Buying guides6 min read
Best gun cleaning kit: what you need and what you do not
The best cleaning kit is four items and a spare patch. Almost everything else in a forty-piece universal set is brass you will never use.
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Guides
The TAS guides
What a round actually costs, what will run in your rifle, and what is worth keeping on a shelf. No filler, no fabricated experts: if we cannot back it up with the catalogue or with a manufacturer’s own data, it does not go up.
From the blog
The most recent 6 pieces.
- Buying guidesBest gun cleaning kit: what you need and what you do notSep 25, 2026 · 6 min
- Buying guidesBrass vs steel case ammo: the extractor argument, measuredSep 25, 2026 · 6 min
- Buying guidesBest deer hunting caliber: the short list that keeps workingSep 24, 2026 · 6 min
- Buying guidesDoes ammo expire? Shelf life, and the round that fails quietlySep 24, 2026 · 6 min
- Buying guidesBest shotgun for home defence: gauge, length, and the load that matters moreSep 23, 2026 · 6 min
- Buying guidesBest caliber for home defence: the overpenetration question firstSep 23, 2026 · 6 min
Buying guides6 min read
Brass vs steel case ammo: the extractor argument, measured
Steel case ammunition saves real money and costs you cleaning time. What it does to barrels and extractors is smaller than the argument around it.
Read the guide →
Buying guides6 min read
Best deer hunting caliber: the short list that keeps working
Four factory loads have been filling tags for decades. The right one for you comes down to shot distance, terrain and recoil you will actually practise with.
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Buying guides6 min read
Does ammo expire? Shelf life, and the round that fails quietly
Ammunition does not expire on a date. It degrades quietly through powder decomposition and primer corrosion, and you find out one round at a time.
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Buying guides6 min read
Best shotgun for home defence: gauge, length, and the load that matters more
The best home-defence shotgun is an ordinary pump with an 18-inch barrel. What you load it with, and whether you have patterned it, matters more than the gun.
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Buying guides6 min read
Best caliber for home defence: the overpenetration question first
Every home-defence caliber goes through interior walls, so the honest question is not which round is safe but which one still works when it gets out of the room.
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Buying guides5 min read
Price per round: how to actually compare ammo
A $19 box and a $290 case are the same ammunition at two different prices per shot. Working out which is which takes ten seconds, and almost nobody does it.
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Buying guides5 min read
Bulk ammo: when buying a case makes sense
A case is cheaper per round than a box. Whether it is cheaper for you depends on shipping, storage, and whether you have actually proved the load in your gun.
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