.44 Magnum is usually considered the minimum as far as bears go. But how many people can control the kick? You'd probably need to score several good hits to stop a bear, even that might not be enough. A 12ga. or decent hunting rifle would be better IMHO but it's still no guarantee.
I had a cousin die about a year ago, and was a BIG gun nut. My dad is actually in posession of 2 of his .44 pistols. The snub-nose (3" barrel) actually has a bigger kick than the 6" (Dirty Harry!) pistol. Suprisingly, we found in the duffel bag of ammo 2 different rounds. There certainly are "low kick" rounds available that, at 10 yards, I'm hitting 3" circles. Not great, but not bad for the first time shooting it.
That being said, for my Alaska trip I'm contemplating bringing a Winchester 94, in 30-30. Not sure if I need it, but I'll certainly grab some bear spray from REI and send it on over. I wonder though, if 30-30 is big enough, and if a 12ga. in 00 Buck (with some slugs thrown in) would be a better choice!
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