[beenthere]

I've taken two Wyoming Muley's with a 243. One field dressed at 175# which probably means 240# live weight shot at about 175 yards,and the other field dressed at 142 # which should be about 200# live weight shot at 40 FEET. Couldn't see anything but hair in the scope. Worked great. Granted neither of these were the fabled BIG MULEY'S.
Having said that, at the ranges you are stating (to 150 yards), I think today I'd choose a 257 Roberts, perhaps a 260 Remington if I wanted to stay with a bolt action. Just a little more insurance with bullet weight but still low recoil. At those ranges you could even throw in the 30/30 and 35 Remington as low recoil cartridges. A 30/30 with a 150 grain bullet has low recoil and good hunting qualities at the range you are expecting in a lever action rifle which would with practice give you a quicker second shot.