[MarineHawk]

Originally Posted by PARAGON

No, a .45 is no better for bear than a .40 would be. Simple ballistics. If you stuffed some grains of powder behind that .45, we'd be talking a different story.

Exactly. Both calibers can be bought with well-designed bullets of similar weight (the .45 comes in higher weights, such as the 230 gr FMJ, but they are neither the most powerful, nor most effective .45 loads). Thus, the kinetic energy (that's what kills & disrupts things) of these cartridges provides a fair estimate of their stopping power. The most powerful loads most mfrs offer in these two cartridges are a 155 gr load with 447 ft-lbs of energy in the .40 S&W and a 476 ft-lbs 165 gr load in the .45 Auto. 29 extra ft-lbs of energy in a bullet of comparable weight can't possibly make one a big bear killer and one merely a personal defense cartridge. Further, each of the mfrs lists the test barrel for the .40 is as 4" and the test barrel for the .45 as 5" (e.g., compare at http://www.federalcartridge.com/ball...firearm=2&s1=1 ). Going from a 4" to a 5" barrel would likely add about 40 ft/sec of velocity to the .40 load (from 1140 to about 1180), which would yield an energy of 482 ft-lbs for the .40. Thus, it you're shooting the .40 and the .45 out of the same length barrel the .40 probably has MORE energy than the .45. Corbon, is one rare example of a mfr who sells hotter loads. It's most power full .40 puts out 526 ft-lbs out of a 4" barrel and its most powerful .45 puts out 573 ft-lbs from a 5" barrel ( http://www.dakotaammo.net/products/corbon/convjhp.htm ). Again a negligible difference, especially if you even the barrel lengths. And a .357 only puts out from .480 to 570 ft-lbs depending on the load. Thus, I can't see how it's incredibly superior to either the .40 or .45 -- other than that it has the word "magnum" in its name.

A .454 Cassull can hit something with 1,900 ft-lbs of energy in a 7.5" barrel (a .44 mag also puts out about a 1,000 ft-lbs of energy). Either are much preferable to a .40, .45, or .357 when facing a bear of any size. All that being said, I'd much rather have a .40 or a .45 when facing a bear than either (1) nothing at all or (2) some pepper spray.