The Rangers who arrive at the Treadwell camp destroyed two bears with their service issue .40s. They also emptied the hi capacity magazines to do it. The 1911, 230 grain ball cartridge is a direct descendant of the same cartridge used in Scofield and Colt SAA revolvers. It's criteria was the ability to 'founder' a horse with body shots. A 850- 1200 lb soft bodied horse hardwired to flee is different from a 200 lb bear. Any animal is going to suffer potentially fatal wounds from just about any cartridge. Remember the poor elephant in Hawaii? That animal finally said enough to mistreatment and was eventually killed in a hail of small arms fire. The first and foremost quality of any defensive firearm is to stop the assault NOW. Once again, I think avoiding potential ecounters to begin with makes more sense. Thats why I boycott circuses <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />