Originally Posted by Shipwreck

I agree - that's what I have been saying - handgun wise, he shouldn't start w/ anything more powerful than a 357, and he can use 38 rounds in it until he gets good.

<Yoda voice on> Yes, to Ship you listen! <Yoda voice off>

Of course, I am not sure I would want a paltry little .357 between a bear and me. I'll still take the Guide Gun.

Originally Posted by Mike Barham at Galco

I can hardly believe I am reading recommendations for 10mm Glocks, scandium .44 Magnums, and .460/.500 revolvers for a novice handgun shooter! Jonathan, I can pretty much guarantee if you start with guns like these, you will never become a good handgun shooter. These are guns for very experienced shooters and really no one else. I can scarcely imagine a worse first gun than a .500 revolver.

If you seriously need a firearm for bear defense, save yourself a whole lot of trouble and buy a Marlin Guide Gun. It's a lever-action .45-70 carbine that you can find for under $500 new. Yeah, it's not as cool and romantic as a handgun, but it's still pretty slick and easy to carry on a sling, very simple to operate, and a whole lot easier to shoot well than a hard-kicking big-bore handgun. A shotgun stoked with Brenneke slugs is second choice, but bulkier and harder to shoot well versus a Guide Gun.

Mike is 100 percent correct. The Marlin Guide Gun is about the perfect self-defense firearm for wandering around where there be bears; it's exactly what it was designed for. A friend of mine has one - bought specifically for his Alaska trip - and it's actually pretty easy to shoot. About half the recoil I expected.

From personal experience of introducing about a dozen people to shooting, a .38 Special revolver is the handun of choice by my new shooters. I always start a new shooter on a .22 LR handgun, but after not much range time they want something that "feels" more powerful. A .38 has enough felt recoil to give them that feedback, yet is mild enough that they're not immediately scared of it. It's easy to move on from there after they get used to that.