I'm mostly a revolver guy, & if I thought I was heading for trouble, I'd be packing one of two guns... if it were a revolver... either my air lite 5 shot 44 Special, or my custom snubbie single action Ruger in 45 Colt... I'll admit I never felt under gunned with either... & I shoot both of them as well as anything
but I don't live in a big suburban area where I'd assume I'd be more likely to "need" more than 5 or 6 rounds, so guns I mostly carry are guns to carry often & not use much ( hopefully )
I have a prime example of small gun, big caliber, even though the gun is larger than most would carry... the Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull... but to me that gun is perfect for it's purpose... having handy in bear country...
along those same lines... I'll ask this question... would you rather have a double stack 9mm in bear country, or 6 more powerful cartridges like 44 Magnum or 454 Casull, or 480 Ruger... me, personally I'd rather have fewer cartridges that are better known for stopping that kind of threat...
now if I throw that back into use on bad guys... there is probably a good percentage, that if I should ever need to shoot someone, they'll be on drugs that effect their decision making abilities... they might be as tough to "stop" as a bear... I want a bigger cartridge... we've all heard the stories of bag guys getting shot many, many times... me... I want something that puts em down... if they live, so be it... but I want the ability to stop em in their tracks... break a hip if needed, but something that is capable of ending the fight...
that said... I mostly carry a TCP in 380, as it's a balance between size, weight, & firepower... I'd rather have a smaller gun on my belt, than a duty sized weapon at home in the safe, should I actually need it