I have done the super short barrel 30-30 thing several times including cut rifles and original Marlin Marauders. They work very well with a compact scope, but did not work well for me at all with open sights. The sight radius is so short that the front sight appears huge and was pretty useless for anything beyond about 75yds for me. If you are sure your shooting is going to be close and fast then by all means go with a shorty 30-30 and aperture sights. Othewise, a Leupold 1-4, 1.5-5 or 2.5X is just the ticket.
