Kinda funny that some folks who would decry the use of .357 & .44 are the same folks who bowhunt...
I guarantee that a .357 or .44 Magnum will do far more damage than one of my carbon fiber arrows w/100-gr expandable broadhead...
if you can plant an arrow in a deer at <50 yards, you can dang sure do it with a Lever-action under 75 yards
Personally, I prefer the challenge of stalking close enough to stick an arrow (and occasionally a spear) into a White-tail Deer!
Once you've done it with a bow...doing it with a Glock 10mm pistol is just as easy, without whacking a bow limb on a branch...lol
So doing it with a Marlin 1894C is a piece of cake, technically
Marlin made the toughest lever-action on the planet...they're still having Growing Pains in the new Factory in Ilion, NY,
(half the dang problem is they're stuck hiring NY'rs...they shoulda put that plant in the SOUTH!! LOL)
The Mayfield, Kentucky plant is doing far better than its Yankee Counterpart...
but things are improving on the Lever line...not to the point where I'd feel comfy buying one yet,
but it is looking a lot better than last year this time...I'm thinking they should have their squishy together by 2013...
given how the new 795's, 60's, & Xt22/X7 lines are running now...which are better than the 2005-2011's by quite a bit now!!
All that being said...my Marlin .44 did the trick on deer and wild hog at Eglin AFB...but I sold it a few years back...
now I use my 10mm Glock 20-SF and am saving for a Longslide kit so it will be even more effective!!
PLUS...and its a big plus, both the .357 & .44 can be used for SASS/Cowboy Action Shooting!!!
all ya need with it is ONE or two single-action cowboy pistols and a rabbit-ear double-barrel shotgun