I figure I'll probably eventually end up back here or somewhere close. The Winchester 94 Trapper I posted earlier is about as an ideal rifle as there is for me right now. It holds 9+1 rounds of .44 mag and handles like a beauty. In the Piney Woods of East Texas, you aren't gonna get many shots that this gun isn't capable of handling. I've never been one to like the idea of shooting deer from long ranges and such, so this gun is great for hunting. The .44 mag punches a mean hole through anything it hits out to reasonable ranges that this gun is capable of, and the gun is fast handling enough for defense purposes. It doesn't hold as amny rounds as some of the eviler rifles, but I'm not a fan of putting a lot of lead down range. I like to make sure I have a good aim with every shot I take, but maybe that is because I am a broke college student. Yeah, it takes a bit longer to fill the magazine up, but the advantages negate that to me. There is no gun more romantic to the average person who does not abhor them than a lever action. Everybody who grew up watching westerns and such associates these guns with a kind of idealism of justice inside them, whether they are some sort of gun nut or not. Sure a bolt action may be more accurate and a military style rifle may be more capable of putting more lead down range in a short amount of time, but the lever action is to me the best compromise of balance, accuracy and firepower for my needs. They are definately the sexiest rifles out there.
This little rifle is also a wonderfull tool in the battle against feral hogs, that is if I am not chasing those piggies with dogs and a knife.