Rifle 349 November/December 2026

About the Cover: The rifle with the FDE Timber Creek chassis is built on a Mack Brothers Element action with a 20-inch barrel, Nightforce SHV optic and a Dead Air Nomad Ti OTB suppressor. The rifle in the black Timber Creek chassis is a Ruger 10/22 with a Ruger Hammer Forged 20-inch barrel (1:16 RH twist), a Sightmark Citadel 3-18x 50mm optic and a Timber Creek 10/22 Extended Mag Release XL installed. Photo courtesy of Lacey Polacek.

COLUMNS

4 Tyler Gunworks Brasshawk 45 Colt/45 ACP Convertible

Mostly Long Guns

Brian Pearce

8A Matter of Survival

Fouling Shots

Art Merrill

10 Project - Preserving Old 22 Rimfires

Light Gunsmithing

Gil Sengel

14 Armasight Operator 640 1-4x 35mm Thermal Clip-On

A Rifleman’s Optics

Patrick Meitin

18 The Birthday Colt Build

Sixguns, Slugs and Such

Jeff “Tank” Hoover

64 The Perils of Shopping

Walnut Hill

Terry Wieland

FEATURES

22 Timber Creek Chassis Systems

Precision and Versatility Field Trials

Jeremiah Polacek

28 Spohr’s 285 Universal 357 Magnum

Clever Engineering and Exceptional Ergonomics

Art Merrill

34 The New Howa Fence Line Series

An Affordable Working Man’s Rifle from Howa

Patrick Meitin

40 Mitch Boyer Colt

The Little Bighorn Survivor

Alan Garbers

46 My Favorite Medium Bores

Practical Power Never Goes Out of Style

Brian Pearce

54 Browning’s First Family of .22’s

Up to the Challenge

Terry Wieland

60 10/22 Magazine Maintenance Kit

Improve Your Quality of Life for $15

Art Merrill