There seems a number of confirmed stories of people absorbing an amazing number of handgun rnds and continuing to fight until someone with a long gun shows up to put the goblin down.
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CNS hits (spine or brain) are the only nearly guaranteed hits that will drop someone instantly. Someone shot right through the heart can continue to fight; they may die real soon, but can continue the fight briefly. Certainly enough time to take someone with them. Even with that said, handguns aren't rifles. Hell, even with rifle wounds with a non-CNS hit there have been beaucoup documented shootings where the bad guy (or good guy) continues the fight and even survives the ordeal.
If you are looking for a magic handgun bullet, it resides right next to unicorns.
We carry handguns, because they can be concealed and even where I could carry a long gun and not stand out I didn't do all the time. I made a threat assessment of where I was going and the time of day I was going, then took the best weapon for that trip.
I have seen a 5.56 round bounce off the skull of a donkey from a range of 6" or less.
Man still has not invented a death ray. So use what caliber you want and shoot them till they drop.