A real strong .500 smith lines up with a standard smokeless .45-70 or a standard 1oz 12 gauge slug ~2500 ft/lbs, the 3" 12 gauge slug is ~3000 ft/lbs.
The difference is I'm not confident most people, myself included can handle a gun that is taller than it is long with loads like that. Like I said, I hope you get a good hit the first time.
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
Its a close range weapon, thats for sure. Hence why I recommended a rifle. A bit more precise than a 12ga shooting slugs.
For the lulz 
Bear Gun? Be A Damn Man!
Why just walk on Bear Hill when you could rule it?....
(It's also good for Sharks and them Damsels).
In reply to Gasoline:
I think you might owe me a keyboard.....
I like the pistol grip 12 ga idea. The benefit is that if you run out of ammo and the bear is still charging, at least you have a sturdy club to wedge in it's mouth.
You don't need a gun to be safe from bears, you just need one hiking buddy who can't run as fast as you.
In reply to yamaha:
12 gauge slugs are good enough out to ranges where shooting a bear wouldn't be defensive anymore. Ditto on a carbine nugget, though you have a terrifying difficult to use safety or only 4 rounds to deal with then, now that I think of it.
Thanks for the input. The reason I don't want to carry a rife is because I'm not hunting. I don't want to carry a shotgun for the same reason. I only want to holster and basically the equivalent of CCW while hiking. My dog is always with me and my wife sometimes is with me. I'm not going to go bear hunting. It more of a oh, E36 M3 a bear is running at my ass. I would not shoot a bear that was more then 20 feet away as this would be last ditch thing. I'm actually thinking about the raging judge which can chamber 454
Hell, a human can cover 20 feet before you can draw your gun. Maybe you meant 20 yards?
Max_Archer wrote: You could track down a Mateba, the cocking system is supposed to suck up a bunch of the recoil. Plus it's the coolest looking handgun ever made.
Oh MY this.
A while ago, someone posted an image of a Mateba on FARK. Never before have I gone from not knowing something existed to deeply wanting it in such a short period of time.
Then I found out how expensive they are...
Knurled wrote:Max_Archer wrote: You could track down a Mateba, the cocking system is supposed to suck up a bunch of the recoil. Plus it's the coolest looking handgun ever made.Oh MY this. A while ago, someone posted an image of a Mateba on FARK. Never before have I gone from not knowing something existed to deeply wanting it in such a short period of time. Then I found out how expensive they are...
Apparently insanely maintenance-intensive and difficult to work on, too.
Well, it is Italian after all...
xd wrote: I'm actually thinking about the raging judge which can chamber 454
The Judge is a pretty stupid idea. The Raging Judge Magnum is a slightly less stupid idea. I still would NOT want to shoot a bear with a .410, 3" shell or no. However it'd make quick work of snakes, and I heard a semi-valid argument you could load .410 flares, too.
Have you considered .460 Mag? That'll do .454, .45LC, and a bunch of other rounds. It's common 200gr loads are a waste, though. 300gr would be a lot better.
Can't we all just get along?
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