Buying new pistol, need advice

[MarineHawk]

I agree with DRTY - it's hard to beat a Glock as an all-around gun. If I had to pick just one handgun for all purposes, I'd probably pick my Glock 27 - it holds ten potent .40 S&W rounds, has a 3.5" barrell, recoils less than any other .40 S&W I have shot (I own 6 of them) yet is smaller than a Walther PPK/S.
Yet, respecting your perceived need for an external safety, semi-auto, and 4"+ barrell, my favorite with those limitations would be this in .40S&W: http://www.hecklerkoch-usa.com/index...tNumber=704501.
I've had one since 1994. It's worked flawlessly ever since, and shoots better than I do.

Of course, IMO, you'd be crazy to be in many parts of Alaska where the Griz and Brown bear roam with anything less than a .44 Mag revolver. If I were in the Alaska wildernesses, and if I really didn't want to carry a rifle around, I'd probably have one of these: http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firear...=5505&return=Y in .454 Casull.
The .44 Mag-and-greater semi-autos, while novel are kind of silly IMO.

[Racer-X]

I did a lot of research when I bought my pistol for the same reasons. I was doing a lot of backwoods hiking. If you want to stop a bear of any size a .357 or 44 mag is the ticket. Better yet is what I carry now - bear spray.

[The Juice]

Be a man. Use a knife.

[ssgharkness020147]

If you want to be able to stop a bear the lowest cal you should be looking at is the 45. Period. .40's are great guns with good stopping power, but we are talking about bears not people a bear will require more. Honestly I dont think you need advise about A pistol, but rather (2) pistols. You want one gun to serve for personal protection and extreme circumstances and I dont really think you are going to find a single gun to suit both rolls. But if you only want to buy one gun for both purposes my vote is for a .45.

[PARAGON]

Well, we be at it again.

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. It's not just only the caliber of the projectile that matters.

Secondly, and going all the way back up to the top. Evldave, you need to seek advice from some professionals. Because your statement about a .22 being as good as any home defense pistol, is, well, just ignorant.

The rest of it, is just silly, IMO.

[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.

[f5fstop]

If a safety is a requirement, a Tarus or a H&K. Caliber is up to you, but if it is a grizzly, I would use nothng smaller than a S&W .50

[evldave]

Originally Posted by PARAGON

Secondly, and going all the way back up to the top. Evldave, you need to seek advice from some professionals. Because your statement about a .22 being as good as any home defense pistol, is, well, just ignorant.

oh, I'm gonna have to disagree. A .22 w/15 round clip & hollow points at close range (inside my house, once they get past the locks and the dogs) will easy be the best pistol for simple home defense. I've shot a lot of pistols (not as much as probably many of you, but everything from a .22 to a .50 cal that my old boss had) and the easiest to aid and shoot repeatedly is a .22 - the lowest kick = the highest repeatability. Don't get me wrong, in a single shot setup, a bigger gun would be better, but if I'm in a situation where I'm shooting a gun to save my life, I want repeatability and lots of bullets. I can't guarantee my aim (no matter how much practice) when some crazy fiknut is in my house, has made it past the alarm, the locks, the dogs, and I left the shotgun in the safe. My 2 cents...

[Racer-X]

Originally Posted by evldave

A .22 w/15 round clip & hollow points at close range (inside my house, once they get past the locks and the dogs) will easy be the best pistol for simple home defense.

There is some validity to the above. It was one of the guns recommended by a couple of local gun shops here when I was asking questions about home defense. The nice thing about HOLLOW POINT 22 is it's unlikely the travel through walls and hit the kids in adjoining rooms.

I have two guns that are loaded near my bed a 357 revolver and a auto 22 with hollow points.

[evldave]

Originally Posted by The Juice

Be a man. Use a knife.

Sorry, I don't have your expertise in killing 'wildlife' with a blade. I'll leave that to you