Depends on the animal you're trying to protect yourself from. Those guns are designed to be used with the standard pressure "cowboy load". Perfectly acceptable and effective against two legged critters and small four leggers even to this day. If you're talking bear of any type, the rounds you would want to be using will most likely blow that gun apart, and take parts of you with it. You'll need a ruger, smith, dan Wesson, or freedom arms, perharps a 3rd gen colt to handle the pressure of hot ammo in that cartridge. That type of ammunition comes with warnings emblazoned on the box in all caps about which guns can safely fire it and NAMES THEM by make and year of production.