I look at the situation a little differently. In a panic situation I'm not looking for a one-shot kill with a pistol. A 30-30 has almost twice the energy as a 44 mag at the muzzle and IMO a 30-30 sure wouldn't be my first choice against a Bear. I consider the 30-30 to be a medium rifle.
The SAS taught the double-tap, at least two rounds to the chest with a 9mm. The Police pretty much train to empty the magazine. The military trains to put at least three in a person with a .556. A Bear is likely a lot harder to stop than a man.
A 44 special has a third of the recoil of a 44 mag. Makes sense you could get more aimed rounds off with a 44 special than a 44 mag in the same amount of time. Probably even more with a 9mm. As the size and velocity of the bullet goes up, the second round shot slows down. The point is I'm not just thinking about the size and energy of the pistol round I'm also thinking about how many hits (or misses
) I can get off in the shortest amount of time, 20 MPH is 30 feet a second. I've put a lot of rounds out of a Ruger 44 mag, it would not be my first choice for a quick second shot. Two old sayings come to mind, near misses only count in horseshoes and hand grenades, and as long as it is still wiggling it is still dangerous.
I've only had one bad encounter with a Black Bear and it was more interested in intimidation than actually attacking and two encounters with Cougars. One Cougar attacked and the other was stalking me and my dogs. I put 2x3 (6) number 4 birdshot into that Cougar before I was satisfied it was dead.