owned one years ago. I sold it because of mediocre accuracy and the 240 grain bullet limitation. Went with a Marlin 1894, which is a far superior rifle.
For that small niche of still-hunting or tracking whitetails in heavy cover where a majority of shots are likely to present themselves at close range on an animal that is already on the move, a semi-auto allows the shooter to put lead on target as fast as he/she can keep the sights on target and squeeze the trigger. While lever and pump actions allow for faster follow up shots than bolt or single shot actions, none of them are as fast or less disruptive to the sight picture as a semi-auto. While a Marlin 1894 might be a superior rifle for some hunting scenarios, I don't think that it is in this specific niche. As far as bullet weight goes, the common jacketed 240 grain factory loads that I shoot are accurate enough, around 3 MOA, and penetrate well enough such that a whitetail shot through the lungs is a dead deer. I have a lot of lever and pump action rifles, but when I'm still-hunting whitetails in heavy cover I reach for the Ruger or one of the Winchester 100s. At least that has been my experience.
