for handgun use in home defense the .40 S&W or the .357 Sig are probably the best handguns.
the .40 has low recoil and high accuracy almost identical to the 9mm, and offers far greater stopping power. with hollow tips, the stopping power is probably close to the .50 ae. basically the recoil and accuracy of a 9mm and lleaving a hole the size of a 50 ae. good handgun choice
i think the same as far as recoil goes for the .357 sig, and it also penetrates body armor.
as far as shotguns, each of the 27-34 pellets in #4 buck are bigger than a 22 caliber. so if all pellets hit the target, assuming they would in small areas (home defense), that's like getting shot 30 times with a .22 all at once. judging the picture below, you could see how shotguns dwarf pistols. 27 .22s make the 50 ae look puny. #4 also has low recoil.
