I've scoured this forum and others but haven't discovered any references to modifications of a 99 resulting in a "trapper" length barrel. I hunt black bear with hounds in the Appalachian mts often in steep, rocky, thickets where only the foolhardy and stubborn will enter. The ideal gun for this scenario is light, reliable, short, and pushing enough bullet to quickly dispatch a bear so as to prevent them from doing damage to the hounds. My firearm of choice for the last several years has been a post 64 Winchester 94 trapper in 30-30 with the 16.25" barrel. Lately, I've been thinking of upgrading to a more powerful round. I've been dreaming of short barrel Savage in 358 win or 375 win. Since these chamberings seem to be out of my price range given scarcity and collector interest I think the more common 300 sav. or 308 win are better options. So I have a few questions:
1. Did Savage ever offer a super short barrel version of the 99?
2. Assuming the answer to 1 is no I will be looking at shortening the barrel of an existing beater, likely a 99E. Has anyone ever done this or run into such a beast? How much would a short ( say 16.5") barrel affect balance?
3. My 94 weighs in right at 6 lbs and I'd like to get down to something close to that. I considered a modifying a marlin 35 into a "maurader" ( a real maurader is far to $$$) but think the Marlins might be a bit too heavy for my liking. Any idea what a 99 modified as described above might weight?
Any other words of advice?
Many thanks!
