Author Topic: My 30-30 Winchester Shorty (16.5") (Read 4848 times)

Spanky · « **Reply #30 on:** June 04, 2013, 12:17:31 PM »

I've had a couple shorty Handi's but got rid of them. They're stupid loud and I don't shoot from a truck so length isn't an issue... besides... a 22" Handi is shorter than most guns to begin with.
I do like shorty Pardners though... 20" seems just about perfect to me for them.

Spanky

cwlongshot · « **Reply #31 on:** June 04, 2013, 01:57:07 PM »

Quote from: Spanky on June 04, 2013, 12:17:31 PM

I've had a couple shorty Handi's but got rid of them. They're stupid loud and I don't shoot from a truck so length isn't an issue... besides... a 22" Handi is shorter than most guns to begin with.
I do like shorty Pardners though... 20" seems just about perfect to me for them.

Spanky

Yours is a good example Spank. Many simply dont like them and thats 100% fine too. Not everything is for everyone.. kinda booring if it where!

Like any good thing, doing it wrong or improperly or not as it was intended can lead to undesireable results.

If one chooses the wrong calibers, obnoxious noise, hellatious blast and uncomfortable shooting is the result. Sure short light guns are always very manuverable, but range limitations can also occur.

I have said this before... I have some big $$ invested in two beautiful Marlin Marauder rifles... These where made with 16'' barrels in 35 Rem and 30-30 calibers. They are safe queens, stored in double silicone socks, in the back of a safe...why. Because THEY ARE TOO FLIPPIN' LOUD to make shooting / hunting with them enjoyable!!

BUT, choose a Rim fire, 357M, Maxi, 44 mag, 45 Colt, 410, 20,16,12, 10g and thats a different story. I have been hunting with, shooting and enjoying shorties for many years. I love them and will likely always have them, they are simply too handi not to!

CW

Joe S. · « **Reply #32 on:** June 04, 2013, 03:45:57 PM »

i agree, CW.

the 358 Encore i had, while VERY handy, was ported, and pulling the trigger on that thing was BRUTALLY loud!! however, my 444 with 18.5" ported barrel isnt bad. i guess because of the lower pressure?

twoshooter · « **Reply #33 on:** June 04, 2013, 04:56:08 PM »

The "handiest" short gun I have shot is a contender carbine with youth length stock and 16" barrel. It was somewhat loud, it was in 30/30. The OAL on the gun was under 30" and weighed about 5 pounds. It was the easiest to transport through brush or move around in a stand I have ever used. I also use the 30/30 in a contender 14" with good results.(I hunt here in Missouri in the alternative season, killed a little buck in '12) I will pose the opposite question of Manny, why does everyone insist on trying to advertise testosterone levels by using T-Rex level loads on animals that have been harvested for millennium with pointy sticks with sharp rocks on them?? I don't need 30-06 level performance on anything I hunt, and neither do 90% of other hunters. Unless you are after Elk or larger it is just an exercise in ego. I have killed everything smaller very dead with a 22 magnum. I find that heavy calibers at very modest velocity are very efficient, clean killers, destroy very little meat or fur, and produce low frequency, moderate muzzle blast. I have some long range rifles that come out of the rack every few years or so, but the short guns go with me all the time. Since I gave my 22 mag to my grandson for Christmas a couple of years ago, I have used a 357 and Hornet for 90% of my shooting. Since deer are only hunted here 4 weeks a year, why would I waste so much powder and lead to "kill" paper ? Subsonic 38's are really quiet, even more so than 22 LR. Way cheaper also these days!!

Joe S. · « **Reply #34 on:** June 04, 2013, 05:54:23 PM »

I agree! I am about to the point i want to keep one 22 for squirrels and replace the rest with 38/357 rifles. I can load 38's with cast boolits for just a FRACTION over the cost of 22's at pre panic prices...

petemi · « **Reply #35 on:** June 05, 2013, 04:18:09 AM »

Quote from: Joe S. on June 04, 2013, 05:54:23 PM

I agree! I am about to the point i want to keep one 22 for squirrels and replace the rest with 38/357 rifles. I can load 38's with cast boolits for just a FRACTION over the cost of 22's at pre panic prices...

I'll second that. I can load .38s and .32-20s so inexpensively my .22s think they are orphans. I seldom use a .22 rimfire for anything anymore. An old widow neighbor, 86 years old, called me a few minutes ago and said her shotgun was broken and could I come over and dispatch a woodchuck she caught in a leg hold trap. I naturally figured it to be a large and dangerous animal and might charge

so I took my .45 Colt Handi (it was Handy, right in reach). It turned out the beast was a baby...perhaps a pound and a half. It was a real challenge from a foot and a half, but I knew the .45 could handle it.

She had an old Western Field 20 ga. bolt action shotgun that hadn't seen oil in about 50 years. The magazine was missing and the bolt was installed incorrectly. I cleaned it up, reinserted the bolt properly, lubed everything and took it out and shot it. Everything works. She'll be home this afternoon and I'll return it with some 20 ga. #6.

I don't know about these old broads, we've got another 86 widow that still goes out and knocks off her buck every year. Yeah, she calls for help to handle it, but she gets it by herself.

Pete

Itsricmo · « **Reply #36 on:** June 05, 2013, 06:03:32 AM »

I guess I took everyone's willingness to help me in choosing a caliber, length, etc... as a common acceptance of the short rifles. I see so many floating around here I never thought to ask.. "What do you REALLY think about the shorty Handi's??"...

Potentially keeping the barrel 22" would save me around $120... I'd have to rethink my truck-storage options but 6" can't be THAT hard to fit somewhere... can it be? lol

If I wasn't so new to the reloading scene or had a source for ammo, the .357 would be my guy... but neither of those match up at all lol

Maybe I should reconsider my whole little project as I only have the receiver right now.... Thanks for sharing your input everyone.

mannyrock · « **Reply #37 on:** June 05, 2013, 09:02:32 AM »

No problem guys. All in good fun.

I tried a Marlin 336 Youth once, 16 inch barrel, but with a full size butt stock added. It pointed about as well as a 5 pound engineer's hammer would, with the hammer head in your shoulder. :-)

But, if you all like them, then that's more than fine with me. :-)

Manny

Joe S. · « **Reply #38 on:** June 05, 2013, 09:27:30 AM »

Pete,
Neat story! Sounds like you werent over gunned, the chuck was just under bodied!

gcrank1 · « **Reply #39 on:** June 05, 2013, 10:21:08 AM »

Itsricmo, I know I would like the all round usefulness of the 38/357M/Max after years of messing about with lots of calibers. I also dont mind any 20-22" barrel, iffn I want or need shorter I'll grab a handgun. Get one and live with a while then consider any changes rather than all up front.
As has been said, we can now reload 38 cal.'s for about the same price as 22LR, if you can find some, and the low velo loads are quiet, fun and will bag small game or varmints just fine. Where I hunt the typical long shot is 50yd. so it would take Whitetail too.

petemi · « **Reply #40 on:** June 05, 2013, 10:44:47 AM »

Quote from Itsrcimo "What do you REALLY think about the shorty Handi's??"... In my opinion, there's nothing like them. The new Handis are heavy barreled. If you chop them, and it's a caliber that won't kill you, put it on a synthetic stock, you have a sweet, balanced, fast swinging little gun. I put the bigger guys on laminated stocks. Don't pester me with more questions 'cause I'm busy making shorties.

Pete

rdlange · « **Reply #41 on:** June 05, 2013, 03:36:55 PM »

6" cut off can make alot of difference in a vehicle and a lighter, 'handier' gun. The synthetic youth stocks make the rifle even lighter and more compact.

Shortening will cost you the price of a hacksaw, file and some sandpaper. and some careful effort. Alot of us have done it several different ways and it worked for all of us. Not a big deal. Google 'LEE case trimmer barrel crown'. Easy.

Maybe I'm just too lazy to shorten any of mine and making excuses. Your gun, your choice.

Hey Pete, what you do with all those little pieces if barrel?

YRUpunting? · « **Reply #42 on:** June 05, 2013, 03:50:54 PM »

Quote from: rdlange on June 05, 2013, 03:36:55 PM

Hey Pete, what you do with all those little pieces if barrel?

Rumor has it he had so many of them he used them to frame the greenhouse he built for his wife.

Itsricmo · « **Reply #43 on:** June 05, 2013, 03:58:50 PM »

I indeed did not mean to offend you, Pete

If long barreled Singles make you mad, I will refrain from discussing them! haha
Everything is still up in the air.. Caliber, Barrel Length, Stock... Sights.. Everything. I am having a difficult time deciding Caliber and Barrel Length especially lol...

I have begun to consider 30-06 a little more and .270 has intrigued me... I think once I can actually start this "build" full swing, I am going to drive myself nuts. Thankfully, my wedding is holding me back right now lol

twoshooter · « **Reply #44 on:** June 05, 2013, 04:55:01 PM »

One of my other favorites is my BC with a 32" barrel, nothing wrong, just everything has it's place. You mentioned a 270 ...... and an '06....... it not length that is really so important as..

.RIMS You really don't want to go rimless

, there is just something

about rimless. The 30/30 has

all those high pressure, super velocity barn burners......

.....

rdlange · « **Reply #45 on:** June 05, 2013, 05:04:25 PM »

AH HA...! I DO have a shorty.! Just remembered I cut my BC to 28". Ohhhhhhhhhhh... now I feel GOOD!!!

Itsricmo · « **Reply #46 on:** June 05, 2013, 06:36:10 PM »

Quote from: twoshooter on June 05, 2013, 04:55:01 PM

One of my other favorites is my BC with a 32" barrel, nothing wrong, just everything has it's place. You mentioned a 270 ...... and an '06....... it not length that is really so important as.. .RIMS You really don't want to go rimless , there is just something about rimless. The 30/30 has all those high pressure, super velocity barn burners...... .....

Don't want to go rimless... Now things get interesting... Is there a common problem with rimless cartridges in a Handi???
I have been trolling through the forums for a while but haven't come across this belief lol

theratdog · « **Reply #47 on:** June 05, 2013, 07:10:46 PM »

YEP IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SHORTY YOU ARE MISSING OUT I LIKE MINE

Itsricmo · « **Reply #48 on:** June 05, 2013, 08:11:45 PM »

I must take back what I said earlier and apologize.. I somehow missed the entire 2nd half of the 1st page of replies... I feel like a total idiot but I guess worst things have happened lol... Lots of "Shorty Handyitis" and it seems there is a 30-30 or 2 mixed in. Which reinstates my hunger for a shorty 30-30... Especially if rimless cartridges should be avoided for some reason unexplained at the moment lol

New thought and question for ya'll; how far forward is the REAR sight (inches) and how is it attached? (Pictures anyone?

)
I don't want TOO short of a sight radius and Irons are kind of my MUST on this rifle regardless of barrel length.

Rick

gcrank1 · « **Reply #49 on:** June 06, 2013, 04:26:23 AM »

The best 'irons' (so called because sights used to be made of metal, now they are made of several things) are a rear peep, mounted in the scope base holes already there and your choice of a front (I think I'd like a 'green' fire-sight type though Ive used the old small dia. 'gold' bead for years).
An 'open' sight, mounted forward on the barrel, really needs to be in a location that allows your eye to get the best focus and clarity on it, though your real defined focus should be on the front sight even if the target fuzzes a bit. Rear open sights can be dovetailed in or screw mounted. There are quite a few to choose from.

hoytcanon · « **Reply #50 on:** June 06, 2013, 04:34:36 AM »

Our shorty .44 Maggies have the NDS-38 peeps with Williams One Piece Fire Sight Ramps (.634") and work perfectly... Most shorties are going to have a longer sight radius than silhouette pistols and they shoot pretty good. ;-)

petemi · « **Reply #51 on:** June 06, 2013, 08:09:22 AM »

We're all talking about shorties, but nobody has mentioned Superlights. They're a shorty in their own right. Light weight 20 inch barrel. I get tempted to cut one of those, but they're all rimless, hot shooting calibers and I don't think I'd gain anything. If I did try it, the .223 would be the first to get bobbed.

The other is the BC Carbine at 20 inches. Now with a .45 Colt, it might work. I suppose you'd ruin the value of the barrel for a purist, but I'm not one. I can't use the factory sights, so I might as well chop the front one off. If it ever gets sold, I ain't gonna be the one selling it. I'll be in my grave., and if I think it is more fun at 16.5, I'm gonna do it.

Pete

Itsricmo · « **Reply #52 on:** June 06, 2013, 05:09:10 PM »

Still all this talk about "rimless" in a negative tone and no explanation

lol

The Peep sight would give me the longer sight radius that I wish to maintain and was in the initial plan. Just I also planned on putting a Globe front sight in... Substitute in the OEM Front Sight and I think we have a winning sight combination

twoshooter · « **Reply #53 on:** June 06, 2013, 05:44:38 PM »

Most of the great single shots- the class acts- Remington Rolling Blocks, Sharps, High and Low Wall Winchesters, Handi's

were designed primarily for Rimmed cartridges, they headspace on the rims, are mostly straightwall or tapered cases. They are not so length finicky , have easy extraction, are classic cartridges with elegant lines.
Then came magazine fed rifles, they needed squarer shoulders and no rims to complicate the feeding mechanism, they headspace on the shoulder. They are bottle neck, high pressure rounds, less reloader friendly, less case life, sharper muzzle blast. They obviously can work in the Handy

but ....... are far less.......

...

45-70.gov · « **Reply #54 on:** June 07, 2013, 02:44:06 AM »

the shorty i shoot the most is a 357......[rossi not handi]

it has a red dot so sight radius is not an issue

it is louder than my 22 inch handi with the same ammo

petemi · « **Reply #55 on:** June 07, 2013, 04:03:34 AM »

The .357s are the ones I shoot most also......but what's a Rossi

Pete

45-70.gov · « **Reply #56 on:** June 07, 2013, 09:07:16 AM »

Quote from: petemi on June 07, 2013, 04:03:34 AM

The .357s are the ones I shoot most also......but what's a Rossi

Pete

brazillion H&R

that is a country not how many

Itsricmo · « **Reply #57 on:** June 07, 2013, 06:01:08 PM »

Quote from: twoshooter on June 06, 2013, 05:44:38 PM

Most of the great single shots- the class acts- Remington Rolling Blocks, Sharps, High and Low Wall Winchesters, Handi's were designed primarily for Rimmed cartridges, they headspace on the rims, are mostly straightwall or tapered cases. They are not so length finicky , have easy extraction, are classic cartridges with elegant lines.
Then came magazine fed rifles, they needed squarer shoulders and no rims to complicate the feeding mechanism, they headspace on the shoulder. They are bottle neck, high pressure rounds, less reloader friendly, less case life, sharper muzzle blast. They obviously can work in the Handy but ....... are far less....... ...

Excellent reply! Thank you for the straight forward "no bull" answer to the anti-rimless, ermm... attitude? lol
Talking to a Co-worker today, I found out he has a 30-30 Handi, whats the really old one?? 158?? It was his Dads and he absolutely loves it!! He also insisted that I NOT cut the barrel but it is still on the list of things I wanna do

Flynmoose · « **Reply #58 on:** June 07, 2013, 07:19:08 PM »

I have a 223 standard Handi that I had shortened to 16 1/2". Besides the easier handling qualities it is more accurate than it was before the nose job. I wear ear protection when shooting so no problem there.
FM

45-70.gov · « **Reply #59 on:** June 08, 2013, 04:02:42 AM »

Quote from: YRUpunting? on June 05, 2013, 03:50:54 PM

Quote from: rdlange on June 05, 2013, 03:36:55 PM

Hey Pete, what you do with all those little pieces if barrel?

Rumor has it he had so many of them he used them to frame the greenhouse he built for his wife.

has any one made shotgun adapters out of the cut offs??
i have 2 that i cut the chamber....357 max and 454 cassul

but no way/ideas to make it chamber a shotgun
any sugestions? i might soulder the 357 ito a brass hull ?