Ya know what, you might be right, i was tired when he said it so i could have heard him wrong, but i thought he said it was a 2in. I will ask him again next tuesday (trap night).

I have gave a few bears the spray and I have never seen anything run away as fast as they did. where I live the only defense against bears other than bear sprayis the rifle,shotgun or bow you are hunting with when I hunt bears with my bow I carry a can of spray and have used it on a few, and as far as I can tell it doesn't just scare them away it hurts them. It does more than just make their eyes water.A test that you could do is take a bottle of tabasco sauce or your favorite hotsauce will do, fill a seringe(sp?) and shoot it up your nose and suck up at the same time then multiply that by a 100 times. The only time spray won't work on a bear is when you surprise one and you do not have time to get it off your belt but then again good luck getting any sidearm out of its holster in time as well. Good luck in the woods and be safe.

Hey AD Hunter, it's probably coming as S&W hates to be outdone. Taurus I found out tonite at a LGS is already on the bandwagon and offering a 2 1/2'' .500 snub. We were talking about defense for bears tonite at the LGS and we all agreed that you will not feel recoil when you are shooting an attacking bear;just pure adrenaline. The guys also noted that there is no need to go to the range and become proficient and practice with this bear handgun as the only legal way to shoot an attacking bear is one that is right in your face and coming. The bear had better have gunpowder burns on it's fur or you are likely going to lose your hunting rights,weapons, andhave a huge fine by the authorities. Taking time to aim and shoot bears accurately with your low recoil handgun at 20yds or more is not self defense;it's called poaching. I will guarantee that my little 2 1/2'' Ruger Alaskan .480 will hit a bear where I'm aiming at a close encounter and I'll bet given a life or death situation like that the recoil will be WELCOME. My point is that if you are going to be in bear country, carry a hand cannon.

When talking about "defence" I am thinking about shooting a black bear in the face just before he latches onto my leg. A D/A .357 revolver is what I want. If the bear is on me I can shoot it with one hand (left or right) and put it in his ear if I have to. I don't need (or want) the kind of power that will make a gun hard for me to handle in a "CLOSE" situation.

If I wanted a handgun to hunt bear and take shots at 80 or 60 or 50 yards, I would oprt for one of the BIG bore hand cannons.

Pepper spray is a good option and my only legal choice in Alberta, Canada.

Robin