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The judge definately provides a wide variety of uses. Not to mention how fun they are to shoot.
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.45 are very very expensive to shoot when you compare it to a 9mm. If you want a gun to just enjoy shooting get a 9mm. They also work as a personal protection gun (in the 1:10000000000 chance you actually need it) but if you want more power and still have the portability get a .40. Much more power but still much cheaper than a .45 and would be a fine gun for black bears. A .45 is HUGE and most likely overkill for whatever you are doing with it. It will be heavier and bulkier than a 9 or 40 and much more expensive to just enjoy shooting.
Revolvers are fun but when I can load 17 into my XD9 instead of the 6 a .45 cal revolver for less money, i'm apt to use it more. My cousin has a ruger gp-161, a .357 which is a riot to shoot and probably my next pistol.
I've shot just about every semi auto pistol out there and for the price I really believe you can't do better than an XD or XDM. If you've got the money the Sig 229 is a phenomenal gun, the best you could buy or if you've got lots to spend a Kimber 1911 is a beautiful piece of machinery. The 1911s are kind of the O/U of the pistol world, you pay a lot for pretty. Springfield also makes 1911s with one of the best triggers on the market and is a lot cheaper than a Kimber. Most 1911s are chambered in a .45 too.
Thats just my two cents from my own research, hope it helps
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I would recommend the Judge. I've had one for several years now. Several manufacturers are making personal defense .410 loads for them now. I carry it when I'm not planning on doing alot of walking- it's pretty heavy. If you get one there is a shop in Alaska called Simply Rugged that makes a fantastic pancake holster for the judge. I carry a Ruger LCR the rest of the time, it's a sweet little gun.
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simplyrugged.com
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To give another quick opinion:
I personally don't care much for the 9mm. It's just too small for my taste.
I have had 2 different 40's and loved both. One was the XD40 and the other was a CZ75B in 40 cal. (CZ75 is the gun carried by most East-European police and military forces, a great gun). I kept the CZ because it was previously used by a guy that used it for competition shooting and did some great work on it. I also got the CZ kadet conversion kit for it, which converts the gun from a 40 to a .22.
I don't think I would want to carry any of the semi-autos if I'm going to need them for a bear. The loads are just too small. For that I would go with a revolver like the 357 or the 44 mag. You can't load as many or as fast, but they have a LOT more knock-down than any of the semi-autos.
I have a 44 mag revolver and a 44 mag Browning lever action rifle (traded my XD for this rifle). A great pair.
In my opinion - different guns for different purposes. There really isn't a great gun that will be a good carry gun that would double as a good gun to knock down a bear.
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I don't know anything about that gun, but it sounds very versatile being able to shoot that many different rounds. The 454 is quite a heavy round, so I'm guessing it's a pretty heavy, bulky gun, but sounds very fun. If you can't afford to (or don't want to) have two separate guns, that sounds like about the best choice.
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