I vote that you buy all three rifles. Unless you tell us what kind of hunting you do-then basically all responses are speculation. I would agree that a standard lever action may not be as accurate as a standard bolt action-but so what. Most lever rifleswill outshoot most shooters. Maybe the bolt is better off the bench, but who hunts off the bench? I have never seen a bolt that handles like a good lever. However if you hunt past 250 yards then the bolt action will shine. The problem there is that most shooter's can not even shoot at 250 yards under hunting conditions. I think you should try one of these-that is after you load at least 1,000 shells to put through it(this counts as a lever action). Tom.