Rifle 345 March/April 2026

This issue's cover features a Marlin 1894 Trapper fitted with both a rear aperture and a front blade sight from Skinner Sights and an Anechoic compact AnechoX 45 suppressor. Alongside the Marlin is a Colt Kodiak with a 4/-inch ported barrel. Both are chambered in 44 Magnum. To carry the Kodiak in the field is a Sourdough Pancake Surf & Turf holster made by Rob Leahy of Simply Rugged Holsters. Photo by Lacey Polacek.

6 Aperture Sights: Installation and Sight-in Tips
Mostly Long Guns
Brian Pearce

10 Assassins, Revolvers and Bicycles
Fouling Shots
Art Merrill

12 Mauser M98 Action Suitability
Light Gunsmithing
Gil Sengel

16 Zero Compromise Optic ZC420
A Rifleman's Optics
Patrick Meitin

20 Journey to the Ruger Bisley Hunter
Sixguns, Slugs and Such
Jeff "Tank" Hoover

66 Inflation: Pluses and Minuses
Walnut Hill
Terry Wieland

FEATURES

22 One Cartridge, Two Guns
Field Testing the Marlin 1894 and the Colt Kodiak in 44 Magnum
Jeremiah Polacek

30 The Colt Woodsman Match Target
Love at Second Sight
Terry Wieland

36 Horizon Firearms Vandal Prime in 25 Creedmoor
A Dazzling Firearm
Producing Tiny Groups
Patrick Meitin

42 Smith & Wesson's Brazilian Contract Modelo 1937
History in Your Hands
Art Merrill

48 Sporting Bolt-Action Rifle Stock Designs
How Stock Geometry Shapes Comfort, Control and Accuracy
Brian Pearce

56 All-Purpose Revolvers
Versatility, Reliability and Power
Dick Williams