I will tell you in all seriousness that I would use the old Keith 358429 cast bullet 170 grain behind a good charge of Unique or 2400. The other thing I would do is try to find what they used to use back in the 1930's on bears. Remember that when the .357 first came out, Colonel Wesson killed EVERYTHING with it including grizzly bears. The only reason the handgun hunters of the day stopped using the .357 was because guess what, the .44 Magnum came out. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the .357. You didn't say what revolver you are carrying. Personally if I was going to have the .357 for bear defense, it would be in either an N frame or an L frame Smith or (I know) a Ruger which are built pretty tough as well. I wouldn't want to try and shoot heavier .357 loads out of a J frame snub for bears.

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Vaya con Dios