Several comments on this forum and others throughout the months and even years has made me consider the possibility that perhaps larger caliber service pistols might indirectly give the firearm a boost in reliability under certain conditions.
For instance, in the famous thread on HKpro from 2012 where someone spoke one-on-one with an HK Armorer, the HK employee said this:
"The USP45 is a gun that we pretty rarely see, we very seldom have one come in. The HK45 is rare too... Most of the 45 caliber guns will power through any operator error such as limpwristing. The .40's power through most of it as well. The guns we see in here probably the most are the USP9's and P30L's in 9mm... Those guns with 115gr ammo are pretty unforgiving when it comes to limpwristing. The heavier loads 124 and 147 forgive a little more."
JTQ also echoed what I was wondering in a post of his own:
In addition, a thought-provoking comment here:
I've often wondered if having a slightly higher recoiling pistol trades a little bit of shootability for greater reliability, being able to power through muck and grime as well as being shot with a compromised grip from odd stances or injured hand.
I put this in the Semi Auto Pistols section rather than Ammunition because while ammunition is a part of this equation, the real focus of the matter is the pistols themselves. It might be an academic consideration more than a practical one, but one I thought was interesting to consider nonetheless.