Need help finding wife a woods gun.

sherlok You might want to start he with some female help for your wife . maybe an RO - instructor or other skilled female shooter to help your wife and maybe your glocks depending on cartridge . Maybe friends extra handguns or rentals for your wife to try . Buy your wife a can of bear spray and wear it where its easy to get to at all times on the trail too . Bear spray is better than a handgun for wild game . Your wife has a big learning curve and she have to start with basic handgun size and caliber . If your bear concerns is black bear and big cats and smaller caliber like a 9mm in the hands of a person that can adapt to it quickly and shoot it well is better than a 40 or 45 or 10mm she can't control or is uncomfortable carrying and can't accurately and quickly and don't forget , something she can rack easily . This is not a time for over kill .

A guide just killed a grizzly with a model 39 S&W 9mm with 6 rounds fired of the 7 he had in the pistol using hard cast hot loads from BB . Good bullet placement and luck ?? For sure . Help your wife find a design she likes by visiting gun shops the size and weight she can carry all day then find were her cartridge limits are . IF you can find another female to help your wife you may have to BUT you may not be her best helper . Husbands teaching wifes may not work well .

Your wife has to know what weight handgun is comfortable over a long days walk so hang a fanny pack loaded with rolls of coins to say a glock 19 weight loaded and she can go heavier or lighter from there . Hang the fanny pack off her waist were she would wear a pistol if possible . Maybe cross draw too .

When all is done your wife may find a compact 9mm is right , maybe a 357 mag for her at this time . But get some bear spray . Works on people too .

As a woman, I recommend a .357 revolver with at least a 4" barrel for open carry. Anything shorter, like snubbies for concealed carry, have too much recoil when using a full .357 load. The nice thing about the .357 revolver, is that you can start her shooting a light load 130 grain .38 special bullet in it, which she should be able to handle with some practice. Then, you can try the more powerful load .38 specials, then .38 special +P, then light load .357 and finally bear load .357 IF she can handle it. Hollow points are not recommended for bear.

Also, as some have mentioned above, she probably has more of a chance having a 2 legged predator come after her than a 4 legged. Yes, a semi-auto might be better for that purpose, but unless she wants to carry 2 guns, she has to choose. The revolver has several advantages, no jams, much more reliable, easy to shoot and clean. No tough slides to rack.

She should read up about hiking in bear country. There are small things she can do to reduce any bear related incidents like not wear any perfumes, or sweet smelling deodorants, hair spray, shampoo, powder. Also, don't cook anything greasy, like bacon with your hiking clothes on. It will stick and the bear will view her as a big piece of bacon walking through the woods. Always make noise when hiking, to give the bear enough time to move away. I just hang jingly keys from my belt.

As someone who has lived and worked with Grizzly bears most of my adult life I carry a 5" 357 magnum. Why? Because a 200 grain hardcast 357 has greater sectional density (ie,penetration) than all but the heaviest 44 magnum (300 grain plus) I am much more accurate with a 357 than I am a 44 and accuracy is what is needed to stop an aggressive bear. You would be lucky to get more than one shot so capacity is irrelevant. Most experienced bear people even carry single actions due to lighter weight and you better be shooting a double action in single mode to get that accuracy you must have. If she can carry and accurately shoot a 300+ grain 44 magnum than pick that otherwise a 357 magnum has killed a lot of bears even the lower 48 grizzly. Alaskan bear are almost twice the size of lower 48 grizzly and for that I suggest a BIG rifle. I also carry bear spray as a first defense and like Blackhawk girl said...be bear aware and you will probably never see one.

200 grain 357=SD of .224
270 grain 44 magnum= SD of .210
300 grain 44 magnum=SD of .233
200 grain 10mm= SD of .179

As you can see a 10mm is a very bad round for big bear. Like big game hunting you need an SD of over .200 and the only way to get that is a revolver. Black bear I would be OK with even a 9mm as they have a completely different mind set and most often will turn tail if you hurt them.