Originally Posted by Steelruger22
My go-to short barrel walking deer rifle the last few years has been a Kimber Montana in .308 that has been chopped and threaded to 18". Makes for one sweet lightweight deer slayer.

Honerable mentions that I also throw into the mix...
M77 Compact in 7mm-08...16.5" barrel has lots of muzzle blast
Marlin 30TK in 30-30.... awesome lil lever carbine with irons
Ruger American stainless compact in .308....bought for my kids...pulls double duty when the weather is especially nasty. Accuracy is way above it's weight class.

You're certainly on to some things here: I very much enjoy my 18" barreled Adirondack, especially when it's wearing its woods load scope, a VX II 1-4. It's almost too light for effective snap shooting, but sure carries nice. Another one to cover some miles with and come out shooting is the Marlin TK converted to .444.