"This fellow told me a 357 mag will stop any bear in Calif,I'll take his word for it."

You're right that I should have ammended my quotes above to cover large, angry bears. A large bear, such as an attacking grizzly, really requires a good high-power rifle.

I agree that there are folks who hunt the smaller bears, such as those in CA, with handguns in .357mag and 44mag caliber. Although I have to say that we do have bears getting up to 700-800 pounds in California and I sure wouldn't want to wound one of those things with a handgun :-)

Pete2