Don,

My reason for packing a sidearm while backpacking is to protect me from four legged critters. Therefore I'd carry a revolver like a .44 magnum, not my Glock 17 9mm. As for bullet weight, that would be fairly heavy and something built to stay in one piece all the way through a bear's skull.

Because such a bullet would likely have a thicker copper jacket and possibly a copper partition it would not be quite as heavy as a bullet with a thinner jacket. But it would not be on the lighter end of the bullets available for that caliber. As for Blazer aluminum casings, IF Blazer sells them with the correct bullet then why not save a bit of weight? Can't hurt.

So, at the end of the day my bullet choice would be for "end use function", not for how much weight I could save. After all, I'm about saving my life a lot more than saving weight.

Eric