I started carrying way back in the 80s. The conventional wisdom at that time was that autoloaders required at least 500-1000 rounds before they could be considered reliable enough to carry. Back then, 1911s were the standard, and the high round count was considered necessary because, well, 1911s gonna 1911.
Contemporary autoloaders with contemporary defensive ammunition are pretty much faultless. I put three magazines of 124-grain +P HST through my new G45 plus a couple hundred rounds of hardball and called it good, and I’m comfortable carrying it. It has since gone through several hundred more rounds of hardball and coated lead bullet ammo with no issues.
I’m about to take delivery on an LE trade-in M&P40. My plan is to shoot the two magazines of 180-grain HST from my current M&P40 plus about 100 rounds of my handloads and call it good. I figure it’s already broken in.
Do I need to do more?