>>614395
I've given this a little more thought and here's my poorfag's first gun recommendations for the USA: Mossberg 500 and High Point carbine.
What I considered when coming up with the recommendations are:
>cost - both can be had for less than $300
>effectiveness - both will put decent power down range
>reliability - I have both and both shoot fine
Mossberg 500
>start with slugs in a rifled barrel and you can get 4moa
>lots of ammo and ammo types
>easily customizable
>go for general use - jack of all trades, master of none
High Point carbine
>uses easily acquirable ammo
>decent capacity
>fairly tough and reliable
I recommend .45 for the high point because it's a low pressure cartridge and won't beat up your action as much.
You'll get more power out of a 16" carbine barrel than you would out of a 5" hand gun.
>>614414
>.45 ACP has been demomstrated on many occasions to be unable to penetrate a bear's skull or ribs.
A close friend of mine killed a brown bear here with his 1911.