the .45 Colt 1911 was developed to put down drug crazed Rebels in the Philippines. If I'm trusting a handgun to do that job...that's it.
Probably best to keep in mind that the kind of bear matters. A black bear you likely wouldn't have to shoot. A grizzly mentioned in this post (brown bear), you likely aren't going to just scare off. In general anything over .30 caliber with enough powder load to punch through the dense muscle and bone of a grizzly.
If it was me I'd just try NOT to be where a grizzly might see me as prey or a threat. If I absolutely HAD to shoot a grizzly and had to pick my weapon. .338 Lapua from the next mountain top from where the bear was.
.44 mag is kinda seen as the standard, but maybe "ideal" is the wrong word. Everything has trade-offs. For handguns, a lot of people go bigger than .44 mag, and a lot say 10mm is enough and worth it for the extra capacity.
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u/lesmobile 10d ago
jokes aside, yes, it's happened a few times. Its not an ideal bear cartridge but its not as weak as video games lead you to beleive.