There are dozens and dozens of examples of shootings that required more than five or six shots to end a threat. Here are a couple of articles by actual self-defense experts in which they discuss the number of rounds required to end a threat.
I'm not trying to tell you that you you are wrong to carry a low-capacity firearm, but the decision to carry a firearm with increased capacity is based on more than feelings; it is based on real world encounters and the opinions of experts...
https://www.shootingillustrated.com...-self-defense-dont-bet-your-life-on-averages/
And, while we are talking about averages, let’s look at the average number of rounds fired in a deadly encounter. Depending upon which source one chooses to study, the average number of rounds fired in a deadly encounter is between two and four. So the guy who likes to bet his life on averages would say that he is good to go with a five-shot, snub-nose revolver with no extra reload.
But, what about the police officer who had to shoot the knife-wielding crook eight times with his .45 ACP before he stopped? Or, we could just examine some of the police shootings that involve 20 (or more) rounds being fired. Misses don’t mean much in a gunfight, no matter how close they are. And, we can’t be assured that the crook, high on dope or wearing body armor, will be impressed when we center punch him two to four times.
We carry extra ammunition to deal with all of those things that can go wrong when the shooting starts. A person’s pistol magazine may decide to give up the ghost right in the middle of a fight and, when it does, it sure would be nice to reach for that extra mag in order to stay in the fight. A defensive shooter may also have to dump his magazine in order to clear a double feed, in which case it is comforting to be able to pull an additional magazine and recharge.
Now, I am not a fan of carrying 20 or 30 rounds of extra ammunition around all day. Besides making concealment more difficult, the stuff just adds a lot of weight to my belt. However—average rounds fired be damned—an extra reload is a really good idea.
The optimist may plan and equip himself with the average gunfight in mind. I have always thought it was a far better idea to plan and equip (within reason) for the worst-case scenario. Knowing how my gun shoots at extended distances and having some extra ammunition is just a guard against an attack from Murphy and his silly law. As the old expression goes, no one involved in a gunfight ever wished they had less ammunition on hand.
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2016/11/revolvers-semi-autos-comparison/
Semi-autos win this category. There’s no question about it. They hold more rounds and can be reloaded faster. Duty pistols like the
Glock 17 and
S&W M&P9 will give you 18 rounds of 9mm ammo at the tip of your trigger finger, literally three times the capacity of the sixgun of yesteryear. The little 9mm
Glock 26 auto holds 11 rounds. You’d have to combine a five-shot S&W and a six-shot
Colt to equal that in compact revolver technology.
With bad guys jacked up on drugs, wearing body armor, traveling in packs and knowing how to take cover—any of which can quickly drain the good guy’s ammo reservoir—this is a factor to consider. It’s probably the key reason for the autoloader’s ascendancy in both the police and the civilian markets.
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2014/10/5-gunfighting-myths-debunked-massad-ayoob/
But four of those saves were absolutely firepower based. Two were Kaas and Davis, cited above. The other two were Bob Kolowski and Lloyd Burchette. Ambushed by a two-gun outlaw biker, they fired more than 20 shots and achieved 13 or 14 hits before attempted murderer Wayne O’Brien slumped and died. Kolowski had reloaded during the blazing gun battle.
And what about armed citizens? Famed Los Angeles watch shop owner Lance Thomas was involved in multiple gun battles with armed robbers, winning every one. In one of those incidents, he had to fire 19 rounds before the last of his multiple opponents was out of the fight. Some bad guys can soak up an unbelievable amount of lead, and the cunning ones run and use cover, making them harder to hit and requiring more shots to stop them.