Although we hope to never need a defense gun while in bar country, it behooves us to be prepared.

And that brings a lot of peace of mind.

Welcome to the Backcountry Hunting Podcasts Top Three in Five.

Our rapid-fire five minute episode today is on what I consider to be the three most practical

handgun cartridges available for your protection in bear country.

Now it's important to note that no handgun fires a really effective bear stopping cartridge. Rifles are much better, but often

packing a rifle isn't a good option. So let's talk handguns. And let's dig

right in, going from the least potent to the most powerful.

First on my list is the 10 millimeter auto.

When loaded with full power ammo, this cartridge provides best in class fire power, this cartridge provides best in class firepower, meaning 10 to 15 rounds on tap in a semi-automatic,

combined with adequate penetrating capability.

My go-to firearms are either a

a 1911 Kimber that holds nine in the magazine plus one in the chamber

or a Springfield

XD 10 millimeter that holds 15 rounds in the magazine plus one in the chamber.

Now for Black Bear and Interior Grizzly, I like Federal's factory ammo loaded with 200 grain, swift A-frame

bullets at 1100 feet per second. Now, troubled bears of those two species are usually

young males or females with cubs and neither are likely to weigh more than about 400 pounds.

The A-frames hit hard and penetrate adequately for bears of that body size.

For Coastal Brown Bears on the other hand, I load my 10mm pistol with Buffalo Bors

220 grain hard cast bullets at about 1,200 feet per second.

Now these bullets don't expand, but they drive very deep and effectively break heavy bones.

...