When I lived in Fairbanks, I settled for a stainless steel .44 mag. because I always carried it with me while salmon fishing. That was back in the 80s. I bought a book up there called Alaskan Bear Tales (I think. I lent it to a guy and never got it back). The author talks about encounters with grizzlies and talks about one being taken out with one round from a .22 while another attacked a hunting camp and five hunters literally shot the bear’s heart out with their rifles. The bear still tore their camp up. It all depends on the bear. I don’t know whether he was serious or not but at the end of the book, he recommended “the best gun” as being a 40mm flare gun. Hit the bear in the chest with a flare and he’ll be busy for a while. LOL!
Adolescent male bears are the worst.
“talks about one being taken out with one round from a .22”
cool headed shot thru the upper palate into the brain when the bear had his mouth wide open and about to have the shooter for a snack.