16inch 30-30 barrel.

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Wild West Guns cuts their lever guns down and so does Grizzly Custom Guns (others too, I am sure). Grizzly has some nice articles on their "Brush Hawg" that you can look at: www.grizzlycustomguns.com.

Personally, I'd cut one down in an instant (but before I did, I'd think about adding Treebone stocks). But that's just me.
 
I sent my 336 in 30-30 off to Jim Brockman and he cut it down to about 16.75". I am very happy with it. I definately like it shorter and I just finished a week of deer hunting with it. On some days I carried a 30-06 bolt action with a 24" barrel. I definately appreciated the shorter barrel on my 336. I am mostly a 3 MOA shooter with 10 shot groups. At times I can shoot 2 MOA. As best I can tell, the conversion didn't alter the accuracy. Likely the rifle is more accurate than I am. It is plenty accurate for deer hunting. The capacity went from 6+1 to 5+1. Again, more than enough for deer hunting. I don't have any regrets shortening the barrel length and would do it over again.
 
Necro thread restart

With Lobo's permission -- and the mods -- I'd like to re-start this thread.

Why? I participated in it 5 years ago. (See the post immediately above.)

I'm finally planning to get my .30-30 cut down. (The reason that I haven't yet is a long story, and not appropriate here.) I'm seeking advice about the process, and have considered starting a thread about it (in addition to several others I'm participating in about .30-30, including the one in my sig line).

But on a web search for ".30-30 short barrel", this one came up.

Thoughts?
 
Instead of cutting existing barrel, just wondering ever considered buying one originally with a 16" barrel? I had one last year and liked the balance of it and was pretty darn accurate to
 
I have indeed considered that, ifit. It's a reasonable strategy.

But in my case, I'll not do it. Reasons: 1) I'm poor (at least for now; hopefully that will change next year with a new business strategy) and would have to sell this rifle to afford a different one. I like this one; I've done some work on it (polishing the action), and want to stick with it.

Two: my profession keeps me moving to new digs where I stay for months to a year. That'll continue for a while. I don't want to tote multiple guns around, and have to store them in temporary quarters. So my kit needs to remain small (right now, two rifles, one handgun; I'm fine with that.)

Three, related to two, I like to get to know my guns very well. I've never been a collector, or a fan of shooting lots. I've spent years honing my gun kit, like the one's I've settled on. I want to cut my .30, scope it (Leupold VX Hog), and get to know it very well. I'm super eager to find a couple or three loads for it that it likes a lot. Hypothesis:

hogs: 170 gr
deer: (Florida, small) either 150 or 160 Hornady -- I'm eager to try those more
general and HD, perhaps even Florida deer: 125 gr
 
ask yourself

IF they NEED a barrel longer than 16".

Does that mean that the Thompson Center Contender with a "super 14" barrel" not work as a hunting pistol ?.

I used a Super 14 in .35 Remington for 30 years,it did the job.

Hope that is close to what your seeking.

btw = I have a Winchester trapper with a 16" barrel that I killed a wild hog with,a few years back .
 
Yep, the Super 14 packs plenty of punch and i don't hold much to the theory of exponential muzzle blast in shorter barrels. I only wish we could carry -16" rifle barrels with jumping through hoops.
 
I love short leverguns and have found that they perform well. I like the 16" and 18" inch bbls. If I had to have just one, I would probably go with the 18". It is plenty compact for me and seems just a little less blasty (is that a real word? I will admit it is totally subjective.)

Here are a few of my shorties:

IMG_8105_zpsa91bb73a.jpg
 
I cut down a Marlin 336to 16.5" a while back and just got to the range with it a oth ago. With Leverevolution ammo it holds under 2" at 100 yards using a Burris Fastfire III. With Skinner peep sights it is at an inch or so at 50 yards.
 
That's hardcore gunporn EVCMatt. What are those? Very nice. I've been looking at getting a lever action for a while.
 
I've seen Matt's Gporn a couple of times, but never get tired of seeing it. That one 2nd from the bottom is my fav: looks 336ish. He's named 'em, but I can't remember. I see it as a model of what mine will look like soon.

Snorko, such results as yours make me smile; gaining confidence for the chop.
 
A little advice on pricing, please

So, I finally got serious this afternoon about finding a good smith to do this work at a reasonable price.

I'll send it off if I must, but hoping to get lucky finding a local smith (w/in 45 mi) to do it. I'd rather meet the guy and talk with him a bit.

I've called three numbers so far, one is Gander Mt. Another one never picked up (I was put on hold), and the third told me what I asked for, but not necessarily what I wanted to hear.

I'd read months back to expect barrel cut and crown, plus mod magazine was going to be in the range of $80 -- at least I think. This guy quoted me $100 - $150 (why so much range?), and said if I he had to come out to the counter to answer my questions, he'd have to charge me for that. Hmm.

I've found a fourth one west of here in a different town, but his web site doesn't work, and he has 4 reviews on his google page: 2 5-star ("he's great"), two 1-star (he's an a** and a rip off). Not getting a good feeling about that one.

I'll send it off if I must, and am open to reading your advice.
 
I will take a 16 inch barrel all day long there. Every day. I have thought very hard about a SBR 357 lever... Just hate going so far down on capacity.

No complaints on the 14 inch encore in 30 30 either!

I shoot almost entirely cast bullets in these rifles, so that may play into it. I am quite happy with 1900 FPS and very happy with results on deer and targets.

The lever guns I have had cut threaded etc all ranged in price based on how the mag tube attached and how much machine time it would take. My marlins were easy and cheaper than my rossi 92 simply due to the mag sight work.
 
Gadzooks man! Now I want my 80's vintage W94 cut down to trapper length. Only thing I kill is paper and a boulder here and there.
 
My 336sdt (stainless 16.5 barrel) does fine at 250yds(there's a 12in gong there) so should do fine for what you want.
 
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