[cweese]

"If you have a very reliable always-shoots pistol and practice, practice, practice short range head shots (10-15’), you don’t need a big caliber, IMO."

I respectfully disagree. Get a bigger caliber and aim for the hips. The hips present a larger target and almost always the perp will drop like a sack of potatoes when his/her hip gets broken. Placing a head shot while under the kind of stress that one is faced with in such a situation can be extremely difficult, especially at any range outside of 7'.

[ModelBreaker]

“I respectfully disagree. Get a bigger caliber and aim for the hips. The hips present a larger target and almost always the perp will drop like a sack of potatoes when his/her hip gets broken.”

That works great with rifle rounds. Lil’ ol’ handgun rounds have a hard time shattering pelvises reliably.