The endless back and forth is eternal .
I'm with
@Catpop , bigger bullet = bigger hole.
At pistol velocity there will be little to no hydrostatic shock. Bullets regardless of material & design can and will fail to perform (expand) randomly. The only thing that makes sense to me is to use a larger bullet that can't shrink.
Nope, I'm not a boomer.
I'm not delusional about "stopping power" or shot placement. I'm familiar with the characteristics of pistol cartridges wounding ability and I'm realistic about round count available . you'll find 1,000 well informed trainers that advocate more rounds and just as many that say bigger bullets.
There is no right answer , just what we're comfortable with.
I much prefer 45 acp to 9mm, internet Rambo will scoff and declare me an idiot. That's ok, I like a big heavy projectile at subsonic velocity. No one has been able to convince me otherwise . so for me? I'll take the big bullet.
Now food for thought:
If you shoot a squirrel in the head with a 50 bmg, will it be any deader than the squirrel shot in the head with a 22 short?
357 magnum is an all time favorite of mine (I don't own a 44) , there's not much on planet earth that can take a couple rounds of 357 magnum to the vitals and survive. Humans aren't tough and were burdened by emotion , no one should ever depend on an attacker being demoralized by a hole punched in them. No one should count on intimidation by the sight of a gun that looks bigger or sounds scarier, that stuff does work but rarely (very rarely). Every single encounter will be unique and trying to tailor your weapon to a situation you imagine isn't going to work. Carry what you shoot well and you'll do just fine. Internet wisdom is worthless but it's intended to get your gears turning, you're the one that decides what will work for you even if everyone else thinks your nuts.
When I was a dumb kid I was obsessed with single action revolvers. I even carried one for self defense in 2005-2006, I cringe now thinking back on it but at the time you couldn't have convinced me otherwise. We all need to do what we feel is best and hope we never find out if it was good planning or an awful mistake.
Stay safe