so now a semi auto 45 is only good enough for a back up role. how long before anything less than a 30 round 50 AE magazine is considered the threshold of whats acceptable for self defense.
Do you see everything just in black or white (low capacity 45, or 30-round 50 AE)? There are many shades of grey in between!
The answer to your question all depends on the shooter.
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
3-rounds may be enough; 6-rounds may be all that's needed.
Except for the times when they aren’t, due to rounds missing the target, or not stopping the threat, or there being two or three assailants. All the while, you should be moving so as to not BE shot. And the perp or perps are moving also!
Missed shots are the rule in most gunfire exchange scenarios. Trained law enforcement officers, in gunfire exchanges, miss their targets with about 70% of the rounds that they fire. You should expect that not all of the rounds that you fire will achieve the intended goal. TO be conservative, expect that perhaps 1/2 of your rounds fired will not achieve the intended result (stopping the threat immediately). Does limiting yourself to six-rounds on tap sound comforting?
This won't be like standing in your little booth at the range on a sunny Sunday afternoon, carefully squeezing off the best target shots you can by carefully aligning your sights on a non-moving piece of paper.
Perhaps the perp has a vest and you don't realize that until you've launched four or five rounds in a panic. You're not sure if you just missed (remember both you and the perp are both moving rapidly) or what. Now you have one round left for that perfect head shot - needing to be made while both you AND the perp are moving rapidly. GOOD LUCK!
You can't predict what circumstances you will face.
For some people, finding a reasonable combination of higher capacity, good terminal ballistics, good controllability, and reasonably comfortable-to-carry is the smart thing to do. Others just want the smallest, lightest-weight pistol they can carry, with the primary objective being to keep CCW as convenient and un-noticeable as possible.
Your approach may be different.
Ultimately, if you're like the average law-abiding citizen who avoids dicey situations, the odds that you will ever need to pull out a pistol in defense of your life are extremely small, so with that statistic in mind - you probably don't really NEED to carry a pistol at all!
