Why the 10mm Is a Great Choice for Bear Defense

Every year around this time people venture back into the mountains: to gather sheds, hunt for mushrooms, or just to give their lungs and legs a workout. Invariably, some cross paths with ornery bears. Recent grizzly encounters in my home state of Montana include this one near Choteau and another that happened outside of Dupuyer.

In both cases, the people involved shot and killed the bears. In the first instance we don’t know what the solo shed hunter used, but the duo that had the run in near Dupuyer carried semi-autos: one a Glock G20 10mm and the other a classic single-stack 1911 in .45 ACP. They shot repeatedly, firing at the charging sow griz a total of eight times.

I’ve talked about the advantages of semi-autos versus revolvers for bear defense before and conducted a test to see how my old Smith & Wesson 329 PD stacked up against my customized Glock G20 and a couple other 10mms. Spoiler alert: The semi-autos proved to be much more effective.

Now a lot of old wheel-gun aficionados took exception to that story, making all kinds of statements regarding my common sense, biases, and birth status. One of them just sent me this letter, which I’ve condensed:

This is a ridiculous article and you guys deserved to be beat up by the .44 Magnums. This experiment was so biased it isn’t even funny. My question is why in hell would you use a 23-ounce .44 Mag and shoot full house rounds? Asinine! First, the 10mm is a picky cartridge when used in a semi-automatic. What happens when that charging bear is coming right at you and, “Oh shit, my gun jammed?” The 10mm won’t punish you like the .44 but the 10mm better be damn near perfect in function. With the .44 Magnum, and revolvers in general, there is way less to go wrong and a lot more reliable.

I’ll take the extra recoil from my Redhawk… [and] I’ll take my chances with only six rounds going “bang” every time compared to, “Bang, bang, click…oh shit, I’m dead with my 10mm Glock fantastic plastic pistol in my hand.”

Your intentions are good but not realistic. One of the guys in your group is a competition shooter — well that’s a great accomplishment when you’re shooting for points, but in a life and death situation in bear country when you are pressured, hurried, and scared shitless? The guy with the .44 mag wins! I love my Redhawk, it’s built like a tank, and I can shoot it quite well.

What the Haters Hate

This captures the vibe of what many detractors have said:

• Semi-autos cannot be relied upon
• Revolvers can be shot just as well
• This test isn’t fair, you should have used a heavy .44 Mag instead
• You fancy competition shooters don’t impress me
• You’re a bunch of girly men if you can’t handle real guns

I’ll address each below (though not necessarily in this order).

“The .44 Magnum Is the Best Choice”

First off, let me say that I think a .44 Magnum is a great backcountry gun. It’s why I carried my 329 PD for years. I practiced with it using mostly .44 Special loads and stuffed it with heavy hardcast bullets when I was in the wild. That said, like many other bear-country travelers, I’ve switched to carrying a semi-auto. I carry my G20 and a Sig 320 XTen Comp, which is the softest-shooting 10mm we’ve tested.

When it comes to how a 10mm shoots versus a .44 Mag, however, there is no comparison. The 10mm outshoots it easily, putting more rounds on target much more briskly.

“Carry a Heavy Revolver, Wimp”

Was the test unfair? I don’t think so because we shot guns I own and actually carry. The correspondent above said I should have used a 49-ounce Ruger Redhawk instead of the lightweight S&W 329 PD. No thanks. Unless I have a horse to carry my carcass around the mountains, I’m going to save weight where I can, and toting around a wheelgun that weighs more than three pounds empty isn’t on my dance card. The Redhawk is a fine hunting handgun, but it isn’t what I consider a portable or practical carry gun. 

As my colleague Tyler Freel notes, most people in Alaska (where he lives) have made the switch from bulky revolvers — which they’re less likely to carry — to semi-autos.

“Semi-Autos Suck”

The argument about revolvers trumping semis because of their reliability is one that should be tossed into the trash bin of history. People who carry handguns to protect themselves against deadly threats carry semi-autos almost exclusively. That includes soldiers, cops, Secret Service agents … and game wardens and conservation officers who tromp around bear country as well.

For instance, here’s another case where a Glock 10mm saved a person during a bear charge. 

Related: The Best Bear Defense Handguns of 2025

Our experience shooting 10mms has shown that they are quite reliable. About the only glitch we’ve seen is with some guns — very few — not caring for certain hard cast ammo, which isn’t our top pick for a defensive bear load anyway. Run a quality pistol and shoot it with the ammo you plan to carry to ensure functionality and you’ll be fine. 

Plus, I’ve seen a .44 Magnum revolver fail in person — a Taurus that locked up tighter than a mobster pleading the Fifth. So, stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

“Competition Shooters Suck — Especially You Guys”

This sentiment would make for a good article on its own. A surprising number of traditional sportsmen get really salty about people who train and shoot competitively. They often state that those shooting skills — which they don’t possess — aren’t relevant in the big, bad outdoors.

The “life or death” scenario invoked above is one example. But I’m more than willing to bet that the guy who trains with his 10mm (or even 9mm) to a high level of proficiency will be more effective than the guy with the Big Iron on his hip who doesn’t train. 

Another manifestation of this mentality is with the big-bore hunting cartridge fans. They swear by their magnums and think that hunters who shoot competitively and have embraced milder cartridges that have proven themselves to be accurate, deadly, and — as important — easier to shoot are fools.

The haters assert that being able to better manage recoil, spot your impacts, and make faster follow-up shots — all benefits of milder rounds — is overshadowed by a thumping magnum that packs “authority” — an often used, but ill-defined term.

Read Next: Grizzly Hunting with a 6.5 Creedmoor

This is the crowd who believes three-shot groups are meaningful, that shooting an elk with anything less than a .300 is irresponsible, and that their marksmanship is just as good with a magnum cartridge as it would be with something less spicy. They are wrong on every count.

So, carry your big revolver if you like. No one is trying to take your lunch money. But if you think that a 10mm isn’t a viable option for bear protection I’ve got bad news for you: The evidence isn’t on your side.

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