The Ruger Flat Top Blackhawk was very light (aluminum grip) and I was shooting Norma loads (they apparently exceeded SAAMI pressure specs due to differences between US and European testing procedures - Norma later reduced the loads). When I got the pistol, I got a half box of the Norma loads (apparently the original owner only fired about 20 shots before trading it in).
I also bought a 50 round box of Remington loads that I shot in the St. Mary's (MT) dump that Sunday. They were stiff, but tolerable. The Norma loads were not very much fun to shoot.
So, I fired 50 rounds of the Remington loads in the dump and then loaded the Norma rounds of for carrying in my backpack. Certainly, 50 rounds do not constitute a large number, but from 4-5 feet, acceptable accuracy is not had to achieve, even if holding onto a tree limb with one hand! Remember, carrying a firearm in a national park was a felony (at the time) and killing any animal (regardless of reason) was also a felony.
I know of two other grizzlies that were killed in the park in 1960; one by rangers and the other by a trailcrew with dynamite - the Park Service didn't want to remove the bears from where the guys were camping in tents. This latter event (dynamiting the bear) resulted in the crew chief not being rehired in 1961.
In 1961, I had another encounter with a grizzly while fishing in a backcountry lake. I avoided it by wading into chest deep water of a lake just below a glacier and waiting until the other trailcrew members arrived - God, it was cold!!
I went on to be a Smokejumper in Idaho to get away from bear incidents.
