Those of us who opt to carry firearms for self defense live our lives on very, very small probabilities. Is a wheel gun enough? yes...no...maybe...who knows.
The probability of needing any gun to defend yourself is incredibly small. The probability that you will need to show that you are armed with more than a stern word to stop an attack is smaller. The probability that the flash, report, or realization of pain/injury doesn't stop an attack is even smaller. Etc.
Now I get it. Its not the odds, its the stakes. I agree. I carry a firearm and know how to use it so that I can be better prepared than 95% of others in a 1:100,000 situation. However, and this is just a gut feel, my guess that short of a person with a dangerous job like a LEO or lifestyle where violence may be needed to survive, the number of cases where someone was armed with only 5 shots and needed 17 and ended up seriously wounded or dead because of it is probably incredibly low to the point of being a statistical insignificance.
I am not meaning to sound like I'm blowing off carrying more firepower. I don't feel it to be foolish nor a waste to bring enough to end any fight. However, I don't look down on those who choose not to carry 120 rounds on their person to walk the dog in their suburban neighborhood.
For me, its perspective. About 8 years ago a Subway got knocked over in the middle of the day by a couple of guys with a gun. It sits literally next door to where my daughter was going to day care. I rethought my .380 6+1 , because if it could happen in broad daylight on the non-rough side of town, well I better get me a 10+1 G26 and be sure. Here's the thing: in 8 years time since then I can't recall one robbery so brazen on this side of town. I would guy about 75,000 folks live in this part of our small 115,000 person city. Crime, yes. Shootings, yes. Robberies, yes. Daylight smash and grab? No. The other 6 rounds in my Glock made ME feel better and more prepared a situation that I had no reason to feel ill prepared for. I have never been in that Subway and my daughter's daycare was locked down.
I'm a healthy 39. Physically fit with no medical issues. However, at the present, I am probably more likely to meet my maker by not washing my hands well than needing more than 5 beans in the wheel.
I carry 7 rounds of. 357 or .45 acp and a .22 mag NAA in my off hand pocket. They aren't that cumbersome to pack so I do, but I don't freak out if I go out without them.
