There have been plenty of instances of people (bad guys, good guys, women, teenagers, old people, young people) absorbing large amounts of bullets from various calibers and surviving (including rifles).
Caliber doesn't mean squat if you don't hit the vital areas of the body.
Being able to rapidly put rounds on target accurately, trumps caliber.
Every. Single. Time.
Just because you have 20 rounds, or 17 rounds, or 13 rounds, doesn't mean you can just spray and pray. You have to hit accurately to bring something down.
Two things bring about incapacitation - central nervous system hit (preferably brain stem), or loss of blood from a major vessel being punctured or severed.
I recently shot a deer with a bow, hit about 1" low of where I needed to. I punctured both lungs cleanly (one lung had a 2" gaping hole in it). But that deer ran *3 miles* before it finally dropped . Why?! How!? Because, I missed the heart by an inch and I didn't get any major blood vessels.
I don't care if you are shooting a 45, a 9mm, or a 22 long rifle. If you don't hit the central nervous system or bust a major blood vessel, the bad guy isn't going down fast. Even if you destroy the heart's pumping capability they still have 30 seconds or more of willful, conscious directed action before they are rendered unconscious. (One exception is the aorta, if you sever it the shock of the massive drop in blood pressure can render a person unconscious faster than a pierced heart).
I've put a lot of thought in to what I keep for home defense, and while I have other options, the 5.7x28mm makes a heck of a lot of sense for my layout and needs.
I've told this story numerous times on THR, but it is worth repeating.
A neighbor of mine was a victim of an home intrusion a while back. *FIVE* armed bad guys came in at 3 AM after the father went off to work third shift, while the mother and two daughters were asleep. The bad guys were specifically after the guns in the house. The bad guys know that police response time out here can be as bad as 1/2 hour.
Earlier that day the same "crew" hit a house in town, again going after guns, and only guns. That was in broad daylight. So it doesn't really matter to them if it's day or night.
5 on 1 odds sucks by anyone's book. And a 6 shot revolver, or 12 shot 45 ACP isn't going to cut it, considering there is no such thing as a "one shot stop" (as explained above).
Which leaves me basically two decent choices; 9x19 at 16 round capacity (CZ75 on the bedstand), and 5.7x28mm at 20 round capacity (which is right next to me as I type). I keep the 5.7x28mm next to me in the living room because if someone kicks in the door mid-day, I don't have any guarantee my 5 kids or wife will be able to seek cover immediately. I don't want over penetration. Period.
At night, when the kids are in bed, a 9x19 makes better sense. The kids are in bed, and have hard spots to get behind (dressers, book shelves).
If I run empty or go down, there is a PS90 right next to the bed for my wife to use. My three older children and wife are all familiar with it, and can use it just fine. (I used to have a 12 gauge but one trip to the range with the wife and kids, and I unloaded it and put it in the safe. They can't use it effectively with defense loads.)
Anyway, we all have to examine our environments and threat profiles and make the appropriate calls. If I lived alone, I'd have more options. If our "threat profile" was single intruders, I'd still have the revolvers out. But our threat profile is multiple intruders.
We have no reliable "backup" out here. Help is a phone call and a half hour away. So I have to make sure that against a determined group of home invaders, intent on using lethal force, that I can respond and have a fighting chance against a larger group.
Which means training.. training.. training. And planning. And proper selection of gear.
Is the 5.7x28mm the "right choice" for everyone? Hell no. No more so than 9x19, or 45ACP, or 12 gauge, or 223 would be.
Can it be the "right choice?" Yes. I have over two dozen different calibers of rifles and handguns in the safe from 22LR to 50 BMG. I could take my pick of any one of them, but after serious thought and consideration, two particular ones stand out very clearly against the rest, for my immediate needs.
Are there any deformable rounds of any size going that speed which wouldn't be considered "effective" in terms of damage? 5.7 is very low recoil, so that's a big plus, but the pistol is loud and flashy, a demonstrable minus. The pistol is also simply big, making it less than ideal for concealed carry or some peoples' hands, but I'm certain it is done successfully every day.
