This topic again..lol
I ain't qualified to tell you a 357 is good/bad..I guess if the bear was on top of you, it beats a knife.
I've wrote the story before, but one time while hunting bear in Idaho, I had a stare down @ about 15 feet with a sow Griz..my rifle was leaning against a tree out of reach, I was [bleep] basically.After a few seconds, she woofed a few times (she had cubs) and took off, thankfully I wasn't between her and her cubs and she just loped off.
Its a bad situation to be in for sure, I'm not confident I could have stopped her with a handgun if she decided to come..but thats just me and my lack of shooting confidence with them.I'd been better off with bear spray..I keep my rifle close now while glassing!
