All second-hand, but listening to comments on the current crop of levers, it's one of the better choices. There definitely seems to a larger percentage of satisfied customers vs the Henry.
Just reporting what I've seen here in print. I don't have any firsthand experience with either.
If you go red dot, may I suggest Burris FastFire II? I have one on my .45-70, and it really allows fast target acquisition with a minimum of fuss. There are other good choices, but I have experience with that one and like it.
