Clip...shells...trying not to split hairsSomething to replace the 30 30.
Slim and streamlined - say 22 250, 243 or 308 semi auto with detachable clip - with a simple peep sight.
Maybe a detachable scope for hunting season or gopher day - but that is not the norm.
Maybe an extra clip in the buttstock.
Accurate to 200.
This is to be the go-to gun for sounds in the barnyard at night, the treestand in the fall, the truck on the trip north, in the tractor, the camping trip, and other times when having a gun is better than not having a gun.
It must be light, short and pointable - slim and easy to carry in one hand ( like a 30 30. ) I don't like carrying a gun that is thick where it balances - like a bolt action or a double break action.
It must be durable and simple to use when hands are cold or fumbling.
It must be easy to load and unload. The old tube could be topped up - we can't do that with modern clips - but unloading a tube is dangerous and slow.
Plastic stock is fine - Stainless would be finer.
Make it safe for me and unsafe for things that shouldn't be.
Put a light in the forestock if you like - or don't.
A bullpup is fine if the trigger is okay - but they lose the slim, easy to case and uncase shape.
Okay - go carry a Model 94 around a while, put it in the truck and carry it on a quad and climb a stand and get up in the middle of the night and run outside while putting shells in it - then run back in while unloading it as the lights come on at the neighbors. Then you will learn the weaknesses that we need fixed - 120 years later.
It shouldn't rattle like a lever or kick like a mule or take 8x64.5 - made in Switzerstien bullets at 96$ per box. Federchesterington bullets must work - every time.
Make it the gun that we trust - that we want with us when no one is around - like a 30 30 was, an SKS improved or a double rifle with three more shots.
It must not have junk sticking out all over the place like... those guns - making it as convenient as a rototiller to get in and out of action.