:shock: :shock: :shock: ......Why bother with the Feds?......... just cut the barrel back to 16 1/4" and be DONE WITH IT!!!!
Your sending your $200.00 to Hilary and the LIBERALS!!!!!...WAKE UP and look at the impending future...............

Jeez.........

Tomray
NRA LIFE

 

Right on Tomray,why doe people want to change the well tested weapons and calibers?

 

A .30-30 cartridge is just over 2.5" long. You could get three cartridges and the spring with its follower into 10" of magazine tube, but there is no point in doing so. A barrel cut back that severely would give tremendous muzzle blast and very poor ballistics. If you just have to have such a contraption, possibly from an overdose of "Johnny Yuma" in childhood, you would be far better advised to start with an 1894 in .357 or .44 Mag.

 

There's a fella here that cut his down to 16.25 and he has a 4 round mag tube.
I'm thinking of doing the same, or check on a Spikehorn which is the discountinued factory version. That posted a mag capacity of 4 also, with 16.25 barrel.

 

Why do you want to take a perfectly good rifle and screw it up like that? I'm no expert, but I would think that unless your planning on just "filling air" with it I see no point.. Marlin has done the work and they produce some of the finest shooting rifles i have ever owned, leave it as is and be happy. I shouldn't read these things after a days worth of beer swizling, I have to re read everything twice and have a strong tendacy(?) to speak my mind! some other time. edit: It's your money and if you want to piss it away that's your business, mine is putting three shots at a 100yds under a dime and not being happy with that, cause I can do better with my 336W 30-30!!!! Mr fixit

 

Just get a Contender in pistol form, and get a 30-30 barrel for it.

 

They used to make them real short.
I cant say I see a practicle side to it but I can relate to the desire. I'd think about a short action though, you wont lose as much ballisticlly & it'll hold more rounds.
Heck, if I needed a reason I couldn't justify more than 3 or 4 guns. :lol:
Dont know how short to keep 3 but its easy to see. Stuff 3 rounds in a tube with a spring & follower & see how much room they use up.

 

I agree with Tomray and don't see the need to go so short to get the Feds involved. In my unprofessional opinion, a 16" barrel is as short as I would go for the gun to still remain functional and practical.

BTW Are you basing this idea on the WWG leverpistol?

 

This sounds like another vote for my Marlin 336TF. Short barrel with a button magazine or full length if so desired. 16.25" is plenty short.

Papalote

 

This is mine with 16.25 inch bbl. The mag tube holds 3 rds of handloads with 125 gn HPs in them. It will not hold three with 150 or 170s in it. So if you go with a short bbl and full mag tube you should get two or three more. The upper is a .35 for comparison.

 

Thanks Swany, I see you are in MI. I am in Mt. Clemens, on the East side of the State. I have researched and can get handloads to at least 2000 fps with 150 grain bullets with a 10" barrel so if I go to 11-12 it will still be a useable deer rifle. I appreciate the response, I plan to make a clone of your rifle out of a .35 Remington 336 when I find a project gun.

To leverdude, handyrifle and a few others, thanks for the reply. I want to make an interesting firearm that is compact and usable. I've never used 3 rounds on an animal and can't think of any situation in which 4 in the gun would not be enough. The rifle will put meat on the table and since it is short, will also be used by my son at the range with some light loads. The gun won't kick and the shorter length will help with his off-hand shooting as the gun will be easier to hold up for him.


To most everyone else, I am shocked at the hypocrisy here. It apparently seems to be fine to swap to an octagon barrel, cut a barrel to 16 inches, add scopes, put laminated stocks, change from straight to pistol grip or back, get a rifle engraved but most of you seem to freak out when someone wants to make a legal rifle less than 16". It is perfectly legal and was a popular modification amongst lawmen in the late 1800s with lever actions and shotguns. John Wayne himself carried a Winchester with a barrel that was less than 16" in most of his movies but I don't see everyone up in arms over that. Winchester made 15" barreled lever guns from the factory. I'll bet a few of you even gre up watching a TV about a guy with a short barreled shotgun. I'm taking a beat up Marlin that a friend could not sell for $150 and making it into an interesting gun that will be handy to carry and hunt with. I'm not chopping up a mint condition, one of 100, rare toolroom gun, but giving life to what most of you would say is a piece of junk with a broken stock and no finish. I love Marlins, I have 7 of them. All stock except for sights.

 

By all means then sir..To the chop saw.
And Don't forget to photo-essay.

(now I could get grumpy on butchered .35...it depend on how it turns out!)
cw

 

drdremel, here is a closeup of the magazine attach I done on my 30-30 you will find it works well. I would recommend just going to Wal Mart and get an Uncle Mikes sling swivel kit for a bolt gun and using the forend screw for your tube attach instead of making one as I did. Glad to hear from fellow Michiganders. Welcome to the forum even if you did get a bunch of us old curmudgeons in an uproar. Please do keep us updated with pics if possible.

 

It's you dime to do what you like with your money and firearms..

In all fairness Yep I grew up with all the Short guns.. like the Hogleg McQueen used, and the Duke, Rifleman and others that had special movie prop guns made by Stembridge Company..


I am the opposite of most here.. I was in hog heaven when Marlin made the xlr with longer barrel.. ( would like walnut stock and forearm option) but I love the gun .. I had a carbine too.. and probably will have another one .. but I would not want a shorter one.. it's just personal preference. :lol:

 

drdremel,

I had one of mine cut down to 16.25" and lost one round of capacity. I personally like SBR's, but that's one thing I can't have in AL. We can have a SBR only if it's full auto, suppressors, AOW's, but no SBR's or SBS's. Anyway, here's what I came up with.

Personally, I love the customs that folks come up with. Traditional or not, long or short, wood or synthetic, I don't care-like em' all. The way I look at it, is Marlin has made a bunch of them. Most seem to have been taken care of, but some were not. If you can bring a neglected, abused, rifle back to life I say "go for it!". At the same time, if you want to start with a new one it doesn't bother me either.

 

One word of warning on the short bbl for youths, make sure that they are comfy with ear protection as the muzzle blast gets louder.

 

Swany does have a good point. My 16.25" .30-30 makes a helluva lot of noise. It is almost as loud as my 444P (and it's ported).

 

I concur completely on the muzzle blast issue. I have owned several of the Marauder and LTS rifles over the years. The muzzle blast is much more noticeable than a 20" barreled rifle. Another issue you will have is poor balance. A Marlin rifle with a 10. 12 or even 14" barrel will appear to be very rear heavy and will not point naturally. For me, 18" is the shortest barrel I would want on a Marlin to maintain good balance. I too am interested in how the finished product turns out though.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I promise to only chop a rifle that is in need of an overhaul anyway. It will take a while to finish as the paperwork alone is going to be a 3-4 month wait. I plan on using a Ramline Cadet stock to both make it lighter and easier for short shooters. I will have the muzzle threaded with a thread protector in case I want to add a brake or a silencer. My son usually wears foam plus and electronic muffs as it can turn up converstion enough to hear with the plugs in yet muffles loud noises as well. Swany, when it's done, and I get over to your side of the state, I'll bring it along. I also would like to make one similar to yours as the short mag tube with your barrel looks very balanced. My first deer gun was a .444 and even though I have carried many different rifles, I tend to go back to lever guns as they are handy. I will post pictures when it is done. I will also chronograph the loads. I may put a loop lever on it since it is going to be small enough to lever one handed. I'm not sure.

 

Balance hadn't even crossed my mind. My "Black Marlin" is still quite balanced, but I also switched out the wood stock for the synthetic which is considerably lighter than the wood. Mounting the scope forward probably helped a little too... If you take weight off the front, you need to take a little of the back.

Drdremel, make sure you post some pics when you're building/done with it. I for one would love to see it!

 

drdremel, looking foward to it. Bring ammo I have range in my back yard.