Number 3 - There's a tie
Some years ago, I bought a CZ 457 Scout with the intent to use it as a youth training rifle. It has a very short stock with a 12 inch length of pull and great iron sights. It's threaded 1/2x28 which is perfect for the Q El Camino silencer the 457 regularly hosts. The initial configuration came with a single shot sled that lets you hand load one round into the action instead of having something like a 5 or 10 shot magazine. In addition to the sled, I have both size magazines but they do make and I do want one of the 25 round magazines. It was one of the few rifles that I had added no dedicated parts for the longest time. No optics, red dots or aftermarket sights but I did add a leather sling and stock cuff. The only issue I have with the rifle is the stock is just a little too short for me to use comfortably. Then again, it was never meant for a 6 foot 2 inch, lanky guy like me. It's intended as a youth rifle. I've toyed with the idea of replacing the stock with a longer 13 inch LOP so I could shoot it easier but that's about the only change I want to make. There isn't much sense in spending the $200 for a replacement stock from CZ to fit me. Instead, I ordered a universal leather stock cuff that I knew had these rubber spacers. It adds about an inch to the length of pull fitting quite nicely. While it looks okay, it does hold 16 rounds of .22 LR on the right side. The simple setup makes for a good rifle.
I regularly take that rifle out when I have people I'm introducing to silencers because of how quiet the rifle can be with a good can like the El Camino and ammunition such as CCI's Standard Velocity load. Some times I load the rifle with Aquila's Super Calibri cap type loads. While you don't need the suppressor with the Aquila rounds, it completes the quietness. The whole setup is about as powerful as any small caliber Big Box store air rifle with an effective range to match. That said, the bullet drop is staggeringly high so is best used for short ranges and works best on aluminum cans and squirrels.
Not the El Camino but still quiet
The CZ 457 has also gone out with me on hunts. One year, I configured the rifle with a 2-7x rimfire scope, a good sling and the El Camino so my oldest niece could hunt squirrels and rabbits. We didn't get anything but my brother in law enjoyed the rifle. All in all, the CZ 457 has been a great rifle and is one of the few guns I take out to the range just to shoot.
The number 3 slot though is being taken over by a project gun that I'm starting to shoot more often. My Ruger 10/22 started off life as a base model with a wood stock I bought for a Appleseed Project rifleman class. I ended up sending the rifle off to a gunsmith who threaded the barrel and moved the front sight back. I put a set of Tech Sights raised sights along with a Burris red dot sight that is co-witnessed. I kept the M1 GI sling I used in the class but added an M1 carbine magazine pouch to the stock.
The barrel's front sight base wasn't timed correctly by the smith and I had to make timing changes by rotating the barrel to match the front sight to the back aperture. Then I had to find a way to lock down the V-block used to secure the barrel to the receiver. I wasn't sure how well I had gotten everything timed correctly so I just ran it as short distances. It was originally intended to be used for the Appleseed class so it didn't matter if the sights were perfect at longer ranges. I just shrugged off my disappointment and just accepted that the gun probably wasn't right.
I hadn't shot the rifle much even after putting everything together and getting it zeroed but I was invited to a shoot in Northern Georgia and took it with me. I had zeroed the rifle somewhat short for around 25 yards since that's what the Appleseed class shoots. The outdoor range had setup various targets at various distances including 100 yards. I moved to off hand shooting at a much larger target, a large steel gong, that was set at the 100 yard line. I found that the red dot's battery had died but using the Tech Sights, I was able to land shots without issue. Just to see if I could do it, I was able to land repeated shots onto the small popper with regularity. This resulted in very satisfying repeated pings ringing from the steel target with every impact. I was utterly surprised to see that this worked out so well given the initial timing problems I had ran into. I hadn't been able to do that before but apparently I'd regulated the iron sights and the red dot quite well.
The rifle is zeroed using CCI's Standard Velocity rounds since they never go above the transonic barrier and they are fairly cheap to buy in large quantities. They are subsonic from the rifle's barrel making for good suppression.
I have a BX-25 x2 magazine makes for a fun companion. It's two BX-25 magazines mated to a single center piece instead of taping to magazines together. A single box of 50 rounds will fit into the dual magazine contraption and lets you simply plink away against a steel target with repeated ease. Finding out how well the barrel was timed and sights regulated was a treat, making the whole project a pleasure and surprise. That changed my opinion of the rifle's configuration dramatically which is why I felt compelled to include it in this list. It's a rifle that I like to hand to someone, along with a loaded magazine to try out.
Number 2
Back in the 1990's, one of the oldest names in repeating rifles, Henry, came back to life. They started with a .22 LR lever action rifle that is inexpensive. I didn't know anything about them until around 2017 or so when I picked up their first model, the H001. This rifle has an 18 inch barrel with a full length magazine tube. It was an impulse buy on a trip to see my grandparents in West Virginia and for them to get to meet the woman than would end up being my wife. The Bridgeport Equipment and Tool store in town had a good price on one so I ran down off the hill to buy one. I also found a variety of ammunition including those Aguila Super Colibri cartridges. I had bought one or two 50 round boxes to try and fell for them immediately. I ordered a 500 round brick while sitting on the front porch to be delivered so I could have more for when we got back to Georgia.
Those rounds make good work of aluminum drink cans at short range and was the quietest shooting rifle before I had before I started my journey into silencers. I don't know if it started that journey but it probably helped. I have no idea how much ammunition this rifle has seen through it but bricks of .22 disappear with this rifle.
Number 1
Not long before Marlin went down with the Remington ship, Marlin started making rifles with threaded barrels. I got very interested very quickly in the idea of a lever action rifle with a suppressor on it. It's very Teddy Roosevelt. As far as I know, the first model they did was the 1894 CST. This was a shortened, all stainless steel rifle chambered for 357 Magnum and can reliably use 38 Special as well. It features a 1/2x28 thread pitch at the end of the 16 inch barrel to host any 9mm bore silencer of your choice. Since I have a Dead Air Wolfman, I'm able to shoot full house 357 Magnum loads without concern. If it fits, it ships.
Not long before Marlin went down with the Remington ship, Marlin started making rifles with threaded barrels. I got very interested very quickly in the idea of a lever action rifle with a suppressor on it. It's very Teddy Roosevelt. As far as I know, the first model they did was the 1894 CST. This was a shortened, all stainless steel rifle chambered for 357 Magnum and can reliably use 38 Special as well. It features a 1/2x28 thread pitch at the end of the 16 inch barrel to host any 9mm bore silencer of your choice. Since I have a Dead Air Wolfman, I'm able to shoot full house 357 Magnum loads without concern. If it fits, it ships.
Just about every factory 38 Special load will be quiet to shoot given the low pressures involved with it's specifications. The 16 inch barrel also helps attenuate the sound a bit. I've not tired any factory ammo under 130 grains in this rifle yet. I try to keep a few of those 200 grain 38's around in case I take a new shooter to the range as the is the Ambassador gun I prefer to demonstrate.
Full power 357 Magnum rounds pick up serious velocity from the longer barrel making the CST a serious contender for short range hunting. Gun writers such as Skeeter Skelton made good use of 357 Magnum carbines against deer. I found an old article he had wrote around 1982 called "Rifleman" but sadly, the website that hosted it was recently suspended. You can find the old Dark Canyon website article here. You should be able to use the Wayback Machine to find the article by copying the URL and pasting it into the service's website. I found the article looking for the first uses of 357 Magnum in rifles were from gunsmiths in the mid-1900's reaming out Winchester 92's. Query Google about a Mr. Ward Koozer from Douglas, Arizona and his efforts.
2023 is the year I want to try this rifle out for deer and see how well it goes. I don't expect it has the same reach as my .300 Blackout WWSD inspired AR-15 but it's a lot cheaper to shoot right now.
I think that pretty well covers the funnest guns I have. While I have many other guns that I like to shoot for fun such as my AR-9 project or the Henry Homesteader, I don't get to spend as much time with those due to ammo concerns or not having access to a good shooting range. I figure this will change as I get more established with our homestead and get setup with a good outdoor range. Check back in a few years to see if this changes.
