I would have to say a four inch .44 Mag, although I would feel much better packing a 12ga. with a 1oz Foster in the barrel and 6 or 7 rounds of OOB in the tube.

The last time I looked at 44mag loaded ammo, there wasn't any heavy penetrating bullets, factory loaded. A JSP is the deepest penetrating bullet, commerially loaded, that I'm aware of. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's been awhile since I bought factory.

You are going to need, either a full metal jacket, or a hard cast bullet. That means reloading.

Quoted: I am camping and hiking in the deep woods with my family (my wife and our daughter). It's not realistic for me to carry a rifle or shotgun (I'd probably get arrested by the Park Rangers). What is THE BEST hand-gun to protect myself and my family against an aggressive grizzly, brown, or black bear. Would it be a 6" .44 Magnum revolver? A 10mm Glock? What do you "experts" out there think?

Dude,unless your camping in a Zoo your not going to find any "Grizzly" or "Brown Bears" in California.
If your in a State or National Park and are caught with any gun yes you will be arrested.

ump45 -- if you can not "legally" carry a rifle or shotgun without being arrested by Park Police then there is NO WAY IN HELL you can legally have a pistol.
since you mean "park police" then i would guess that you are going to a natl park? i believe the rule is NO Guns Ever, better check on it.

my "GUESS" is that you want to carry a concealed weapon while out in the woods, since a long gun will be easily spotted by the "park police", this is just my guess i could be wrong, am i?
if there are park police then you are not very far from civilization, and not that deep in the woods.
like someone else said, if there is this much Danger then DONT GO!!!
its better to learn about bears before going if you are this worried, black bears roam around the natl parks and all they want is food, i havent heard of a bear attack inside a natl park.
food, perfumes, deorderant and other yummy smelly stuff that bears just love should be locked away in the anti-bear locker, and you wont have any problems. ive slept some nights in a natl park with bears around had No tent or protection and had No problems, not that a 1 millimeter peice of fabric is gonna help.

99.99 times out of 100 a black bear will NOT attack and will haul ass when seen.
by the time you know a bear is charging you its TOO LATE, if you are 100 yards away from your wife who is in the claws of a bear are you going to shoot? even if you had a scoped rifle?
before you know whats going on ...ITS OVER.

there are no brown/grizzly bears in kalif (the only one is on the state flag), those would be the most dangerous, so unless your going to alaska there isnt much to worry about.

i saw a hunting show where a guy shot a large candian black bear with a 45-70 marlin lever from 100 yards, the bear got knocked on its ass, got up and ran off another 100 yards.
if this bear was charging then NOTHING WOULD STOP IT, well maybe the 16" guns on a naval battleship.
i talked to a woman who hunted a bear with a 44mag revolver, IT DID NOT STOP THE BEAR, they about sh*t there pants. then went to the gun store and bought a 454 Casull. its takes a LOT OF GUN TO STOP A PEACEFUL BEAR, it takes EVEN MORE TO KILL A PISSED OFF CHARGING BEAR. 16" guns on a naval battleship.

if a bear is charging at 100 yards away and you have your 44mag or 454 ready and cocked, could you hit a fast moving bear? he would be on you before you got the 3rd shot off. your only choices are a chest shot (too hard to hit, low and moving) or a head shot (bullet will bounce off its skull due to the angle, small target)

SERIOUSLY listen to the guys here who have posted and know a hell of a lot more about bears than me.
read and re-read the post by the guy that shot a grizzly Multiple times with a .338, let it sink in cuz nothing will stop a charging bear. and charging bears dont happen, its a fantasy.
people die more from snake bite, bee stings, lightening stikes more than from bears.

so Save your money and dont buy a gun you will never use, if you want to buy a 454 you BETTER SHOOT IT FIRST its kicks like a mule on steroids, a 44mag is a pussy cat compared to the 454, and try to keep it from hitting you in the face.
go camping, be Bear Smart, be safe and have fun.

Crookshanks you can get heavy lead loads from Buffalo Bore and Garret among others. You can go to Buffalo Bore's web if you wish.
Have a nice day,  Rabon...

Quoted: The last time I looked at 44mag loaded ammo, there wasn't any heavy penetrating bullets, factory loaded. A JSP is the deepest penetrating bullet, commerially loaded, that I'm aware of. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's been awhile since I bought factory. You are going to need, either a full metal jacket, or a hard cast bullet. That means reloading.

Crookshanks,
Gary's ammunition in Anchorage, AK produces a commercially available 44 mag round that uses the 300 gr. Barnes Brass Bullet. Not sure if it's available in the States, but I know that a lot of guides in AK carry it in their 44s. Just for info.

I agree with Clinth.  Most of the guys I know who are out and about here in Alaska on a routine basis(surveyers, linesmen etc.) carry either a 12ga pump with Brenneke slugs, a 45/70 Marlin Guide Gun, or at least a .338 Win Mag.  A handgun is mostly used for blasting the bear off of you as is mauling you.  Seriously, you don't realize how fast such a large animal can move.  Most people who are armed and are attacked do not even have time to get off a shot, let alone a lucky spine or brain shot with instantly stops the attack. In fact, I believe the best protection is to travel in groups, so if you are attacked, at least someone else can shoot. Dont't get me wrong, I carry a .45acp with ball ammo, just like Clinth, but I seriously doubt I could stop a bear attack with it.  

A guy I know who homesteaded on the Susitna river 30 years ago stated that the perfect black bear medicine was the 1911 with FMJ ammo.  I was kind of skeptical, but he pressed on - large diameter bullet with awesome penetration, fast recovery when shooting.  He guides during the hunting season and should know what he is talking about.

When confronted by a black bear, I just hold my coke and Doritos above my head and say "NO!"  Seriously though, we keep good control of our food and waste.

Never been around problem bears, but they seem fairly curious about what you are doing.

I work at a remote mine on the Goodpaster river above Delta.  More black bear (& a few brown) sightings than I can count.  Most of them just walk on by as if you don't exist, or watch you do your thing.  It is unnerving to see them watching you when you don't see them first, like from 30' away when you are walking up a road.  

IMHO the best handgun to drop a Bear is a Ruger Bisley that has been converted to 475 Linebaugh.

go to www.corbon.com for good ballistic info. on these handgun cartridges
click on Hunting Ammo

.44MAG would suffice nicely BUT I'd go for

a .454 Casull

Ruger Super Redhawk
Taurus Raging Bull

or the original

Freedom Arms SA
www.freedomarms.com/freedomarms.html

I'd say one thing you really need to think about is the fear factor! I was boar hunting last season with a friend and we were charged by a pissed off boar. Well to make a long story short I had one shell left in a hi-cap 10mm glock and my friend had an empty 44mag. The boar was hit twice. 44 grazed the left lower head and entered into the neck and into the chest cavity and my one 10mm went in the left side above the shoulder. Either she wanted us or just pure momentum but she was only 6 feet away when she dropped. She took us by total suprise, and well most bear attacks (that I have read about) were by suprise. So I would think about the fear factor and how this effects accuracy. So I personally would go with a Glock 20 (which I carry) or a 44 mag. Carry hunting loads for either. Ones that are going to penetrate well, just my .02:)

Why not just carry a nice light .32 ACP like the Kel Tec P32? It fits in your pocket, you hardly know it's there. If your hiking in the back country with a friend and you are confronted by an angry bear just run like hell. If your friend is running faster than you, shoot him in the leg with your .32 and pass him up. You won't need to out run the bear just your now lame friend.

roflmao, Colorado bears are not that tough I guess, I carry a S&W M629 classic in .44 mag, I have my own ammo company so carrey REW enterprizes loads, a 300 gn lead flat point, over H110. We only have Black bears here, or so the DOW says, I don't much worry about my daughter, she Packs a .41 mag. And the wife agreed to carry the DW .357. We also take a dog, Sabot is a collie chow mix, he has refused to carry a gun but has huge teeth. The .44 mag will do the job if you do yours.

How about a 12ga loaded with those incendiary
rounds?  "Dragon's breath" - I think that's what
they're called....

Quoted: I hate to ask, but what is 454 Casull?  What's the difference between that and 44Mag?

The 454 Casull has the same energy at 100-yards as the 44 Mag has at the muzzle.  From a pistol, that is saying a whole lot!

I would want a revolver myself and my personal choice would be the Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull.  This revolver will also shoot 45 Colt as given that you havent heard of many of these cartridges I will assume you are not a big-bore handgun shooter!  

I will put money that if you shoot the 454 Cassul... YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT.... unless you get some serious practice in with a 44 Mag with powerful loads.  I think this must be about the equivalent of you having to practice with a 300 Win Mag quite a bit before you grab a hold of a 378 Weatherby Mag!

I have shot the Ruger 454 Casull and that baby will knock your head off if you don't hold on tight!  

IMHO, if you carry anything smaller than a 44 Mag, you are grossly undergunned!  I have seen black bears take several shots from a 30-06 and still run a considerable distance before dropping.  If you are using this to stop a charging bear, you are going to need a gun capable of breaking some serious bone and that starts with the 44 Mag!

Quoted: Quoted: I hate to ask, but what is 454 Casull?  What's the difference between that and 44Mag? The 454 Casull has the same energy at 100-yards as the 44 Mag has at 100-yards.  From a pistol, that is saying a whole lot!

Well said!  Uh, what were you trying to say????

Quoted: Well said!  Uh, what were you trying to say????

It's fixed....

The 454 Casull has the same energy at 100-yards as the 44 Mag has at the muzzle. From a pistol, that is saying a whole lot!

Sometimes the brain isn't as fast as the fingers!

Oh, and let me add....  you are much more likely to need the handgun to defend yourself against a person then a bear!  I know I would really want to do everything in my power to scare a bear away then actually shoot them and risk the chance that I really piss them off!  Then, I would want an 870 loaded with 3-inch 00 Buck Shotgun shells!

DW .445 Super Mag  

While some say that a handgun is absolutly no good against a bear and you need a rifle or that you never will see a bear, so all you need is a .22, I say get a handgun and a rifle. If you can whip the rifle into action in time, more power to 'ya. If you are squatting behind some bushes and it just so happens that you are in a close proximity of mama and baby bear, that .44 in your shoulder holster seems a lot more comforting than the rifle strapped to your pack or in the tent. If the handgun is what's available, it's better than the rifle that's not.

When I go on longer backpacking trips, I have a Mossberg 500 with slugs on my back and a superblackhawk .44 on my hip. The .44 never leaves the immidiate area around my person while the moss. may be set down simply because you just can't carry a long gun all the time.

If you can have both, you'll be better off.

The best handgun to protect against a bear?  That is an easy one.  Any handgun in the hand of the guy you are with that runs slower than you.

I've got a Taurus .454 with a 5" barrel. I've shot a total of 75 rounds one load after another. Mine is ported. It doesn't so much kick as it pounds. The force is not up but back. Hand was slightly sore the next day. Sounds great when fired under cover.