I like and use big revolvers in the GP100 size range, service-sized autoloaders, namely the 1911 in the past, currently SIG P229s, small-framed snubby revolvers, and on occasion, carry a Seecamp LWS-32, so there have indeed been times when the bigger weapon was a revolver, and the smaller an autoloader.
In the 1980's, when I started wearing my badge, plenty of my colleagues carried primary duty sixguns on the belt, and concealed pocket-sized autos as secondary weapons.
As lately as 2007, when carrying a autoloader in my police duty rig, and an SP101 back-up concealed on my person, I also had a GP100 cased in the front seat area of my patrol car, and on occasion, a felon got to look up the barrel of the big sixgun, while the duty pistol was temporarily relegated to back-up status for a moment in time. I started this habit before we were allowed to carry carbines in our patrol cars, during a period when we could only use buckshot in our shotguns. The big sixgun gave me more practical reach than either a shotgun or autoloading pistol.