Pistols: The Shrinking Gap

I've always been a rifle guy when it comes to my main weapon, but if there's one thing I've noticed during games it's how versatile some of these pistols can be... how they can match up to a rifle in power but still be small and nimble enough not to hinder mobility.  You've probably seen it yourself, someone at a Nerf game that's just tearing it up with a NiteFinder or even a Jolt.  Granted, a majority of the games I play involve mostly stock and lightly modified Nerf-brand blasters (no homemades or anything with Stefans or things like that), so keep that in mind during this discussion.

There seems to be a careful balance between blaster size and blaster capability that can be overlooked.  Some larger pistols, like a Maverick, Strongarm, or Vigilon, are still quite large.  However, there are blasters like the Recon, Retaliator, Diatron, and Stryfe that can be broken down to roughly the same size but exceed the potential for increased range and dart capacity.  Not only that, but larger pistols can't be holstered as easily as smaller ones like a Firestrike or Proton, meaning that they kind of HAVE to be used as a primary.

Things like the Jolt and Triad make the mid-sized blasters a tough sell.  My Triad, for instance, can hit anything my Strongarm can.  Sure it has half the capacity, but it's also one third the size.  If the Strongarm is powerful enough to be used as a Primary, so can this little hairdryer lookalike blaster, right?

There's a clear shrinking gap for larger "sidearm" sized pistols and blasters that, in my opinion, leaves them in the dark.  For the same performance but smaller size, you can go with an Elite Jolt, Triad, Firestrike, or Proton.  For the same size and better performance, you can go with a Stryfe, Retaliator, or Diatron.  These facts make me wonder ... why bother with blasters like the Strongarm?