Best bear defense ammo? & New Hornady Backcountry Defense/DGH?

[Koda_]

Got it. What about penetration? Wouldn’t a spritzer bullet have more penetration?

Only if it did not hit any bone.

 

[Formidilosus]

Got it. What about penetration? Wouldn’t a spritzer bullet have more penetration?

No, not usually. Spitzers will yaw (tumble) at some point in the penetration and then drastically reduce the total depth.

 

[Tmac]

Some dated, but interesting info here about penetration and meplat size.

https://www.garrettcartridges.com/commentaries.html

There are some concave large meplat solid bullets made, they are said to offer excellent straight line penetration and a larger wound channel than a flat meplat. Most are in African DG calibers. Swift and some others make them. Not sure if there would be applicability to pistol cartridges. Swift A-frame pistol bullets might be a good choice where available too. Basically a bonded partition, in revolver sizes, iirc.