Savages are a great deal, NEF single shots are a great deal too.

THE MARLIN 1894' s are awesome. I' ve had a few, still hanging on to one, planning on another this summer (or two). Mine have always been .44mags, which as far as hunting goes for a handloader, the .44mag can accomplish the same terminal range as a .30-30 with half the powder. They' re sweet guns, they might not be the best PRIMARY deer rifle, but they' re definately one of the best alternatives for a " back up" or " secondary" gun. I used the one I still have (it was my old man' s) as my primary deer rifle when I was younger, then I got my own bolt action, and five or ten other alternatives, but that .44mag still goes out every year.

A little better option, if you want a levergun to be your primary (as you should!!), is the Marlin 1895, I AM getting another one of these this summer, it' s a .45-70, I' m getting the 1895GS, stainless guide gun, little shorter bbl and stock is the only real difference, and I think one shot less (but total cap is still 5, so it' s deer legal). It' ll do deer with factory loads out to 150yrds, with no problems, probably 250yrds or better (in the right hands) with the right handload. I' ve seen deer dropped with .45-70' s out at 550yrds, but that was from my W&H single shot 32" bbl, but just from that I' d still imagine the .45-70 would be good out to any range you can place the bullet well.