Personally I also sorta like the half magazine length - the length it is now. BUT - to stay that length I've got either cut another slot or drill a shallow hole in barrel to lock magazine tube in place so it doesn't move forward while firing. The attraction of shortening the magazine is to use existing slot so I don't have to cut an extra slot, and to hide more of the crappy looking magazine tube. It's in pretty poor condition and I'm not sure how well it's going to clean up. I guess I'll wait about doing anything until I see how well it does clean up for putting an "old" finish on.
Right now I'm just bouncing around ideas to help me have enough info to decide. This whole toggle link lever action stuff I totally new to me. A month ago I'd never even seen one nor held one in my hands so it's been a steep learning curve for me. I surely do enjoy these old straight walled BP cartridges. I had my old 30-30 rebarreled to 38-55 last year.
KenH
heres another way of doing it that saves drilling or cutting the barrel
top picture is reversed, the taper part faces muzzle end - I have done this on a couple of rifles - its more of a fiddle assembling because you cant slide the tube through the forend cap but it holds tight even under heavy recoil (silver solder the little ring bit to the tube, leave the tube a bit long at the action end then carefully fit it by turning the tube end back till its a smick fit between action and the forend cap recess)
another tip - magazine tube for the 76 you buy cheap chinese curtain rod from the haberdashery/ home decor store - its much thinner than original but 18mm rod is exact OD fit for the 76 and 16mm is exact fit for 44/40 size guns (model 73,92 etc) - this stuff comes plastic coated but that will burn off and it blues ok
very impressed with your progress so far!!
Ken I corrected my pictures
So the end cap has a tapered shoulder inside that fits the taper on the magazine tube collar (I assumed this is common feature ? a couple of 92's I have done and my Uberti 76 had it) the bit of collar you see protruding is about two cigarrette papers thick and not needed I did that because the end cap was old and been messed with before - also had to file the ring off at the top to clear the barrel dovetail. Screws ? there is no screw engagement to the tube in this setup - the end cap screws just engage the barrel dovetail. If you gonna cut the barrel for a tab on the magazine end cap (or a end cap screw that goes into the barrel) you dont need this collar thingy and it is a pain sometimes