I think having a .38, .357, and a .44 is kind of redundant. Same with a 9mm .40 and .45 semi auto.
For you, this may be true. For me, it's not.
A 4" .357 with adjustable sights, if it's not THE epitome of the "all around handgun," it's very, very close. It can shoot plastic bullets, shotshells, full wadcutter ammo, .38 standard and Plus P and a full house .357 magnum......all in the same cylinder, without fail, simply by pulling the trigger 6 times.
Great for instruction, carry, hunting, home defense, IPSC/IDPA and everything in between. Ammo is easy to find. Even at the Ace Hardware store in Clayton, OK. An extremely versatile package.
The .44 magnum starts where the .357 leaves off in power. I got my first deer with a .44 Magnum revolver. I consider the .357 a bit too light for that task. It's also comforting to carry in bear country or while hunting wild hogs.
The 9mm in a high capacity platform allows cheap shooting, high capacity, easy to control recoil, fast reloads, etc. It is also good for CCW, home defense and IPSC/IDPA. Being chambered in one of the world's most prevalent centerfire handgun calibers nearly guarantees being able to find ammo and/or components for it.
The .40 S&W combines capacity with bore size. A very popular police round, this cartridge won't be disappearing anytime soon. This also covers the CCW/Home Defense/Competition roles, but allows me to compete in different divisions than the 9mm. A factor for me.
The .45 acp would be chambered in the classic 1911, a design that will be 100 years old next year. The gun/cartridge combo is hard to argue against. Parts are plentiful. Options abound. You could even swap out the top end for other calibers, but only register one frame. Who knows how handy this may turn out to be? Like the .40, it would allow me to compete in a different division than the others, including the 1911 Single Stack Nationals. Again, a factor for me.
While there is some overlap, each gun/caliber platform allow me to do things the others do not.
Again, this is not a "minimal" battery/arsenal/assortment, but a well rounded one.