I heard once that if you wait long enough things come full circle. We seem to be about half way around this one...
I grew up listening to
generations of experts, real experts, not Internet armchair experts, all saying the same thing, the .44 Mag was TOO powerful to be the best self defense gun.
They ALL felt the recoil of the .44Mag meant follow up shots would be slower, and that was a bad thing.
One thing I note as being conspicuous by its absence from this thread is the horde of one shot stop fanatics that used to be everywhere, proudly claiming the .357 Mag 125gr JHP as the absolute king of one shot stops, and therefore the BEST defense round POSSIBLE!!!
After all, their data was taken from actual shootings!!! or so they always told us...
Where are all those guys now???
If you are convinced you will only need one shot, then use a single shot pistol!
If you won't use a single shot pistol, then shut up about one shot being all you need, .44MAG or whatever!
If you recognize that more than a single shot might be necessary, then you must also recognize that the speed & accuracy with which you can deliver that second, or third etc., shot might be critical as well.
And NO .44 Mag will let you shoot as fast, accurately as a .357 in a suitable weight class. I'm talking about full house loads here. If you download the .44Mag or use .44Special, its a whole different beast, and much better suited for self defense than full house .44Mag loads.
The .357 has proven to be enough gun for the past 80 years. The fact that a ,44Mag always works better in a video game doesn't change a thing in the real world.