I truly enjoy how those outside the real-world of firearms happen to refer to anything that hasn't been, for example, shot into ballistic gelatin as being "anecdotal".
Time was, anecdotal meant something told to you by someone who was other than an expert in the field. If, for example, my doc informs me that he'd like me to try some new meds, it'd be genuinely silly to treat this as anecdotal. He didn't test the meds himself. Most likely never even used them personally. But, as an expert, I take for granted that the scoop is for real. I really don't know how many times, sometimes daily, that in the course of shooting or grabassing someone doesn't bring up one of my favorite old warhorses, the .357 magnum. I've said it before, and most likely will be forced to say it again, that the original loads were of the 158 grain varietal, and flat out smoked. One could expect a legitimate 1500 fps from a 5" gun, and even the old Super-Vel type rounds would end the rumpus with one or two well placed hits.
Problem is, wheelguns went the way of the Dodo for law enforcement, as spray & pray came into being with the advent of wondernines. LE has always been the best advertising agent a cartridge manufacturer can rely upon, and soft-recoiling 9 mm's found a home in civilian firearms once they were standard fodder for the local cop shop. After many under-achieving shootouts scared the living begum out of LE, a switch to the .40 took place, except of course in uber-liberal locations such as NYC. The .40 was a fine compromise between light and quick versus heavy and slow, and when the ammo manufacturers put their collective noses to the grindstone the bullet itself became as important as the caliber.
Hollowpoints ruled. Even the most dense among us could tell that a bigger hole was better than a smaller hole, and the .40's popularity grew even more. Then the .40 Magnum came along, referred to of course as the 10 mm because the word "magnum" had become a no-no in LE circles, but the kick was too much to bear and it was quickly dispensed with. Today it's 9 mm, .40, 357 SIG, and even some venerable .45 ACP's along with Gaston's brainchild the GAP. Just try and find a department using what amounts to a .357 magnum in bottomfeeder form but called the 10 mm, and lemme know how that search pans out.
Shame, too. But that brings me full-circle back to the old .357 loads, and for the umpteenth time there is not a better problem solver in sidearm form than a good revolver using a stout .357 cartridge. Not the silly SIG...it's in all probability a decent enough round but it is NO magnum...and for those who don't mind toting a wheelgun, I could not recommend anything better. Well sure I could but 41 and 44 magnums just aren't going to cut it because they simply aren't available with modern bullets.
So stop paying attention to, let's say, dentists who point to holes in gello as proof positive of a bullet's capability. You don't have to use anything you don't want to use, but you SHOULD believe that a well made revolver loaded with modern .357 magnum rounds will drop a target as quickly as just about any handgun can, and should such a platform suit you, then use it with confidence. I'd swing a cylinder shut on anything Buffalo Bore or Double Tap made, and patiently await the reintroduction of PMC's Starfire line of .357 magnum rounds that resemble Federal HST's so much that rumor has it Federal "borrowed" the design.
Big holes. Made by fast bullets. Get yourself a carbine as a big brother to the sidearm, and it'll do anything an AK round will do only better. No, you can't spray & pray. You'll simply have to learn, gasp, how to shoot.
What a concept.
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