A charging Bear would be stopped with confidence by nothing less than a mack truck probably. A casual bear not paying attention to you, could easily be dispatched with a hand cannon. The idea is, your bear will be charging you. For that purpose you would not want less than A 12GA. With Slugs in 3" MAG. But when that Shotgun gets jammed, or when the bear gets on top, you transition to that hand CANNON. You point it at the bear the best you can and you resume until your slide locks back. Compliments of Glock 20. With Gold Dot bullets. 180grain With your FPS at 1200 or more.. That is what I'd feel better about. Confidence is important for performance. But if you think you are going to stand there and get good placement with a charging bear, you are failing to take into account your adrenaline. You will be shaking like a polaroid picture. And your buddy will take a picture snap shot of you getting mounted by the bear and the rest of whoever see's those snaps will feel sorry for you.