I have had a couple of 30-30 lever actions for some years now. One being a 16" Marlin Texan style straight stock and the other a Winchester Model 94 with a 20" barrel. Both had their attributes, but neither was quite ideal. I liked the shorter Marlin for its compact handling characteristics, but I wanted a threaded 30-30 for a suppressor. Plus I like the open top action design of the Model 94 for potentially slipping in a suppressed round if needed.
So, long story short, I decided to have Jim Brockman do some magic on my M94. I asked him to cut it back to where it would be an ideal length between 16" and 18"s as far as capacity went and thread the barrel. Plus on the front sight, I had it set up for globe sights. The open front peep aperture is easy to pick up and framing a larger target in the whole globe is intuitive.
The barrel length measured right at 17 & 3/4"s and holds 6 cartridges +1 in the chamber.
My 16" Marlin holds 5+1.
Balance wise, the Winchester really works well, and I like it a lot.
I have an old print called the "Salmon River Trapper",
That name sort of started me thinking about what a proper Trapper carbine would look like today, and this is how it ended up.
I have a Skinner setup to attach a white light to the mag tube and barrel. I will stick that on there, but depending on the balance, may leave the light off, as it feels pretty nice as it is.
I rarely hike with a rifle in bear country, but I have taken the 16" Marlin a bit and the Winchester less often. Now that the Winchester is set up in a manner a little more to my liking, I may take it along for some short hikes this season, provided the hikes are not in tough terrain where weight matters.
Just for fun, such as shooting Jacks in the winter, I will make some subsonic loads..
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Originally Posted by MattyD380
