It really isn't what you carry. It also isn't your groupings when you target shoot. Shooting a pistol at a range is very different from an armed confrontation.
You should target practice for recreation, but keep in mind you can be a competition shooter and still lose in a gun battle. Most Cops in a shooting miss their target from 10 feet away.
You should learn to grip the gun so that the barrel is like your index finger, where you point the bullet lands. Do double taps in rapid succession, empty the gun on the target with out using your sights. Practice a double tap, stop for a few seconds keeping the target covered and repeat until the gun is empty.
Unfortunately I was in a shoot out 20 years ago. I bring this up to show my perpective only. It is nothing to be proud of. Unfortunately there was no way out of it, the perp fired the 1st shot. I had a 2 inch 38 revolver at the time. It was 1990, so I don't recall the ammo the job was using at the time. I seem to recall non plus P ammo, with some sort of plastic coating, to cut down lead levels at the range. That ammo was used because you had to carry what you qualified with.
The perp was hit 3 times out of three shots, I am only guessing, but I think the shots kept going higher and higher with recoil. He was hit in the hip (lodging on the spine) the shoulder and neck. I was shooting one handed with my shield in left hand, gun in the right hand.
During the incident I don't recall the shots ever going off, his or mine (his casing was recovered near where he fell) I had no idea until after the incident how many shots I fired, until my cylinder was checked. The incident was surreal and felt like when you were a kid, in the outfield, not paying attention, when a line drive is hit straight at you and reflexively, you catch it, then look in your glove to find the ball. After I removed his gun, I got on the phone and called 911 for an ambulance, making no statement, other than to say I was a PO involved in a shooting and the perp needs an ambulance forthwith.
You NEVER shoot to kill, you shoot to stop. I chalk this perps actions up as "Fight or flight". If he had more time to think about it, he may not have done it. He came from a good family, even though he was a ***.
I would say to anyone, civilian or Police after the incident, if you can call for an ambulance and make NO Statement. When the Police arrive tell them "I fired in self defense, I need to go to a Hospital and I need to speak to a lawyer". I say this not because the Police will necessarily be out to hurt you, but you may be so traumatized you may make off color statement like "I got the bastid", which would not make you look good after the fact.
