Pistols in firefights, useless or worthwhile?

So to start out, I want to say I've never been in a firefight or any combat. I'm mostly pulling this out of my ass as most of my views on gun fights are largely romanticized by Hollywood, video games, and watching helmet cams of soldiers fighting around the globe.

So let's pretend for a moment that you find yourself walking down a derelict and bandit-ridden section of highway during a total societal collapse when you hear gunshots. You then see, hear, and feel bullets hitting the pavement and the long abandoned vehicles not more than 10 feet from you. As you run for cover behind a thick concrete sidewall, you hear shouting over the pounding of your heart and glance behind you to see a group of 6 armed hooligans running towards you in an attempt to get a better shot at you.

You have your rifle that you would take with you in a SHTF scenario, which in this scenario it will magically become a semi-auto rifle capable of accepting detachable box magazines, even if your personal primary SHTF rifle is an antique musket from the 1776. Caliber is not too important.

Now, do you have a pistol/sidearm? The make, model, action type, and caliber are not too important but for the sake of simplicity we'll say the particular pistol is a full sized double stack, semi-auto, striker fired 9x19 pistol with a 17rd magazine.

Is there a practical point to carrying a pistol in to combat? It seems like the benefits of carrying a pistol don't outweigh the disadvantages.

Some disadvantages:

• The weight of a loaded pistol is equal to a loaded 30rd rifle magazine, generally. 30rds of 5.56x45, 7.62x39, or 5.45x39 trumps 17rds of 9mm any day of the week.

• Most people cannot effectively use pistols at extended ranges, nor can pistols achieve optimum ballistic capabilities at extended ranges rendering them largely ineffective at distances rifles can engage.
  
• Pistols are less likely to penetrate body armor than a rifle. Fat, round or hollow nosed bullets moving at a snails pace compared to a fast moving, pointed bullet, doesn't sound like its in the pistols favor.
  
• You've only got 17rds and then you'd need to reload the pistol, which carrying pistol reloads would be a stupid option compared to bringing an extra 30rd rifle magazine, on top of the extra 30rd magazine you could have brought instead of your pistol, almost doubling your potential carried ammo.

The only real advantage I can possibly think of is that if your rifle were to have a catastrophic meltdown when you really need it, then you're not left totally defenseless. Then the disadvantages I listed come in to play.

My view boils down to not bring a pistol if you're expecting a gun fight. Make sure you've got a reliable rifle and just bring an extra magazine or two instead of a pistol.

So what are your opinions on carrying a pistol in to combat, along with your primary rifle?

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Pistols in firefights, useless or worthwhile?