Thread: Lever guns - What do ya reckon?

The other night my friend and I went out with the objective of shooting some goats at medium to longer ranges on a private block with our larger calibre rifles.

To our surprise as we cruised around a corner we found a mob of goats at close range sitting low down on a face. A good backstop, close range, easy shooting, couldn't ask for much more really. Although it was easy shooting, I found myself slightly hampered by the fact that I was fielding a rifle clearly meant for hunting at a bit more range up close, and naturally my wallet cried because I was using the most expensive caliber that I reload with.

I thought, in this situation, a lever action carbine of some description would be the ducks nuts. Fast, short, and hard hitting.

So therein lies my questions:
- What experiences have you had with lever guns hunting, good or bad?
- What lever gun cartridges are the most effective and which ones cope the best at range (ethical kills at 200m)?
- Who here is left handed and uses a lever gun, what brand and model do you prefer?
- Did you feel like it was more of a hinderance than a help in comparison to just using a shortened bolt action?