Now that brown bears have our attention, who out there has informed recommendations on which model and caliber of handgun that a person might carry to ward off a close-quarters attack by a brown bear. The .454 Casull and .475 Linebaugh (sp?) seem to be natural choices for caliber. What about manufactures? Ruger? Freedom Arms is apparently having liability problems. This would be a second gun in the event that your primary weapon cannot be used.

What you load it with is far more important than the caliber. A handgun against big browns is just a probability function, anyway. Its...well...sort of OK insurance, but not really good insurance.

I would place the load at any 45 cal 360 gr LGC making over 1000fps..bigger and faster can be a disadvantage when you are in a fight and not stalking a peaceful animal. Double action. Plan on retreating to a position where the bear has to stop and reach out or up for you. If you can't retreat to stout enough cover to keep him from charging through you, you are in serious trouble once he launches. For example from in or behind a tree he will need to do something besides charge to get a good shot at you. Empty 3 rounds from as close as possibe as fast as possible. If he actually starts chewing on you, that might not be all bad because his head will be exposed...don't get trapped on the ground face down if possible.

If the bear is agitated and surprises you and you must use that pea shooter in the open, your chances of survival are about one in 4 if he really wants to kill you. Better than no chance, of course.

A really big cannon like a 454 or 475 could reduce this risk...or increse it depending on what actually happens.

I agree with Sabot.

The problem with the 454's and 475's and such is there weight and of course there recoil. If you practice your ass off and get used to the recoil for fast follow up shots and dont mind carrying a heavy handgun then they are the perfect choice.

IMO, you cant beat a good 44mag or 45LC with good heavy bullets. lighter recoil and lighter guns (usually).

As for action, I shoot DA and SA pretty good, I feel comfortable with both. Its up to the individual.

I carry a 454 Taurus Raging Bull. I don't know if a handgun would have made much of a diff in this case in that the bear's adrenaline was probably pumping big time and even if the bear was dead, he wouldn't know it til after he kicked your ass. I know Scott and know he was one of the better guides in SE AK and I wish him "Get Well Soon". I know Whitehurst too and can tell you he knows what he's talking about. I also know I chronied some Ace Dube hot loads with Ace's 355 grain hardcast lead and I got almost 1700 fps out of my Taurus with 31 grains of W296. Would it have made a diff??, maybe, but I don't know and we'll probably never find out but I'd much rather take my chances with the 454 defending myself than trying to kick or punch a brownie in the nose.

First of all I've never killed a brownie with any type of pistol. But I live in Pa. where we kill every year black bears that weigh in excess of 600# and some tip the scales over 800#, yes I said blk bears.
I have killed two with my 45LC 300 gr Sierra FN @1500fps that weighed 587# and 709 #, each with one shot.And a 2300# bison with that same load as well.
Those are the size of the majority of brown bears I've seen, sure they get larger than any blk bear, but once over 500# any bear is big.But none are bigger than a mature bull bison, and I doubt anymore belligerent if he wants to be.
What kills are gets someone mauled is loosing your cool! Keep your head, and if possible back out with the hammer cocked. If you must shoot it will be close! Put it in the ear or between the eyes...dead bear!
No gun not shotgun with buckshot,rifle or pistol does any good if you are taken by surprize and it is slung over your shoulder. BB

I have a 41 Mag and I am shooting 210gr Hornady SIL bullets at 1421fps with 942FtLbs at the muzzle. Would this be a good setup for a protection load or should I think of going to LBT's 250gr? If I go with the 250gr the energy will drop 150lbs what do you guys think?

There seems to be real physical differences between browns and blackies. They both go down like any other animal when caught unawares, although the brown is heavier boned and tougher muscled. There the similarity ends. Once the adrenaline starts flowing, the brown/grizzly takes a new lease on life that is unbelieveable and you have to see up close for yourself how badly they can be shot up and maybe even technically dead, and still be moving at a speed that your eye can hardly follow, and still cause incredible damage in a split second. There used to be a movie or video availabe from the Alaska State Library, I seen it once, of a brownie chargeing accross a shallow glacial stream from about a hundred yds. 2 or 3 rifles firing, one a guides 458, every one who is interested in bear hunting should see it. the bear is coming like a freight train, a furry blur, spray flying. Heavy rifles crash, and time and again he goes down and rolls and is instantly up and literally air born and a flying blur coming at the camera, and the rifles crash and thunder. Each time he gets a little slower and finally every thing holding him up is shot away and he stays down. I've seen them pumped up like that a few times and the impression of speed and power is still quite vivid. The charging bear film was taken near Yakutat, can't remember which river.

dakor,
go with the hardcast 250's. Energy means squat...penetration is everything. In a worst case scenerio, the 250 will penetrate better and break up more "clockwork".
best,
bhtr

the best caliber is the one that u can put 2 on target both fast and accurately. lets say from the holster under 1.2 sec.

i will bet many guys that use big cannons can not shoot them accurately, fast enough double tap or get them clear of the holster and on target fast enough to make a difference. practice, practice, practice.

cold zero

like I said earlier...keep your cool! Just about any caliber over 40 will get it done at arm lenght range.
Way too many guys do not realize that 99% of the charges are bluffs, and would be blasting away at the first tooth popping growl from 50 yds. these guys watch too many videos and like to pay huge fines.
That's the time to brace yourself and get ready, not blast away. If he comes, it indeed will be quick and you'll know in a flash if he is intent on following thru with it. When he hits "T minus 10 ' " is the time to place one in his head followed by another in the ear when he's down and another just for good measure. You just got to be meaner than him.
the three browns I killed with a 30-06 loaded with 200 gr handloads were done in under 75 yds, none "charged" but rather rolled at the shot staggered a few feet and collapsed. BB

T minus 10 not!! If that Bitch gets inside 20 yards red dot is under chin bullets start flying!!! Sorry 30 yards I would not shoot but how fast they can move if they hit 20yards bullets will fly!!! As for the 250's the only thing there is the recoil the gun jumps alot more so it would be harder to get a couple accurate shots. Does anyone make a hard cast bullet in the 210gr or 220gr in a 41cal?

I didn't have bears in mind when I bought the new Taurus model 44 stainless revolver with 12 inch bbl, but after working up loads and shooting 140 rounds, THIS could be the ideal bear defense hand gun. I rigged a small back pack to take the barrel, muzzle down,so that the grips are right next to my right ear. You can sit down or go prone and still draw quickly and effortlessly. It never gets in the way.

The 12 inch barrel duplicates the velocities from the lever carbines when you load cast bullets, and is within 100 fps of them with jacketed bullets. Of course it is better than most of them because of the 1 in 18.5 twist rate that keeps even the heaviest bullets stable. It weighs 56 ounces, but is no where near as massive as the 454's, and the muzzle heavy weight distribution really cuts perceived recoil while holding that front sight dead on. Coupled with the 14 inch sight radius and the inherent accuracy of the 44 Mag comes a crisp 4 pound trigger pull with no creep and an adjustable overtravel. In DA it is perfect and very easy to control.

I am not an advocate of velocity as the bear solution, but it is hard to ignore 1725 fps over my chronograph with 240 LGCs using 26 grs of Lil'gun. 300 gr LGcs loaf along at 1350 fps with 5 grs less powder, but you can make 1200 fps with only 10 grs of HP38 for what easily qualifies as moderate recoil and a realistic candidiate for rapid DA fire. There is little doubt that one can make this velocity with any of several 350 to 360 LGCs out there and the right powder.

I am not a great pistol shot, but have grouped under 2 inches several times with hot loads at 25 yards and do better with this than my 9MM cz 75...the one I USED to shoot the best. The true strength of this revolver comes in shooting off hand, however. It is very forgiving and one can readily and consistently hit an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper at 25 paces without taking much time to actually get a good sight picture. At 10 paces with very little practice you can just point it at a playing card and put that nice authoritative .430 hole through it, like it was just a passing thought.

At $450 in my local gun shop, it was a steal. I am quite certain i will never see a big brown, but for deer hunting around here I see no difference between this revolver and a 44 Mag lever gun....NONE.

If anyone is interested in one of these Taurus 44 12" revolvers CDNN has them for 369.99 with a free mount and rings.
Jason