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I would feel confident with the gun and caliber and your choice of ammo for SD against humans, cougars, coyotes, dogs, wolves, and other lightly built critters. And for handgun hunting deer. However, the ammo is totally wrong for SD against black bears. A jhp bullet in handgun calibers doesn't penetrate well enough to get through the skull of a charging black bear reliably. Handgun calibers don't both expand and penetrate well enough to kill a black bear reliably. You have to choose one or the other And people who live through bear attacks choose maximum penetration, which you get only from a hard cast bullet, not a jhp. For SD against black bears you need a hardcast bullet with a flat nose. Such as the HSM 180 grain hardcast sold by Midway.
The other bullet design that can reliably penetrate a bear skull is hard cast Keith style bullets. They also have a flat nose. HSM, Underwood, Buffalo Bore, and others make bear loads for 357 mag. Take a look. Anything with "bear load" in the name has a hard cast flat nose or Keith style bullet...NEVER a jhp.
Of course it's a problem that the optimal ammo for SD against humans or for deer hunting is the opposite from what you need for SD against bears.
When I was a young broad doing lots of solo hiking and camping, I initially carried a .357 (Colt, SW, or Ruger) loaded with jhp ammo. I was more concerned about SD against bad humans than conflicts with wildlife. Then one day my dog and I surprised a bear at very close range, well within the attack distance. Had a cross breeze and dog clearly did not know what was making the noise in the blackberry patch, but it was obviously big. Dog took up a position between noise and me. Suddenly a black bear appeared and froze. So did dog, about 12' from bear. So did I, about 22' from bear, a 6" Ruger Security Six in my hands pointed directly at bear. I had complete confidence in my ability to land a shot in the bear's head should it charge. But I wasn't loaded for bear! There was a good chance that the 158gr Winchester Silver tip bullets in my gun would not penetrate bear skull . crap! Most likely bear would charge dog though, and she would bate it and dodge and keep it busy without closing with it, but I would need to rescue my dog by shooting bear. Dog, bear and I stood motionless and silent for what seemed like forever . Then bear ran back into berry patch. Dog gave chase barking excitedly . I yelled "Out!" and dog immediately dropped chase and came back.
After that I always carried a 357 mag or .44 mag with bear loads, not people loads for woods SD. I discovered that I have much more confidence in my ability to protect myself from bad people if loaded for bear than against a bear if loaded for people.
