Before you invest a chunk of cash in a 3" J-frame chambered for .357 magnum I strongly suggest that you beg, borrow, or rent one and try a couple of cylinders-full of magnum ammo at the range. The recoil, muzzle blast, and muzzle flash of magnum ammo fired in a short-barreled lightweight revolver should convince you that there is no way you will ever master that combination sufficiently for serious defensive use.

I carried a 2.5" Model 19 for quite a few years as a plain-clothes cop. It only took one range session with .357 magnum ammo to convince me that it would never work in the real world. The J-frames you are considering weigh in at a half-pound to a pound less. Good luck with that if you ever need to fire a second round accurately!

Many states have state lotteries, selling millions of lottery tickets to people who have a dream, and that dream is what they are buying. Lots of people seem to want lightweight small-frame .357 revolvers, and all they are getting is the dream.