Originally Posted by
Oldtimr
As Bill Hickok was found of saying,"you can't miss fast enough to make up for poor marksmanship". If you are going to carry a gun to protect you from something or some one, know how to use it and carry enough gun. You could carry a .45 ACP with an extended magazine to hold 20 rounds, if you can't shoot, especially under stress you may as well carry a club for all the good it will do you.
2 hits with .45 ACP > 1 hit of .44 magnum
If you read the report I posted, a majority of the actual documented bear attacks involve multiple hits.
I also dont' think that 1 hit from a .44 magnum is likely to be significantly more effective than a hit from a deep penetrating .45 ACP flat nose. Neither generates the kind of velocity to cause significant wounding effect from temporary stretch cavity, so both rely almost entirely on permanent crush cavity. Meaning .45 ACP is very comparable. The one real edge .44 magnum would have is energy level, which could be useful for smashing through heavy bone structure from sub optimal angles of entry.
I would not worry either way. All service calibers have shown a very high degree of success vs bears in actual documented attacks.
IMO the type of projectile is a heck of a lot more important than the caliber.
For example, 9mm hard cast flat nose > 44 magnum lightweight hollowpoint.