was using a 500 S&W and she said it was DRT and as quick and impressive as kill as she has ever seen.

That's some pretty impressive shooting with that short barrel!

That's always been my argument. I sleep with my revolver in the sleeping bag with me. When you're all buttoned up and find yourself getting dragged out of the tent you have a gun with you rather than the one that is quickly increasing distance from you, and can shoot through the bag if you have to.

I think your comment is an important one.
For a sidearm in grizz country, I went from a 44mag, to a 41 mag to a 357mag, revolvers, all with hardcast, trying to find something that would shorten my recovery time on follow up shots. The 41mag was the best out of the three, but still I didn't feel confident with consistent accuracy. So I went to a heavy weight semi in 10mm, with hardcast, and my accuracy as well as follow up was better. So that's what I use. I'm still learning.
I use a 30-06 with partitons when hunting in grizz country, because that's what I shoot the best.
And I still carry bearspray.

To add: of course I'm talking about Wyoming, which is my only experience with dangerous game. Carrying a heavy sidearm is not inconvenient for me, but I understand where it might be for others.

Wyogal....Thanks for the kind words. This is how the Campfire was back when there were just a few of us!

Thanks for the opinions everyone, very helpful. Think I have decided to purchase a side arm for the trip (always sorta wanted one anyway...this is as good an excuse as any). Understand the comments about being new to the pistol game...that's why I am asking now, so I have time to make a purchase and gain some semblance of pistol proficiency before the trip in September. Thanks again!
Northerner.

Well, I just bought a .50AE Desert Ego. I'll see how that works.

LOLOL....pretty much the same answer I've given folks that ask if I really think I'm going to need the pistol I pretty much always have with me these days here in the civilized world. Of course I don't think I'll need it. If I thought I was going to need it I either 1)wouldn't go or 2)take a lot bigger gun. You just have to prepare the best you can with what's reasonable to have along.

Maybe it's okay to use .308 ammo in a 30-06.

Just joking..

I have been carrying a 329PD with Buffalo Bore 255 grain load at 1250 fps.

But now am upgrading to a 3 pound 14 oz gun shooting a 225 grain partitions at 2400 fps to have the option to actually go hunt a grizz if I want while out and about hiking in the interior where I do most my summer hiking.

Should work fine to 150 yards or so. Given the 1.5" groups I am getting at 100 yards.

So what's the 3 lb 12 oz gun your gonna carry?

Jeff,

The old Lead Away cloth is still available, just different packaging:

[color:#3333FF]KleenBore Lead Away Cloth[/color]

Ed

Thanks Ed! I had not ordered the other one yet, have a bad way of putting things off.

Paid off for once!

Jeff

You got my attention, you got a pet load for your 69?