A good friend of mine was shot through the leg with a .45 a few years ago. It was a negligent discharge from a (then) friend of his that sent a 230 grain jacketed hollow point through his leg, just missing the femur and femoral artery. It went through and through and when he recalls the incident he states that it didn't hurt when he was hit and he initially didn't notice it had happened and also that there was absolutely no feeling of his leg being shoved in any way. His conclusion, which has played a role in helping me form opinions of my own, is that stopping power in handguns is a myth. Handguns are inherently underpowered so shot placement is key. If you need something that does more, you need a rifle or a shotgun.
I was on the receiving end of a negligend discharge nearly 20 years ago. A .380 auto went off and the bullet a hollow point struck a steel rod, glanced off and hit the big finger in my left hand. The bullet must have struck the rod slightly off center because when I found it the next day, it was flattend and when it struck me must have been more like a very dull knife edge. The finger bone, between knuckle and first joint was broken in 3 places, so it took a little over an hour of surgery and several pins to put things back together, then about 6 weeks of therapy to regain function and straighten it out. When the surgeon took the pins out I carved a splint out of a small piece of cherry wood, that fit across the palm of my hand and all the bumps and curves of the finger so I could wear it and straighten the finger which had taken on a bad curve like a permanent fist. My surgeon said that they could not make or supply anything nearly as good as what I made for the purpose. Now the finger is perfectly straight, a little stiff but I have 100% range of motion and use
When I was struck, I did feel it, but absolutely no pain, just like something had grabbed my hand hand give it a quick hard shake. My wife took me to the ER in our little town, where it was assessed, and cleaned, and my ER doc, friend, arranged for the surgeon in a nearby town about 35 miles away, so they wrapped it and my wife drove me up there. I never experienced any pain , and only some minor discomfort when the surgeon pulled the pins out with some med vice grip pliers( I thought they were a bit large and got him a set of the real small 4" size which he likes)