On my recent Alaska trip I talked to local lawmen, firearms instructors, and gun dealers about handguns for defense against bear attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In years past, the .44 Magnum revolver was the hands-down choice. In recent years, however, the most popular sidearm in bear country has become the 16-shot 10mm autoloader. Ten more torpedoes ready for launch before the need to reload, and deep-penetrating bullets. The G20 from Glock in that configuration is by far the best-selling outdoorsman\u2019s sidearm in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, in a recent compilation of handgun usages to stop bear attacks, our friend Chris Baker at Lucky Gunner found only a few 10mm cases but over forty in which the .44 Magnum was what saved the day. No surprise: the latter has been around longer. The .44 Magnum was introduced in the mid-1950s while the 10mm Auto cartridge didn\u2019t become mainstream until the late 1980s, and the Glock 20 wasn\u2019t introduced until 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check out Chris\u2019 take on the matter, here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n