I have a new Marlin .357 waiting for working space in my gun room. Now that I have my "new" kidney, the dialysis crud will be picked up in a few weeks. It is getting an RDS (old guy eyes); sling, forend that will take a light etc. It will be set up as such like my BCM ARs as possible. The cosmetic sniveling is generally silly; a firearm must be set up to be as functional possible. Anything inconsistent with that is unwise at best, and likely counterproductive.
My most important training experience with rifles is with ARs, both SO in-service and several classes with the late Pat Rogers. I am very comfortable with them. However, they may not be a good travel gun for our RV due to stupid states, so the Marlin will serve that purpose (we are putting a TruckVault in it).
Remember that th primary purpose of a firearm is fighting, and emphasizing cosmetics over function (or even putting them on the same level) is simply not a good practice.
BTW: DO NOT USE THE PHRASE "ASSAULT RIFLE". It is the language our enemies use to demonize us and some of our platforms. If the platform does not meet the definition as given in the US Army FM from, um the mid 60s or so, it is not and cannot be an "Assault Rifle". Words matter.