[marktwain]

With bears, you want good penetration. If we are limiting ourselves to handgun calibers, heavier for caliber bullets generally penetrate better, if the bullets are designed to penetrate.

In lead, non-jacketed bullets, this means, mostly, hardcast lead bullets.

In jacketed bullets, mostly full metal jacketed bullets.

In .40 caliber, use heavy, full metal jacketed bullets, or, there are some heavy hard-cast bullets.

In 7.62 caliber, use full metal jacketed (fmj) bullets. 7.65x17 (.32 acp) is a bit light, but the 73 grain fmj would likely be the best. The 7.65 Mauser or 7.62x25 Tokarev with fmj bullets would likely work very well. They have significant energy and are known bone-breaking/shattering loads.

In .32 revolver cartridges, use heavy for caliber fmj or hard-cast bullets.

The best handgun .40 caliber cartridge is probably the 10mm with heavy bullets. It has a good reputation.

The "best" 7.62 handgun cartridge is probably the 7.62x25 Tokarev with fmj bullets. There is very little data on this cartridge being used against bears, it is not a popular carry cartridge in the USA, where most data is collected.

[Big Red Badger]

Gun beats No Gun.
Even my Ruger MK II would have been
Appreciated on my hike below the
Boy Scouts camp about the time of
This particular attack.

[AlaskaErik]

The best handgun .40 caliber cartridge is probably the 10mm with heavy bullets. It has a good reputation.

The Glock 20 (10mm) loaded with Buffalo Bore 220 gr is the go-to pistol for bear defense in Alaska.

[Fightin Whitey]

The best handgun .40 caliber cartridge is probably the 10mm with heavy bullets. It has a good reputation.

I happily agree with you as to the .40 cal., all the more so given your wide expertise, and also because I can handle a .40 in or out of a good holster, which isn't the case with some other large handguns.

Maybe I missed an earlier discussion of the topic, not involving handguns, but in the area often I hunt and fish I have found a certain degree of comfort with the small slugged shotguns, the Remington .870, for instance, or the Mossberg, which I haven't fired. The .870 is light and strong and really quite fast even in a sling...the truth is I can and have carried the the .870 AND a 10 mm with little trouble. At times I have carried the fully-loaded .870 and handed off the 10mm to a friend who is not as wary (scardee) as me.

I do appreciate all the observations, and would greatly welcome any comments on the slugged shotguns as well, if the topic arises. Thanks once more.