Hm. Interesting question. Good info, greydog. My gut reaction is to say bolt gun, but I have no back-up experiences. I've seen exactly zero malfunctions in Marlins during hunting, while having seen a few with various bolt guns over the years. That isn't apples-to-apples though, because the bolt guns come out much more often, and in more extremes of weather and terrain.
If ranges are only to 150 max, I'd prefer to have a Marlin lever gun in my hands: lighter, faster to aim, faster to work the action(by a hair), faster to swing at moving animals. If the range of my bolt guns isn't necessary, then I prefer carrying the Marlins.
