RE: lever action rifles
I haven't owned many lever actions over the years, but I can honestly say that one of the sweetest shooting and handling rifles I ever owned was the Marlin in .44 mag. Just a joy to haul that piece through the bush here in PA.
I also owned a Savage 99 takedown in 250-3000 that was sweet, and an old marlin in .35 Rem. Probably one of the worst weapond that I ever owned (for a VERY short time) was a Browning BLR! That rifle shot so poorly, I spent God knows how many dollars trying to work up a .308 load that would shoot better than a 4" group at 100 yds., and never did succeed. I don't know if I just got a lemon or what, but I even had some of the bullets keyhole in the target. This was a brand new gun out of the box. It got traded in real quick!
I'd look into the Marlin or Winchester in .44 mag. caliber. A real fun gun to shoot with enough knockdown for deer and bear, with the proper bullets.