Badger, your many comments on this thread are so much crap, that I didn't know which one(s) to quote to show the lack of logic and consistent train of thought to your bigger is better philosophy. A train which apparently has no caboose.
You should probably get rid of the wimpy .44 as there are far more powerful handgun cartridges available such as the .454, .460, .475, .500 and others. Forget the rim fire for squirrel hunting, the 50 BMG will kill them deader. Forget that air rifle and pick up a .338 Lapua magnum to repel the hoard of toxic zombie toads that Quaker is sending your way. It will kill them deader. You can tell how much deader they are just by looking at them.
Just earlier this evening I read on another internet sight that the largest polar bear ever taken was killed by an Eskimo women with a .22. So now we have both the largest Grizz and polar bears ever taken both by Eskimo women with .22s. I guess that goes along with the native women who out of frustration fired a single shot at the elephant rampaging in her garden and killed it. I know that is true, because I read it on the internet. I'm not saying that your statement about the largest Grizz taken by an Eskimo woman isn't true, but please supply some reference to the record kill.
By your own admission, a firearm is a tool. There are many tools that will get the job done and done well. Some tools may be bigger and more powerful, but may not necessarily be the best tool for the job.
By the way I just had a conversation this last weekend with a retired Air Force colonel friend of mine that is an Alaskan bush pilot.
He owns an extensive collection of firearms and can afford anything that goes bang. His sidearm of choice that he has successfully defended against a Grizz attack with is a Ruger Security Six in .357 with a six inch barrel. He shot the second with a .44 and mentioned how much deader it was, you could tell just by looking at it that it was much deader.
Excuse me now while I exterminate the ants invading my kitchen. I'm using a thermal nuclear device as it kills them so much deader than Raid. I can tell just by looking at them.