I have finished two black bears with my 45 Colt Ruger Bisley revolver and killed one start to finish with it. I highly recommend it as it is much more exciting than shooting one with a high powered rifle from far away. When I went after my spring of 2007 bear with my revolver from start to finish I have to tell you that I was not thrilled with its killing effect. Yes the bear died in pretty short order but it was able to run about 75 yards. The bear was not impressed by the initial shot, which was well placed in its chest, as it would have been by a high powered rifle. But perhaps it died just as quickly. Not sure. Anyway it was quite exciting. I ran after the bear and shot it 4 more times before it finally died of lead poisoning, with the last shot at a distance of only several feet. The load I used was the Beartooth 345 grain WLNGC bullet and 21.5 grains of H110 for a velocity of 1150 fps. I think you should try it if you can get close enough, I was 25 yards away on my first shot but if you are accurate you could increase that to possibly 75 yards or so. Good luck, Rufous.
