I was in the gun store a few weeks back and looked at a Smith and Wesson model 329. It is a 44 mag made out of titanium. Amazingly lightweight. I will probably get one for the same reason you are looking.

I have a model 29, which is a 44 mag made out of blue steel. It is heavy, but is still a handfull to shoot. I can imagine that the 329 would be PAINFUL to shoot. But if you are looking at a charging bear, adrenaline will kick in and you'll likely not notice the recoil. (I've experienced this while big game hunting, after putting an animal on the ground I stopped and wondered why my rifle had no recoil).

Nice thing about the 329 is that if you ever decide to carry it in an urban setting, you can use 44 Special ammo. The 44 Special has less energy, which will minimize over penetration on human predators.

I know where I live, there is a requirement that any handgun that you hunt with have 500 ft-lbs of energy at 100 yards. The 44 mag is the smallest round that meets this requirement. The 45 ACP comes no where near that.

Also, a revolver does not leave empty casings all over the place. This is real nice if you reload for it.