Mister X has it right.
Way too many people look at military pr Leo needs and requirements and then think that translates to what is "best" for the entirely different situation of an armed citizen who needs a self defense handgun.
95% of all self defense shoots (including LEO involved shoots) are over and done in 5 shots or less, in 5 seconds or less at ranges of 5 yards or less. In fact the FBI looked at 12 years of agency involved shoots a few years ago and adopted a new Q course based on the finding that 75% of all agent involved shoots involved 3 shots or less at 3 yards or less.
The folks who advocate a large capacity semi-auto with a couple spare magazines for concealed carry by an armed citizen are just not real well connected to reality. I will concede that a spare magazine is important for a semi auto, not for the magazine capacity, but rather because dropping the magazine and replacing it with a fresh one is the quickest way to resolve most malfunctions that are not corrected immediately, by the "tap, rack, bang" method.
But then again, the statistics show the shoot will be over before you've had a failure and cleared it, so reliability is at a premium in a civilian self defense shoot, far more so than magazine capacity.
In the event of a failure to fire, the immediate action drill with a revolver is to just pull the trigger again, and that's a big plus in a self defense shoot.
Revolvers are also lighter and more comfortable to carry than a semi-auto pistol of comparable power. Consider a steel J-frame Model 36 or Model 60, in .38 or a .38 +P load. It's as effective as a .380 Semi-auto, and while the exterior dimensions may be smaller for the .380, the volume advantage goes to the J-frame as it's only a maximum width at the cylinder, where the .380 ACP is universally thick along its entire slide and grip.
The same applies to a K-frame snub nose .357 and a Compact 9mm semi-auto. The K-frame is no more difficult to conceal, and brings just as much to the gun fight, from an armed citizen perspective.
The simple fact is that armed citizens are not police officers, they do not go in dark and scary places looking for trouble and they seldom encounter multiple assailants, and when they do, it's usually a situation where the multiple assailants are not expecting armed resistance and scatter.
In that regard, the revolver is still just as viable as ever for self defense purposes.
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