Principles of Ammunition Storage

Where possible it makes sense to store your ammunition in the gun safe with the gun. Should your firearm safe be too small or be too full to fit ammunition you could really store the ammunition anywhere. If you expect to need access to that ammunition in a home emergency you should store it close to the safe.

Ammunition should be stored in a dry environment. If you live somewhere that is naturally humid you may need to invest in a de-humidifier or a powder or other product designed to suck the moisture out of the air in your gun safe, which makes it all the more important that your gun safe be air tight.

Ammunition does become less reliable over time. When you buy ammunition often the manufacturer will have a recommended shelf life on the packaging. Ideally you would fire ammunition within one year. As ammunition ages it doesn’t become dangerous, just less reliable. Thus, for self-defense purposes you should put newer ammunition into the gun. For training purposes you can shoot as old of ammunition as you like. That said, it makes the most sense to rotate your ammunition the same way you would your food storage, always shooting the oldest ammunition first.

Gun Safe Locking Mechanisms

There are various gun safe locking mechanisms. The more common include biometric, padlock, key lock, and digital keypads.
Padlocks make for great locking mechanisms for non-home emergency gun safes that preferably would be more difficult and time consuming to open.
Key locks are the least preferable locking systems. They are most prone to lock sensitivities and are vulnerable to the infamous lost key. Keys can also break off in locks thus disabling the safe until a locksmith can be called. Keys can also be copied with a simple impression giving criminals the ability to duplicate copies at their will.