To be fair, Marlin did release their 1894 in a version they called the CST before they released the Dark Series but this model was stainless steel with black wood furniture. I was looking for blued steel and brown wood. After looking around, I finally came to conclude that, unless I build what I want (costly) that the Marlin 1894 CST was going to be the closest to what I want with minimal fuss. I later realized that the stainless steel would be more resilient to use and abuse more than the blued steel would be. That makes for a better hard-use rifle in the humid summers of Georgia.
During the research phase, I had come across several high profile YouTubers running similar rifles. Chris at Lucky Gunner has a modified 1894 that was cut back while GarandThumb has the CST with a Midwest Industries handgaurd. I like both of their rifles but neither were quite was I was looking for with my rifle though Chris' rifle was very close to what I had originally envisioned.
The Marlin 1894 CST comes with the XS ghost ring sights pre-installed but doesn't have the scout rail usually associated with XS and lever guns, something I feel it doesn't need. From the factory, the rifle comes with an enlarged lever, nice rubber stock pad and threaded barrel in the 1/2x28 pattern. This rifle was pretty much everything I'm looking for with the exception of the blued steel and brown wood.
After mulling over the options, I settled on my preferred setup for a lever action rifle with a leather stock cuff from Mason Leather to hold cartridges, leather lever wrap and leather sling. These would need to be black. A way to mount a red dot sight; nothing too big or clunky. To finish off the build, I would use my Dead Air Wolfman suppressor with a fixed mount.
I ended up using a Mason Leather cartridge cuff in Coal Black, a BrassStacker lever wrap and an El Cheapo sling off of Amazon. These work pretty well with the rifle though I wish the cuff and wrap were darker. They came out more of a brown than black.
To mount a red dot, I chose to use a Burris FastFire III. While it would have been easier to use the XS Scout rail, I wanted a cleaner look than what the chunky picatinny rail offered. I had a little trouble with my first attempt using a two piece rail but thankfully, Burris offers a mount for the Marlin 336 and 1895 rifles that uses the same screw hole pattern the 1894 does. This meant a direct mount for the red dot instead of adding an extra layer of unnecessary height with the picatinny mount. Not only does it help with the aesthetics of the weapon but one won't need to have an odd cheek weld to see the dot.
After putting everything together and sewing on the lever wrap, I was willing to call the project complete. I've been able to take the rifle out a few times before it was all put together and try different loads.
I found that the rifle is hearing safe with full power 357 magnum hunting ammunition and does fine with 38 Special. The suppressor performance is good with the 38 Special 158 gr loads but is fun with the more obscure 38 Long Colt loads from Black Hills Ammunition. I'm trying to source a box of 38 Short Colt just to try out. I have reloading dies and am considering putting together some subsonic heavy weight 357 mag loads for accurate, quiet shooting.
I haven't had much time to try everything out that I would like but I am so far very happy with the way this project has turned out.
The idea of a handy, short carbine in a hard hitting cartridge that can be used to hunt deer with then loaded with subsonic factory ammunition for suppressed fun in a weapon and is easy to use makes my very happy. A lever action rifle doesn't have the intimidation factor that an AR-15 can have on an inexperienced shooter which makes Project ArgentVaquero the perfect candidate for an Ambassador gun. This is the type of weapon that you can take to the range with someone who's never shot a gun before as a way to break the ice. It doesn't really look like an evil assault weapon and is just as fun to shoot.
I'm happy with the way this turned out.
Update 1 Oct 2020: This rifle is a crowd pleaser. I've had several interactions with locals when I take it to the range with lots of questions asked. I was also able to source a box of 38 Short Colt and while they are fun to shoot (think like 22 CB rounds for a 22 LR rifle) they do not cycle in the action. It's best to stick with 38 Special or 38 Long Colt. I have been working on hand loading some 200 gr 357 mag subsonic rounds in an attempt to make a cheaper, quiet range round but have not been successful thus far as the load won't stabilize and will result in a baffle strike. I will start looking at a lighter bullet with weaker powder charge.
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