No round is any better if you can’t consistently hit your target.
I think a bigger problem than the round is that most people do not practice enough. I know people that haven’t run 50 rounds through their handgun in years and are sure they can hit the bad guy in a crisis confrontation.
That hasn’t been helped by ammo cost. I have a range membership and try to go every week and run a box through the S&W. It’s hard on the wallet but you gotta keep that muscle memory.
I didn't renew my indoor range membership in 2021. COVID arrived in 2020. I had renewed the couples membership in Nov 2019 for $500. As Nov 2021 approached, the range management called seeking a renewal. Nope. I only got to the range TWICE in 2020. $250 per visit. It's a 100 mile round trip, so add the travel cost as well. In prior years, we were at the range every weekend and kept a 350 round bucket of 9mm ready for the weekly foray. In 2021, I spent $80 for the outdoor range membership as well. Never set foot on the range. It expired again with the key unscratched by the lock cylinder for the 2nd consecutive year.
Ammo prices and COVID restrictions are putting limits on my range trips. It can't be mitigated with reloading because there are no primers for sale. Brass, bullets and powder are present sporadically.
Yeah, what I’ve seen in the past six decades or so is there is always one more genius who thinks we need just one more bullet ‘cause he couldn’t hit anything with the one he has. And I’ve seen a bunch come and go. What I tell folks is that if you can’t buy it off the shelf in the drug store you probly don’t really need it. The basic drug store calibers are mostly 22, 25, 32, 380, 38, 357, 9mm, 44, 45, 30c, 30-30- 308, 270, 3006, and 12 ga. Anything else won’t be available when you need it.
And then you need to tell me where you want to keep/carry it so I can get you into an appropriate size range. After that we need to make sure you can actually shoot it under control. You can defend yourself with any of the above if you know how to use it. Same for feeding yourself. If one is worried about recoil maybe one should stick with a slingshot?
Anything else