I live in black bear country and carry a 44mag Redhawk. I had it cut to 4 inches by Mag-na-port, and got the standard port. They do really great work. They do an excellent trigger job on the Redhawk. I use the Garrett 310gr round. Also a WFNGC 300gr from Cast Performance, with W296. Same bullet as in the Fed CastCore round. Grips are Uncle Mikes (Butler Creek). Carry it in a Bianchi UM84R holster. The gun is about 6 ounces heavier than the 4" Smith 629, but will hold up with the heavy 300+grain loads. The only malfunction I've ever had was when the cylinder release button got dirty and dry and did not pop back up all the way. Cylinder locks up when this happens. Adding a set of Ashley Big-Dot express sights. Bears and cougars may not give you much time to aim. Also carry bear spray from UDAP.