How much is enough carry ammo?

[ssb]

With the recent drama over HSTs and Gold Dots...

My carry P30, practice P30, and my P30SK are all vetted with the load and I have a practice load with a close POI and similar recoil. I have a practice gun and thus have no need to unload the gun in order to dry fire or practice at the range, so the carry gun stays loaded all the time. Per advice from Tom Givens and others, every six months or so I go to the range and do a series of cold drills with what was in the gun/on me and replace the ammo with fresh ammo. So, I figure that's a bare minimum of 36 rounds per six months -- 31 rounds in the gun and spare mag burned every six months and one round per month lost due to cleaning/lubing (I don't re-chamber them). All of that's probably more than a little paranoid but whatever. I had 500 rounds in an ammo can. I picked up another 200 I saw in a gun store the other day just because, so I've theoretically got enough ammo for the next two and a half years before I even break the seal on the ammo can.

Having nerded out about all of this, how much do you consider "enough" to have on hand for a CCW holder?

[blues]

I'm going to take a somewhat un-PF stance in my reply...but I'll qualify it to some extent.

I have enough HST and GD to last me for a decent amount of time at the rate I go through my ammo. I also have some other rounds which I have vetted through my guns previously, so I'm not worried about running out of ammo.

Okay, now where I think we can get a little overwrought.

When I was still a working stiff, we qualified quarterly. From one quarter to the next we might be issued sub-sonic, Hydra-Shok, Black Talons, Silver Tips, or any of various manufacturer's 9mm ammo. Federal, Winchester, Remington, Speer, you name it.

I can barely remember my performance with any of the rounds fluctuating by more than a few points. And it could have been just being tired from the work day previous, or a good day or a bad day. Who knows?

That said, I'm sure some rounds would have "tested" better than others through various media.

Also, I don't remember any of my guns choking on any of the issued ammo. I may have had a couple of FTF's over 20 years.

As long as any of the ammo from Doc's list is available at less than prohibitive cost...and doesn't choke your gun or cause you to shoot erratically, I don't think it's as big an issue as we make it out to be.

I'll don my flame suit now and lock myself in the basement.

[Cookie Monster]

200 rounds of carry ammo

3 to 5k of practice

[Cypher]

I think the recent developments with Federal/Speer are a good reminder that what was available yesterday may not be tomorrow.

My rule is to keep as much on hand as I can reasonably afford. My wife is a follower of Dave Ramsey and there is an actual paper envelope in my gun safe marked "Ammo" she watches sales and when we can make a purchase we do.

At my current rate of consumption I currently have 2 years supply on hand.

I'd like 2000 rounds but if I get there I'll want 3000

[olstyn]

As long as any of the ammo from Doc's list is available at less than prohibitive cost...and doesn't choke your gun or cause you to shoot erratically, I don't think it's as big an issue as we make it out to be.

I'll don my flame suit now and lock myself in the basement.

I'm a P-F heretic, too. I don't really see the utility of keeping hundreds (or thousands) of rounds of carry ammo on hand at any given time. I shot enough to verify that it works in my guns, and I keep an extra box or two around beyond what I need to keep them loaded, but I shoot it once every never, so why bother spending a bunch of money on supplies that just don't get used? In the event that I decide to shoot up some of the old stuff that I've been carrying, I reload the mags from the supply I've got and then buy another box or two to replenish it with. IMO it's not worth fretting over.

Others' attitudes and mileage may vary, of course.

[JohnO]

When I see what I use at a good price I pick up a case. If I have plenty I will pass unless the price is too good to turn down. Additionally I will contact friends and say
"hey Ranger-T, HST, GD... is at a great price want to split a case". I haven't purchased carry ammo by the individual box in decades. I like the concept of never having to worry about finding it or having to pay highway robbery prices.

[RJ]

Interesting as I appreciate the views here.

For me my carry gun is also loaded ‘always.’ I will also shoot it off at least annually.

When I order more, I would like to vet a couple magazines, and load my EDC and a spare. Plus has some set aside in case.

So my last order of a case of practice ammo included 2 boxes of carry ammo (100 rounds) total.

[Trooper224]

I usually have a couple hundred factory rounds on hand, nor do I keep a large stock of handloads for training. I usually load up what I need before the next range session. That's worked fine for more than three decades. Then again, I don't view the homestead as a bunker for the end times or zombie apocalypse, so that may color my thinking.

[ssb]

To be clear, I was talking specifically about carry ammo. My intent is mainly to hedge against unavailability. I also keep some factory ball around too for a short-notice class opportunity. Or zombies I guess, if that's what you'd like to read into it.

[FNFAN]

500 protection type rounds per caliber except the .38 -which reminds me I need to find some of the HST HP wadcutters.

[TGS]

Enough to fill your mags?

It's carry ammo. Shouldn't really be any reason to be going through it, and it doesn't "go bad" sitting in the mags.

[ssb]

Enough to fill your mags?

It's carry ammo. Shouldn't really be any reason to be going through it, and it doesn't "go bad" sitting in the mags.

None of the stuff I've cycled has ever failed to fire.

Nevertheless, some people -- among them, Tom Givens and the manufacturers -- still advise cycling the carried ammo every six months or so due to it being exposed to temperature variations, sweat, etc.

[TGS]

None of the stuff I've cycled has ever failed to fire.

Nevertheless, some people -- among them, Tom Givens and the manufacturers -- still advise cycling the carried ammo every six months or so due to it being exposed to temperature variations, sweat, etc.

You sweat through your gun and magazines onto the ammo?

Damn. Things must be tough down there!

Regardless of season, my gun and ammo generally stays the same temperature since it's carried against my body.

[blues]

You sweat through your gun and magazines onto the ammo?

Damn. Things must be tough down there!

Regardless of season, my gun and ammo generally stays the same temperature since it's carried against my body.


So basically, cloudy, warm and humid with a chance of rain. :p

[ssb]

You sweat through your gun and magazines onto the ammo?

Damn. Things must be tough down there!

Regardless of season, my gun and ammo generally stays the same temperature since it's carried against my body.

Ok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaQ1lfOuWKI).

But I guess they might teach things differently at FLETC.

[Artemas2]

I view rotating carry ammo as a luxury I have fired 20+ year old boxes of 9mm and .45 from my Grandfather's flooded basement without issue. Granted I shot them all with caution in mind.

As to the OP's question, how long do you want to keep it for and why? 1000 rounds properly stored with lets say two 15 round mags loaded every year for carry will last you a few years...
(that assumes you only fired 30 rounds a year or use a similar practice ammo)

Now if you want to hold out against the zombie hoard just go ahead and rent a storage locker and fill it;)

[CCT125US]

I've started typing responses about a half dozen times to this question. In an attempt to be helpful and not speculative or anecdotal, I deleted them all. But I do think some of my thoughts related to this are of value, so here goes.

Currently, I typically sideline 1 - 2 rounds a month of Gold Dot 124gr +P. Either due to dryfire or live fire. I will chamber a round twice. When it comes out of the chamber after that, it ends up in my range bag or back pocket. Over the years, I have lost count of how many times a round has ended up in the washing machine. Probably several dozen (don't judge, I should know better). Not one has failed to fire after going through the wash cycle. Last year, I was involved in a down and dirty water fight with the kids. Soaked gun and mag thoroughly, mag fired fine a week later. I have soaked GDHP in penetrating oil for several days and ran them over the chrono with no loss in velocity. Certainly a small sample and not scientific but it developed my confidence in the line. In other words, I'm not concearned with perspiration or contamination from lube. When I verify function in a gun, I will shoot SHO, WHO, both from a full mag and a mag with 1-2 rounds in it. This is to verify mag spring tension, in both fully compressed and uncompressed. This can affect slide velocity and therefore reliability. My thinking (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that a very challenging condition for proper cycling would be a dirty gun, worn mag spring, last or second to last round in mag, fired off hand only. This may be why +P is often suggested.

Once I have verified the combo works, I don't see the need to cycle through it outside of regular dryfire and live fire.

[Mike C]

ssb, I would say that depends on how often you have to cycle out your carry ammo. If I use myself as an example I unfortunately have to cycle my ammo quite frequently. I have a 15 y/o, 6 y/o and 5 month old. Despite everything being in a locked container when it is not on my body everything gets unloaded. So I cycle through a fair amount of ammo because I can't bring myself to leave a loaded gun lying about, (regardless of whether it's in a lock box). So between this and my unwillingness to chamber a round more than 3 times it adds up. The one pro to all of this is that I shoot a decent amount of my carry ammo and know exactly how it shoots in all of my guns obvious con of going through more than I'd like and is kind of a downer.

My .02 would be to look at how frequent you cycle through your ammo and figure out what a year or two would calculate to. It's always nice to be able to avoid market fluctuations with ammo or component costs. To give you an idea I load and unload my gun one time each per day in a designated area with a sold backstop. I chamber a round no more than 3 times. At that rate times the number of days per year I run through about 250-350 rounds per year. Some times a little more/less. I personally keep no less that 500 rounds of defensive ammo in all the calibers I own. Typically its more in the 1-2K range. If I see that I am down to 500 I will usually order a case from Kieslers Police Supply, Bone Frog or the like. If my particular flavor is on sale I will suck it up and snag extra when I can. If you don't want to grab it all at once just swing by the shop and buy 2 boxes at a time once every week or two. One thing to think about is I prefer to have two different lots or types of ammo if possible, just in case one lot turns out to be a shit show. Everyone produces garbage every now and then.

[Cypher]

Now if you want to hold out against the zombie hoard just go ahead and rent a storage locker and fill it;)

Which brings its own set of problems such as being tied to the storage locker because you'll never be able to transport all that in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse

[flyrodr]

I usually don't keep more than a half dozen, maybe a dozen, or so boxes of carry ammo around. Rarely use it, other than to sight in a new gun, or verify sights and functioning, and do that periodically primarily with rounds collected after cycling through carry guns a few times. Shelf life does appear to be "a long time". N=1, but I found an ammo can in the back of a storage cabinet in my garage a few months ago. Apparently, I put it there by mistake the last time we moved (30+ years ago). There were several boxes of surplus .45 hardball, head stamped WCC 1972, and a bag of practice reloads in the same brass, so a few years younger. The garage is not insulated, so is subjected to temperature and humidity extremes in the southeast. At over 45 years old, it all ran through a 1911 (itself about 40 years old) without issue. OT, but seems I recall that surplus ammo was about $5.00 a box back then.

[JBP55]

You sweat through your gun and magazines onto the ammo?

Damn. Things must be tough down there!

Regardless of season, my gun and ammo generally stays the same temperature since it's carried against my body.

I saw a Duty Round not fire after 6 months in a duty holster. It was a 180gr. Golden Saber in a G35 prior to the LEA going to Gold Dot about 12 years ago.

Glad it was during qualifications and not on duty.

[ST911]

You need as much as you intend to carry at a given time, with a few extra at home.
You should have enough quantity to handle a year of whatever you'll expend in chambered rounds, rotation, or whatever testing you want for new or existing guns.

Given the number of viable options that are in unrestricted commercial circulation, getting more of something workable just isn't an issue. It may not be your first choice, but an acceptable choice nonetheless. And in this current time of plenty, getting to know and verify some contingency loads is a good idea.

[LittleLebowski]

I go years on carry ammo. I know #DeadOnTheStreets (https://pistol-forum.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=DeadOnTheStreets)

[Cypher]

I change out my carry ammunition every year because every security company I've ever worked for changes out their ammunition every year and it seemed like a good idea.

Between my wife and I we use 3 boxes a year so a thousand round case would last us approximately 7 years. Right now a case of Speer LE Gold Dots is 580 bucks so that's 83 bucks a year. Odds are it will never be cheaper than it is right now so why not?

[Darth_Uno]

Between Glock 17’s, 19’s and a 43 I’ve got quite a few mags loaded up with JHP. I don’t intentionally cycle it out, but I shoot it...whenever I feel like it. Usually when I swap out enough parts on the gun to make it worth checking, or zero new sights. I just buy it as needed, or if I’m putting an order for FMJ in I’ll throw on some boxes of JHP just to have it.

I’ve got enough guns and ammo, I’m not worried about “running out”. Could be that I shoot all the ammo in my 19 mags; I can just carry one of the other guns for a couple days til I get more.

[TGS]

Ok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaQ1lfOuWKI).

But I guess they might teach things differently at FLETC.

I'm not sure what FLETC teaches. Maybe HCM or FredM can weigh in since they've been through FLETCs FITP.

We shoot our duty ammo every qual at my agency, then you get fresh ammo to load up with. Never had problems with ammo stored in mags for prolonged periods though.

[HCM]

I'm not sure what FLETC teaches. Maybe HCM or FredM can weigh in since they've been through FLETCs FITP.

We shoot our duty ammo every qual at my agency, then you get fresh ammo to load up with. Never had problems with ammo stored in mags for prolonged periods though.

FredM’s info is more recent than mine but my recollection is FLETC recommends carry ammo be swapped out at least annually due to exposure and environmental conditions. They also do not recommend repeated chamberinv of the same round.

FLETC serves 80 partner organizations and getting them all to agree on things often results in minimum standards rather than best practices.

My agency, like yours shoots off and replaces carry ammo during quarterly qualifications. Ammo stored in mags can last decades if stored under controlled environmental conditions.

[Trooper224]

Out of curiosity, I made an inventory of what's on hand that would qualify as carry ammo, or has been such at one time or another..

200 rounds 9mm: 100 124grn. Gold Dots, both standard and +P and 124grn. HST +P
100 rounds .45acp: 50 230grn. Gold Dots, 50 230 grn. HST
25 rounds .38 Special: 135grn. Gold Dot +P
25 rounds .357 Magnum 135 grn. Gold Dot
50 rounds .40 S&W: 165 Federal Hydrashok (found that way back in the safe.}

Also, 100 rounds of .223 and 100 rounds of 7.62, but I don't role the Chipotle way for EDC.

I use separate guns for training and carry. My carry gun usually remains in its loaded state, so I don't cycle rounds through over set back concerns. The rounds in my personally owned backup gun get cycled through during qualification or whenever it gets submerged in water. Something that's a rather frequent occurrence given it rides in an ankle holster. Duty rounds are agency issued and get shot up every quarterly qualification so no worries there. Honestly, the rounds in my off duty carry get changed once in a blue moon. They ride in the gun and under my clothing, so they aren't even exposed to sunlight and it's not as if they spoil. The aforementioned inventory is enough to meet my personal carry needs for the foreseeable future.

[beenalongtime]

I saw a Duty Round not fire after 6 months in a duty holster. It was a 180gr. Golden Saber in a G35 prior to the LEA going to Gold Dot about 12 years ago.

Glad it was during qualifications and not on duty.


That said, could you see visible evidence of why it didn't fire, or could it have been a dud round to begin with?

I really appreciate this discussion. I also think I should talk to a LEO friend in the near future and see if they want to split a case, to up both our stashes.

[Hambo]

I saw a Duty Round not fire after 6 months in a duty holster. It was a 180gr. Golden Saber in a G35 prior to the LEA going to Gold Dot about 12 years ago.

The question would be whether it went bad while in the magazine or was bad from the factory. I've seen more duds out of the box, but chambering rounds over and over will hammer them.


When I was still a working stiff, we qualified quarterly. From one quarter to the next we might be issued sub-sonic, Hydra-Shok, Black Talons, Silver Tips, or any of various manufacturer's 9mm ammo. Federal, Winchester, Remington, Speer, you name it.

For those that are issued ammo this is pretty common. We did not shoot duty ammo at every range day, but you could get fresh duty ammo anytime. We were mandated to shoot all the duty ammo we had 1x per year, mainly to make sure the unmotivated weren't carrying the same ammo for half their career.

Whoever was purchasing ammo bought it because: cheap, good reputation, liked the advertisement? As my own purchasing agent now I buy because: on sale, available, forgot I already had some.

I do not unload my carry gun so I'm not worried about beating up individual rounds by chambering them repeatedly. Ammo that is carried gets shot up at least once per year. How much spare carry ammo I keep around varies from a box or two to half a case.

[Paul Blackburn]

To me its more of a question of; do I have enough carry ammo to shoot so I am 100% certain of reliability and POA POI at 7,10,15, 25, 50 yards? Having previously shot enough of the carry ammo to know this is more important to me than how much I have stashed away for potential future use. And of course during the apocalypse we can just use our training ball ammo.

[blues]

Ammo that is carried gets shot up at least once per year. How much spare carry ammo I keep around varies from a box or two to half a case.

Same here. If I haven't shot it prior, it gets taken to the range for my LEOSA qualification and mags are filled with fresh carry ammo.

This past qual was a crazy mix of carry ammo and a few different varieties of training ammo in 147, 124 and 115 gr

My scores were about identical to the past couple of years that I can remember for both day and night.

[JBP55]

That said, could you see visible evidence of why it didn't fire, or could it have been a dud round to begin with?

I really appreciate this discussion. I also think I should talk to a LEO friend in the near future and see if they want to split a case, to up both our stashes.

No explanation why it did not fire but it was chambered in a G35 for 6 months prior to this.

[Robinson]

I keep a few hundred rounds of HST -- both 9mm and .45ACP -- on hand. It is more important to me to have plenty of practice ammo. If for some reason I ran out of HST I could substitute ball ammo in my carry/HD guns. Yes, I would rather keep them loaded with good defensive ammo but if I have to use ball that's life.

[Grey]

Guess i didnt need to order that case of HST...

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Chuck Whitlock]

My agency, like yours shoots off and replaces carry ammo during quarterly qualifications. Ammo stored in mags can last decades if stored under controlled environmental conditions.

And your environment plays its role, as well. Here in south TX, I am in a hot, humid, coastal area, but also do not experience the temperature variations that I did in northeast NE. Below freezing is a very rare, short duration occurrence now. YMMV.

On the other hand, one should cycle ammo at least occasionally. While up in NE, I carried my G27 while mowing and everything else in the summer for a few months. I'd sweat on it something fierce, and the chambered duty round (Fed HS) was slightly corroded in the chamber....couldn't be cycled by hand and had to smack the front of the slide on a wooden bench to clear it.

[nate89]

i will buy when I can get a group to buy a case together. I have a variety of gold dots and HSTs in 124 and 147 standard and +p. Going forward I'll be sticking with one load if possible, plus something that hits POA/POI with my 442. Right now I have in the ballpark of 500 carry rounds, but with all the different types I'll most likely try to get half a case or so of a single type of ammo and use that for the foreseeable future.

[Robinson]

Guess i didnt need to order that case of HST...

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

There's sure as heck nothing wrong with doing that.

[deputyG23]

I tend to overbuy carry ammo since I mostly reload for practice stuff. My stash of 158 grain +P LHP got to less than a 50 round box in reserve so I ordered a case of Remington 38S12 this week when it finally came available again. That should last me for the foreseeable future. 150 rounds of Ranger 38B and 75 of .38 Gold Dot 135 grain are also in the locker for my newer 442 snub. Semi auto carry rounds (9mm and .40) get shot up within 12 to 18 months. I have 400 rounds of Ranger T 124 grain +P, 800 rounds of XM9001, 150 rounds of 9BPLE, and probably 250 rounds of .40 Ranger T 180 grain on hand.

[GAP]

A few hundred; put the “extra” cash towards a mortgage or an experience with your family.

[RevolverRob]

For every 250 rounds of practice ammo I buy, I buy 50-rounds of carry ammo. That’s how I keep track it’s a 5:1 ratio of practice to carry. The exception to this is buckshot and slugs, where for every 50-rounds of birdshot I buy, I buy 5 rounds of buck and slugs each. That’s also a 5:1 ratio, but I track it by 50-round increments, because buckshot and slugs come in smaller boxes.

For how much to keep on hand, here's my philosophy - I want enough on hand to fill every spare magazine and every gun I have which I may carry or use defensively to capacity with carry ammo. For me, that's a non-trivial amount of HST (about 200 rounds of .45 and 400 rounds of 9mm).

ETA: The rate at which I shoot carry ammo is variable. But whenever I go to the range (monthly at best for me), I shoot the carry ammo in the gun I'm carrying, plus the spare mags/speedloaders. This is on average ~30 rounds of carry ammunition. This is always the first ammo I shoot and I shoot it cold, because I doubt I'm going to get into a gunfight all warmed up and focused on shooting. I always bring a full 50-rounds of carry ammo with me when I head to the range, so I can reload my mags. If the lot number has changed, I'll fire 20-rounds of ammo from that lot to confirm function, before reloading the carry gun and spare mag(s).

[beenalongtime]

This may skew some discussion, but I think this is a fair place to ask.

How about new ammo that you buy to try/considering (not supplied by others)? I've bought a box of Magtech bonded 9mm, Finoochi (spelling, none of this is in front of me), seems like one other, and a few boxes of Golden Sabre, as I am more likely to carry it.
The one box of Magtech and Finoochi, I want to verify function and when I go out to a friends farm, set some stuff up to see if I can catch/check expansion. (I don't have gel blocks)
Where the Golden Sabre I have heard enough good things that I am more likely to start with it, with the others getting harder/more expensive to come by. (replacing stash as it is used up) So since it is my default front runner, I want more boxes to test.

[JBP55]

This may skew some discussion, but I think this is a fair place to ask.

How about new ammo that you buy to try/considering (not supplied by others)? I've bought a box of Magtech bonded 9mm, Finoochi (spelling, none of this is in front of me), seems like one other, and a few boxes of Golden Sabre, as I am more likely to carry it.
The one box of Magtech and Finoochi, I want to verify function and when I go out to a friends farm, set some stuff up to see if I can catch/check expansion. (I don't have gel blocks)
Where the Golden Sabre I have heard enough good things that I am more likely to start with it, with the others getting harder/more expensive to come by. (replacing stash as it is used up) So since it is my default front runner, I want more boxes to test.

Line up some 1 gallon jugs filled to capacity and capped for a comparison of penetration and expansion. Four in a row for each round should work with or without 4 layers of old jeans.

Most 9mm hollow points will stop in the 3rd jug.

[Cypher]

This may skew some discussion, but I think this is a fair place to ask.

How about new ammo that you buy to try/considering (not supplied by others)? I've bought a box of Magtech bonded 9mm, Finoochi (spelling, none of this is in front of me), seems like one other, and a few boxes of Golden Sabre, as I am more likely to carry it.
The one box of Magtech and Finoochi, I want to verify function and when I go out to a friends farm, set some stuff up to see if I can catch/check expansion. (I don't have gel blocks)
Where the Golden Sabre I have heard enough good things that I am more likely to start with it, with the others getting harder/more expensive to come by. (replacing stash as it is used up) So since it is my default front runner, I want more boxes to test.


The Meat Target.


https://youtu.be/nX3gpJ-GAy0

[navyman8903]

So I usually go the overkill route with ammo and mags. I tend to overstock for a myriad of reasons, mostly because of 3 primary reasons.

1. You are responsible for YOU, no one is coming it is up to you.
2. I used to be a resident of the Socialist Empire of New York. So you don't know when your supply is going to get cut off or your laws will change while you were literally sleeping.
3. Some of my favorite rounds are other people's favorite rounds, thus hard to come by unless you've got money ready when that back in stock email hits your inbox.

That said, I have made my minimum for pistol rounds (9mm/45acp for my wife and I) 1000 Self Defense rounds on hand in storage. That's do not go below unless Red Dawn or EOW scenario. Those rounds stay in storage until the next case shows up to relieve them, but at this point I'm at about 2K of SD rounds for 45acp and 9mm each. I also DO NOT count rounds in mags. So my carry gun, HD gun, and loaded mags do not reflect the ammo I've required myself to have in storage. I also strive for 5K rounds of each caliber for practice for pistol and rifle, for classes when they pop up. OR! If my wife and I want to go shoot. I also shoot my SD rounds quite often, not just at the end of the year round up like most people do. Which is very expensive.

Rifle SD rounds I stack to the roof. I can never have enough BH 77gr TMK, MK318, and 168/175gr SMK's for the 7.62s/.308's. My bank account definitely can though......... If I had so much money I didn't know what to do with it, I would probably stop at 10k per caliber. Which I know to most is very unreasonable. But I shoot 77gr TMK's at matches, not 55gr stuff. When I zero my scope on something, that's all that gun eats period.


If you want a reasonable approach keeping the three principals I laid out above....... I'd say whatever you carry x2 (IE if you carry a G19 with a spare, have 4 G19 mags loaded up), and 500-1000 rounds in reserve. Whatever fits your budget. Then for rifle, 3x that all around. For the simple fact of if you ever need your rifle. I mean NEED your rifle, you'll want every round you can get your hand on. And if you're in a state that just flipped Blue, watch out for those ammo restriction bills.

[JRB]

There's only two situations in which you can have too much ammo:

-When you're near it, and it's on fire.
-When you're carrying it, and drowning.

Past that, buy as much as you can afford/have space to safely store.

[jeffreybehr]

For some reason, the number 2000 sounds really good to me. I've switched (from 10mm) to 9mm and then (back to) 357Sig this year, and it seems that all three particular models of my favorite (and only) carry ammo, Federal HST, have been discontinued. This year I've also decided that at age 75 I no longer wish to reload ammo, so the 2000 rounds still seems like NOT too much. When the next order arrives soon, I'll have 2K of Federal HST 357Sig ammo in stock, and if I have some cash left over after paying this month's creditcard bills early next month AND if the seller still has any in stock, I'll buy more next month. I also have almost 2K of 9mm Federal HST surplus.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/100092-jeffreybehr/albums/12799-s-w-m-p-357-sig/picture120831.jpg

This is an original-version M&P fullsize that was in .40S&W and into which I installed one of my three S&W 357Sig barrels. I carry it with one extra mag = 31 cartridges. M&P's magazines are the same for .40S&W and 357Sig. I do not have big hands and find that the M&Ps are quite comfortable and much more so than any Glock I've had. My only gripe about any of the M&Ps I've owned is their poor-quality triggers. Oh well...

[navyman8903]

There's only two situations in which you can have too much ammo:

-When you're near it, and it's on fire.
-When you're carrying it, and drowning.

Past that, buy as much as you can afford/have space to safely store.

I should have went this route in my explanation. Well said with excellent brevity.