I would still consider the 5.7 a viable defense cartridge in a high capacity pistol. The actual tissue disruption in ballistics gel shows something very similar to a 9mm FMJ, which isn't great, but it's not exactly "bad" either. Especially when you consider it has very little recoil and a lot more shots in the magazine. So while one round doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence, you could put a good 2-3 more inside of a second, and that does add up. So it's viable as a defensive round...I'm just not interested personally.
