RE: extremely HOTT!!! barrel on a 30-30?
I don't want to be the idiot on the boards, but....... Was this done in the summer sun? Just one of those really simply things that might make more difference than you think. I've been on few hunts where my SxS was too hot to touch (which is easily done by accident on a SxS) without firing a single shot. Of course, on days that hot its hard not to notice the heat.